Engineering schools that won’t crush my child’s soul

[Anonymous]

It's BS that our nation wants more students in engineering. Especially BS that they hope to get more women into engineering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's BS that our nation wants more students in engineering. Especially BS that they hope to get more women into engineering.

Wait...huh?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FFS, if you find engineering schools soul crushing hard, maybe don't crib about H1B engineers.

No bright, hardworking, intelligent, skilled and academically capable "American" doing CS/Eng is without a job.

There are lots of Americans better than the H1B engineers that don’t have jobs. The majority of the H1B cs/engs aren’t particularly good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

It's supposed to be challenging

Of course it is. And these are students who have excelled in HS in: AP Physics C, AP Chem, AP Calc BC w/top grades. and tippy top math SAT. Why TRY to weed them out?

Is that really happening though?

Engineering is tough. It naturally weeds out the weaker kids.

Happens less at top schools because a higher % of the kids are prepared.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

It's supposed to be challenging

Of course it is. And these are students who have excelled in HS in: AP Physics C, AP Chem, AP Calc BC w/top grades. and tippy top math SAT. Why TRY to weed them out?

Is that really happening though?

Engineering is tough. It naturally weeds out the weaker kids.

Happens less at top schools because a higher % of the kids are prepared.

Also happens less at some lower-ranked engineering programs that filter at Admissions and made a conscious decision to have a supportive environment instead of a weed-out environment.

There are few good reasons for anyone to attend an engineering program with only a 60-75% graduation rate in engineering. There are other choices at top - and in the middle - that offer 90+% graduation rates. Pick one of those. It still will be rigorous and hard work, but it will not be soul-crushing.

[Anonymous]

My son is at Rose-Hulman and picked it after visiting a lot of other engineering programs, including Miners. The pace and rigor are pretty grueling at Rose, but all of the support is in place for students to be successful. He is a freshman and is so happy and thriving there. I can't believe how much he's grown in such a short amount of time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Consider going to school abroad?

My child loathes the idea of more Gen Ed classes. Despite me trying to convince otherwise. We’ve (bc it was my initial idea & wanted to make sure it was possible in budget), have started looking at schools in England. You do need to research accreditation & how that might transfer back to US but from first hand accounts I’ve read, the English students seem to be less stressed. And it’s 3yrs (unless you want to add a year internship which seems like a good idea). Some schools appear to have housing set ups similar to US schools so taking the stress of finding lodging in a foreign country before you know the area is eliminated

It’s important you can test well because they want 5s on APs or high math SAT score.

Just be aware that because English students start specializing around age 16, often they arrive at Uni at 18 with a much deeper and broader understanding of their major subject matter than an American could does.

^100% this. If your student is not interested in Gen Ed Classes, there are engineering programs where you are a direct entry into your major and thereare only a few non-engineering classes you need to complete for the degree. I would suggest you do additional research. My experience doing a year abroad in England as engineering student - was that the classes were intense, the students were well prepared but it was stressful. I also learned that not all credits will transfer between schools because its a very different curriculum.

[Anonymous]

My UVA engineering student isn’t crushed. Some classes are challenging for sure. They utilize supports (office hours). (Yes, yes, l know that it’s not a top tier engineering school but it is where they are. It’s accredited; mostly good profs; and we shall see!)

[Anonymous]

Didn't read the whole thread, but I can suggest CU Boulder and UMD for positive environments.
My engineer had a good job offer before graduation, so we're happy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Purdue and Cornell fall in the 'crush the soul and happiness category' due to coursework, grading and weather.

Do you actually have a kid at Cornell or Purdue whose soul is being crushed? I have a son in first year engineering (FYE) at Purdue right now and he couldn't be happier. His biggest 'crushing' complaints, in no particular order: the gym is too crowded at 5 PM, basketball tickets are tough to get, and the football team is bad.

Is the coursework challenging? Absolutely. But it’s exactly what he expected when he signed up for a top-tier program. To each their own, but there’s a reason Purdue has the largest undergraduate engineering enrollment in the country. If your kid is looking for world-class engineering and a real Big Ten social life, it’s a hard combo to beat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do not consider Virginia Tech. As a parent, I had the rudest responses from them. I asked if it was possible -to just- plan for 5 years to complete the program. Plan from the beginning, plan to take a lighter load. Instead of explaining why not or just saying a simple no, they were insulting, berated what they thought were my DD's qualifications - based on nothing. They did not know, die not know her stellar qualifications.

I’ll take things that didn’t happen for $800, Alex.

I had a similar experience just asking questions about the engineering program to the admissions office people that came to a local college fair. It was really off-putting.

[Anonymous]

Op you are right to look into this. My DD says the engineering majors at her college are stressed, with a dear friend needing to take a semester off. Definitely do your research (which you obviously are)!

[Anonymous]

If your kid is so soft, you worry about them getting "crushed" in college, you have bigger problems to worry about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your kid is so soft, you worry about them getting "crushed" in college, you have bigger problems to worry about.

I went to a grindy engineering school. I know other engineers who had a different experience.

Is it a crime to want something different than what I had for my kid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kid is so soft, you worry about them getting "crushed" in college, you have bigger problems to worry about.

I went to a grindy engineering school. I know other engineers who had a different experience.

Is it a crime to want something different than what I had for my kid?

Amen.

And all engineering programs ought to be required to publish their graduation rates.