Penn State, Drexel or Tech for engineering

[Anonymous]

My admin's son has been admitted to all 3 schools. He wants engineering. I pretty much help her with everything related to this area of her life because she did not go to college and is generally clueless about anything in this arena.

He hasn't gotten the aid package yet from Drexel, is eligible for DC Tag at Penn State and Va Tech. She is a single mom, son's father is not in the US. She should qualify for aid. Son is AA.

If all things end up costing the same, which of those schools would you want your DC to attend for engineering? His current first choice is Drexel. They seem to be ranked lower than the other two for engineering.

[Anonymous]

I'm an independent college counselor and if this was my client, I would advise to go to the school that has the lowest cost of attendance, once aid and DC Tag have been factored in to all of the schools. I don't think that all of them will end up costing the same.

You also need to take into consideration her son's preferences - does he want an urban environment or a rural one? There is a HUGE difference between the college experience he will have at Drexel vs. those at Penn State and Va Tech.

Academically, I would probably lean towards Va Tech and then maybe Penn State, but Drexel has great engineering programs too.

[Anonymous]

avoid Penn State...that place is straight up Weird. V tech is cursed, something in the water? Drexel has no major flaws.

[Anonymous]

What kind of engineering is he interested in? I am a Civil Engineer, educated in California, but I have done recruiting for my employer here and have met excellent candidates from all three schools. I have also worked with excellent Civil Engineers educated at all three schools. But different engineering schools deinitely have their strengths--the ones that are good for CE may not be so great for IE or EE, for instance. If he is interested in CE, these are some of the best schools one can attend in the area, so it may come done, as the previous poster said, to whether he prefers a more urban or more rural lifestyle.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:avoid Penn State...that place is straight up Weird. V tech is cursed, something in the water? Drexel has no major flaws.

But you wouldn't want to make a nonsensical, knee-jerk reaction, okay?

[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.

Va Tech's apps are up something like 30% since the shooting. Jury's still out on PSU. Drexel's great if you're looking for an urban campus. I agree to view financial packages carefully to help in make decision.

[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.

I'm really surprised that a second poster here is talking about choosing a school based on single newsworthy incidents of the last few years. You certainly wouldn't want anyone to judge your neighborhood, workplace, etc. for an incident perpetrated by an unhinged individual who happened to live nearby.

[Anonymous]

PSU gets a lot of gov't contracts for engineering. If he's into REALLY big stuff, it's worth it. PSU also has its own nuclear reactor (if he's into nuclear engineering), and a huge high-tech windtunnel (for testing aerodynamics of huge things like submarines and airplanes). I did an engineering internship there and was blown away by all the cool stuff they have on campus. They get a lot of gov't grants in engineering for good reason!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PSU gets a lot of gov't contracts for engineering. If he's into REALLY big stuff, it's worth it. PSU also has its own nuclear reactor (if he's into nuclear engineering), and a huge high-tech windtunnel (for testing aerodynamics of huge things like submarines and airplanes). I did an engineering internship there and was blown away by all the cool stuff they have on campus. They get a lot of gov't grants in engineering for good reason!

I heard the students heard slapping noises from the inside wind tunnel at Ped State.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PSU gets a lot of gov't contracts for engineering. If he's into REALLY big stuff, it's worth it. PSU also has its own nuclear reactor (if he's into nuclear engineering), and a huge high-tech windtunnel (for testing aerodynamics of huge things like submarines and airplanes). I did an engineering internship there and was blown away by all the cool stuff they have on campus. They get a lot of gov't grants in engineering for good reason!

I heard the students heard slapping noises from the inside wind tunnel at Ped State.

The slapping noise was probably all you haters high-fiving each other for your "hilarious" "jokes," a la this one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I'm really surprised that a second poster here is talking about choosing a school based on single newsworthy incidents of the last few years. You certainly wouldn't want anyone to judge your neighborhood, workplace, etc. for an incident perpetrated by an unhinged individual who happened to live nearby.

PP here, hey, I was just being honest, AND I fully admitted that it was not practical, hence the comment immediately below it that was much more practical.

[Anonymous]

If the financial aid packages are roughly similar, I think the kid really needs to think long and hard about which environment he is going to do best is-academically and personally. Is he cool with Penn State's huge campus, or does he want to be someplace smaller like Drexel? Does the idea of being in Blacksburg more attractive than Philadelphia? Rural VA or rural PA?

Has he visited the campuses? Had a chance to talk to students and professors?

[Anonymous]

PSU is ranked 9th in the country for research expenditures and income (grants). UMD is #41. VA Tech is #44. Not even close, UMD poster. Sorry.

Citation: http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf11313/pdf/tab27.pdf

[Anonymous]

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