Penn State, Drexel or Tech for engineering

[Anonymous]

I would not look at Drexel without spending a lot of time in Philadelphia first. Philadelphia is not like either DC or New York. It's a much grittier and more dangerous city. Drexel is not in a good neighborhood, does not have much of a campus, and is very much a commuter school compared to Penn State or Virginia Tech.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Agree with this. Lots of people will want to hire him after graduation. Go for the cheapest option. None of the 3 are horrible.

[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.

there is no friggin stigma around Va Tech because of the school shooting. what are you talking about?

[Anonymous]

Those of you who are saying that Drexel is not in a good neighborhood in Philadelphia have not spent any time at Temple University. THAT is not in a good neighborhood. Drexel's neighborhood isn't too bad. It's right next to Penn, so there is a big university feel to the area. But it's obviously a very urban environment compared to the other two.

[Anonymous]

Va tech with the massacre. The beheading. The abduction. And the cop murder. Is cursed for a while.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Va tech with the massacre. The beheading. The abduction. And the cop murder. Is cursed for a while.

Those are the most moronic reasons not to choose a school.

[Anonymous]

OP, what school did he end up going to? I know old thread, but still...

[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.

there is no friggin stigma around Va Tech because of the school shooting. what are you talking about?[/quote]

sympathy for the place of anything.

[Anonymous]

Wow - when did PSU become so well-regarded? (Unless these are just groupies?) 20 years ago it was pretty crappy.

As an engineer with many engineering friends, I'd go with VT (rural) or Drexel (urban/co-op).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would not look at Drexel without spending a lot of time in Philadelphia first. Philadelphia is not like either DC or New York. It's a much grittier and more dangerous city. Drexel is not in a good neighborhood, does not have much of a campus, and is very much a commuter school compared to Penn State or Virginia Tech.

Because where would commute from at those schools - the nearby dairy farm?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow - when did PSU become so well-regarded? (Unless these are just groupies?) 20 years ago it was pretty crappy.

As an engineer with many engineering friends, I'd go with VT (rural) or Drexel (urban/co-op).

The ignorance on this board is just insane.


First, Penn State is the #7 or 8 public school in the country and has been for as long as I can remember. VT is also top 25

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/top-public


Second, taking VT or PSU down a peg for the actions of a handful of people is just insane.

Third - have you been to Drexel? Urban isn't all it's cracked up to be.


Nobody is going to have a hard time getting a job with an engineering degree and good grades from any of these three schools.

[Anonymous]

Don't know a thing about Drexel, but why does it come across to me as maybe just a technical school. I did finally see some of it's facilities when I was up there a few backs for a DS regatta. Maybe they ran lots of ads in the past...can't put my finger on it. Good to know that my perception was wrong since DS wants to pursue engineering in a couple of years.

[Anonymous]

First, she should think about money. Drexel without aid is a fortune.

Actually, first -- congratulations to this boy. He did a great job!

Second, is this DC kid ready to move to a small rural place? Of the three, Penn State is by far the best engineering school, I think, but he should think hard about what life would be like for him in Happy Valley.

I can't speak for all states, but I know some of Wisconsin's top AA grads choose UW-Milwaukee over Madison because there are so few AA students in Madison. I wonder if this is similar.

[Anonymous]

Was your son accepted into the Engineering College at Va. Tech? Our rising jr. son wants to attend there. It's harder to get into the engineering college than the others. Is he in? I've asked Va Tech grads how difficult it is to get into the engineering college if they are in another college or "undecided". One posted in a thread here that it might take five years because the student won't be able to start in Engineering 101 freshman year. I don't know if that's true, but would appreciate other Hokie comments because VA tech is son's first choice. Also he wants to apply ED (binding) but is confused about having to list a second college after engineering. He wants only engineering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow - when did PSU become so well-regarded? (Unless these are just groupies?) 20 years ago it was pretty crappy.

As an engineer with many engineering friends, I'd go with VT (rural) or Drexel (urban/co-op).

The ignorance on this board is just insane.


First, Penn State is the #7 or 8 public school in the country and has been for as long as I can remember. VT is also top 25

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/top-public


Second, taking VT or PSU down a peg for the actions of a handful of people is just insane.

Third - have you been to Drexel? Urban isn't all it's cracked up to be.


Nobody is going to have a hard time getting a job with an engineering degree and good grades from any of these three schools.

groupie

only the dumbest of dumb kids from my HS in NJ went to PSU. the ones who wanted to party. or who were sucked into the whole sports scene. not one serious student.