Penn State, Drexel or Tech for engineering

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for all the advice. Mom wants him to choose Tech or PSU, he is leaning Drexel, but can't really explain why. He has lived in DC area his entire life and may be worried about a rural environment.

[Anonymous]

Do you know what type of engineering? Because if it's one of the more rigorous fields, it doesn't matter if the campus is urban or rural. He won't have much time to have the college experience when he is studying his butt off every single second.

[Anonymous]

PP here. I went to PSU and it IS rural. If he's looking for a more urban environment, it's definitely not a good match. I do think it's an exceptional engineering school, and it had LOTS of ties to the DC area (DoD, Navy, etc), so it's very likely he could end up in DC easily after graduating, but if he's uncomfortable with it for the 4 years he'd be in school, Drexel may be a better fit.

[Anonymous]

One thing that no one mentioned is the co-op program at Drexel. Would he be doing that? If so, it ends up being a 5-year program rather than 4, but I believe he would come out with a year or 18 months' experience under his belt, which is a great advantage. At least that's how it was when I applied to the business school o so many years ago! I cannot recall how tuition works when you are co-oping versus "in school." But 5 years' worth of tuition and Drexel's extremely high cost versus PSU and Tech may lead him to look at the others. Not sure.

Penn State has I believe the largest or one of the largest alumni bases in the nation. They are very helpful in helping you aquire a job.

I'm not as familiar with Tech.

[Anonymous]

lol if you go to Penn State you will have a tough time getting a job. First off you have to prove you don't think that Joe Paterno didn't know anything....messed up values and priorities at that place. Virginia Tech is just cursed, it's nobodys fault really and nobody tries to defend the massacre/beheading and ft hood massacre so they get a pass.

[Anonymous]

VT people are nice and I feel sorry for them that the school appears to be cursed, I mean a mass murder. kid got beheaded in the dining hall. the fort hood shooter was a VT grad. something is odd about all that in one place. Penn State on the other hand is a buch of wierd jerks who will do anything to swepp an atrocity under the rug because they are addicted to football like drug addicts.

[Anonymous]

Engineering Manager here--for a major defense company. Can you ask him to fast track it, because I cannot get my hands on enough qualified AA engineers? He can have a job instantly on graduating...or before, as an intern or co-op.


Seriously, it depends on what he wants to study. Drexel used to (back in the Stone Age when I went to Grad school) have a very good Biomed program. Don't know about now. But generally, the other two are better. I don't necessarily agree with the PPs who say he should go to the school where he thinks he'll be more comfortable. Sometimes you don't really know until you get there, and it frequently depends more on the people you meet and the friends you make than on the rural vs urban. PSU and VaTech are better engineering schools, period. So he really should wait and see which one will end up costing the least, and is the strongest in the Eng field he thinks he's most likely to major in. Given the strength of the gov ties and grants at PSU, I'd rank them (assuming finances being roughly equal) PSU, VaTech, Drexel.

GA Tech, '89. (no skin in the game, in other words.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Go to the one where he will end up paying the least. No sense in taking out loans.

Agree.

Anonymous wrote:He should take advantage of affirmative action privilege. And since he is AA, where he went to engineering school doesn't matter much because he will get a job when he graduates.

Ouch! That hurts!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Engineering Manager here--for a major defense company. Can you ask him to fast track it, because I cannot get my hands on enough qualified AA engineers? He can have a job instantly on graduating...or before, as an intern or co-op.


Seriously, it depends on what he wants to study. Drexel used to (back in the Stone Age when I went to Grad school) have a very good Biomed program. Don't know about now. But generally, the other two are better. I don't necessarily agree with the PPs who say he should go to the school where he thinks he'll be more comfortable. Sometimes you don't really know until you get there, and it frequently depends more on the people you meet and the friends you make than on the rural vs urban. PSU and VaTech are better engineering schools, period. So he really should wait and see which one will end up costing the least, and is the strongest in the Eng field he thinks he's most likely to major in. Given the strength of the gov ties and grants at PSU, I'd rank them (assuming finances being roughly equal) PSU, VaTech, Drexel.

GA Tech, '89. (no skin in the game, in other words.)

Why would it matter if you are aa

[Anonymous]

I went to grad school at VT and my husband got his BS and MS in a 5 year program. I can vouch for the strong recruiting in companies from the DC area and nationally (one of my job offers was from California), and they have a co-op and undergrad research opportunities as well. A few years ago they scored 3rd in the DARPA urban challange, which was great considering how much more work the students do at VT vs. the other schools with more sponsorships. Yeah, its rural but it is also cheap...his money will go a lot further in a college town vice a major city. I loved VT and would wholeheartedly recommend it.

[Anonymous]

I would make sure he's visited the campuses and had a chance to talk to people; make the decision based on cost and where he is most comfortable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Drexel's engineering program is not as good as Penn State's or Virginia Tech's - that alone would take it out of the running for me. Plus I would say overall its reputation isn't as good as those two other schools.

That said, Virginia Tech is highly regarded in the DC area, but it does have the stigma around the school shooting. Penn State's engineering program is top notch, but it has the recent stigma surrounding its football program. Personally, I could get over the football thing, I'm not sure about the school shooting thing and would therefore pick Penn State. But really see below which is the more practical way of picking:

You may want to see if US News or any similar publication has engineering school rankings (you know, like how business week has MBA rankings every two years) and see how the three schools stack up against each other there. It would also be beneficial to know what kind of engineering the son is interested in and do some research based on those fields specifically.

The references to "stigma" are absurd. They don't matter to employers and haven't been shown to have had an impact on admissions.

Seriously, get a clue.

[Anonymous]

a) Decide the major, see which one ranks the best in that major and assuming costs are not too far apart, pick that. b) If one of the three is way cheaper, go there. Though doubt there will be much divergence.

urban vs rural, stigmas etc. should be non-factors since presumably the decision will be based on academics, not that a deranged guy or a depraved football coach did.

A few years back, there were concerns about the general area where Drexel is situated. Things may have improved now but can be checked. My choice would be PSU, VT, Drexel...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Engineering Manager here--for a major defense company. Can you ask him to fast track it, because I cannot get my hands on enough qualified AA engineers? He can have a job instantly on graduating...or before, as an intern or co-op.


Seriously, it depends on what he wants to study. Drexel used to (back in the Stone Age when I went to Grad school) have a very good Biomed program. Don't know about now. But generally, the other two are better. I don't necessarily agree with the PPs who say he should go to the school where he thinks he'll be more comfortable. Sometimes you don't really know until you get there, and it frequently depends more on the people you meet and the friends you make than on the rural vs urban. PSU and VaTech are better engineering schools, period. So he really should wait and see which one will end up costing the least, and is the strongest in the Eng field he thinks he's most likely to major in. Given the strength of the gov ties and grants at PSU, I'd rank them (assuming finances being roughly equal) PSU, VaTech, Drexel.

GA Tech, '89. (no skin in the game, in other words.)

Go to MIT sometime and make contacts with Chocolate City. Plenty of smart AA engineers!

[Anonymous]

Co-op is usually for the students at the top of the class.