DC Can't Decide: UCONN vs RPI

[Anonymous]

My DS is deciding between UCONN and RPI and having a lot of trouble making a decision.

DS has mild ASD/ADHD. He is planning to study Aerospace Engineering and most of his applications were to smaller, tech-oriented schools, as at the time of application, he seemed to prefer a smaller school, plus more of the kids at those schools presented with a "nerdy" vibe as he does. Only applied to a couple of big state schools and they were reaches (Purdue, Ga Tech eg)

He was accepted to several of the tech schools (RPI, WPI, Stevens, RIT plus some safeties) and of those, liked RPI the best. But he also likes UCONN. The reason for the application to UCONN was the option of a bigger (but not huge) state school with more typical college things like good sports, better school spirit, more social, etc, and also because they have a dual degree program in Engineering and German, with a full year spent in Germany. DS has taken 4 years of German, is the only kid in his school taking the AP German exam (there is no AP German class) and really wants to go abroad to Germany and perhaps live in Europe after graduation. RPI does not offer any language courses (except Chinese), but he could still go abroad, though probably only a semester.

UCONN also has a "Beyond Access" program through their disabilities office which provides what is basically EF coaching for a fee each semester (he does not get EF coaching currently, but I think he will need it at least in the beginning, in college). He would apply to be in the Engineering Learning Community (which houses Engineering students together in a dorm). The campus is much nicer than RPI's campus.

RPI is clearly the better engineering school though. UCONN is improving, and has a decent number of Aerospace companies recruiting there because of location, but RPI has a ton of engineering electives etc. that UCONN does not have, and better access to faculty. UConn's degree is Mechanical with a concentration in Aerospace, not Aerospace specifically. DS also doesn't like that UCONN basically has no town around it. Troy isn't particularly appealing but it is an actual small city with restaurants, a downtown etc. I think he is more worried about finding "his people" at UCONN also.

He has visited both schools twice (initial tour last year, Accepted Students Day this year) and is honestly having so much trouble. If they were similar schools with just a slightly different vibe, like RPI vs. WPI, or UCONN vs. UMASS, this might be an easier decision but there are pros and cons to both.

We are OOS for UCONN, both schools are similar distance from our home. With merit, UCONN is 11K cheaper per year.

Any thoughts? Anyone's DC made (or making) a similar decision?

[Anonymous]

My husband is an aerospace engineer and he'd tell your son to go to RPI and major in electrical engineering, with a few aerospace classes as electives. He thinks it's a far more useful major and wishes he'd taken more EE courses.

Working abroad may be hard if your DS wants to work in aerospace as many jobs require a clearance and don't hire foreigners. This may be hard to pull off. I'd consider if this is really important to your son and, if so, consider a different engineering major. It would be much easier to work abroad as a ChemE, for instance. Multinational companies like BASF would likely hire an American for a job in Germany.

[Anonymous]

Perhaps your son could email the UConn profs who teach in the dual degree program or some students who are enrolled in it to ask whether alums are in fact able to attain aerospace positions abroad?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My husband is an aerospace engineer and he'd tell your son to go to RPI and major in electrical engineering, with a few aerospace classes as electives. He thinks it's a far more useful major and wishes he'd taken more EE courses.

Working abroad may be hard if your DS wants to work in aerospace as many jobs require a clearance and don't hire foreigners. This may be hard to pull off. I'd consider if this is really important to your son and, if so, consider a different engineering major. It would be much easier to work abroad as a ChemE, for instance. Multinational companies like BASF would likely hire an American for a job in Germany.

+1. RPI is much better for engineering

[Anonymous]

My son is at RPI and there appear to be a lot of junior year / semester abroad type programs available. I don’t know how that would affect major planning, though. My son chose RPI because of the sheer number and variety of courses available, it appealed to him.

[Anonymous]

For most kids, engineering requires a significant commitment. So if the kid likes Aerospace, then a dedicated Aerospace program should carry significant weight. On the other hand, UCONN is a land grant school and a state flagship. It will have very good programs in engineering. And it will be well funded. And it will offer a more traditional experience. And there will be a broad spectrum of kids.

Rankings are mostly dumb as people do not understand the meaning of ordinal, interval, or ratio number systems. I mean no ill will toward Delaware or Wichita State, but a system that ranks those engineering programs above, say, Case Western is a system that measures things that I don’t care about.

[Anonymous]

I think most schools have options to study abroad through a third party provider if they don’t have a program in a country. Have your son reach out to RPI and ask about this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For most kids, engineering requires a significant commitment. So if the kid likes Aerospace, then a dedicated Aerospace program should carry significant weight. On the other hand, UCONN is a land grant school and a state flagship. It will have very good programs in engineering. And it will be well funded. And it will offer a more traditional experience. And there will be a broad spectrum of kids.

Rankings are mostly dumb as people do not understand the meaning of ordinal, interval, or ratio number systems. I mean no ill will toward Delaware or Wichita State, but a system that ranks those engineering programs above, say, Case Western is a system that measures things that I don’t care about.

OP here. Agree with you about the Engineering rankings. The schools at the top make sense but after the top 10-20? USNWP has RPI at 34, but schools like WPI and Stevens at 61 and 82 respectively. NJIT at 90. Those are dedicated STEM schools, producing engineers almost exclusively. NJIT ranked same as University of New Mexico doesn't make sense. UC Davis is a great school, but not better for Engineering than CWRU (and graduates <10% of its class with Engineering degrees, vs. >25% at CWRU)--yet UC Davis ranked higher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think most schools have options to study abroad through a third party provider if they don’t have a program in a country. Have your son reach out to RPI and ask about this.

Study abroad is a lot harder as an engineer because so many courses are sequenced so you either need the appropriate engineering classes offered abroad or you stack all your gen eds during study abroad and then overload on engineering classes the other semesters, making your other semesters pretty miserable. Lots of engineering programs aren't compatible with study abroad at all.

[Anonymous]

I don’t know, RPI may have a better engineering program, but UConn is great too. You really can’t go wrong with either.

[Anonymous]

United Technologies recruits heavily out of UConn as you can imagine. The difference between RPI and UConn for engineering isn't goint to be a deal breaker. If your kid is looking for school spirit, then obviously UConn is a much better fit than RPI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think most schools have options to study abroad through a third party provider if they don’t have a program in a country. Have your son reach out to RPI and ask about this.

Study abroad is a lot harder as an engineer because so many courses are sequenced so you either need the appropriate engineering classes offered abroad or you stack all your gen eds during study abroad and then overload on engineering classes the other semesters, making your other semesters pretty miserable. Lots of engineering programs aren't compatible with study abroad at all.

OP here. I should mention, the UCONN program is a 5-year dual degree program. The 4th year is spent in Germany, 1/2 year at any university in the Baden-Wuerrtemburg region of Germany--including the technical universities, and 1/2 year interning for a German company. Connecticut universities (not just UCONN) have a long-standing partnership with universities from this region of Germany so the credits generally transfer over, and since it's been a program for ~30 years, advisors know how to help the students plan their coursework. I have heard that some students have done it and graduated in 4.5 years, but I don't think it could be done in 4.

At RPI the students are required to remain on campus summer after sophomore year and take a full load of coursework, because they are supposed to go away Fall or Spring semester junior year for either a study abroad or a coop. For the study abroad I agree they are probably taking Gen Ed. If they want to do both a coop and a separate study abroad they will likely not graduate in 4 years (this according to an RPI student who spoke at Accepted Students day).

[Anonymous]

RPI is the better school for engineering

[Anonymous]

If he’s not absolutely 100% certain he wants to do engineering, then UConn. More options there if he starts in engineering but then changes his mind to a non STEM major.