What engineering schools should DC add to their considerlist?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:VCU school of engineering is undergoing a huge expansion. Urban, but not too urban, and should get good merit with that SAT. They don't have aerospace specifically, but the have a decent mechanical engineering program.

Your son should check out the Honors College st VCU.

[Anonymous]

Son is a freshman in the Clark School at UMD. Also in Gemstone Program in the Honors College. Loves it all - UMD has made engineering “fun” with their Keystone program (not trying to weed kids out). Professors are great. Beautiful new facilities. They have open houses for Clark School that sold our son on being a Terp. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Bump

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Two parents are journalists; we don't anything about engineering. DC is a junior. Aside from the obvious: UMD, Virginia Tech, Penn State, Ga Tech, what other schools -- small, large, near and far -- should our child be considering? I'm trying to go beyond just a US News ranking.
If you're a parent of an engineering major or an engineer yourself, I'd love your suggestions on colleges to consider and maybe why you'd recommend some of the places. Thanks!

Answer also depends on grades, SAT/ACT tier, coursework rigor, etc. For instance, A 4.0, national level EC, 12 APs, BC Calc in 10th grade kid has a shot at MIT. A 3.5, mediocre ECs, 8APs and BC calc in 12th grade may have a shot at RIT or Rochester. Any list without this info. is pointless.

[Anonymous]

What about CNU?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which is your instate? I think it’s crazy to pay OOS cost for engineering majors. If MD, go to UMD. If VA, try VTech. If he is interested in research, bigger schools offer more research opportunities. Research exp is also necessary if he wants to get PHD at some point. I am an engineer and my son got his bs from UMD then PHD from MIT. Just as a reference.

your answer isn't helpful because:

a) Some schools weed people out so getting in is just half the battle. Why do that?
b) Kids can get merit aid at OOS flagships and make the cost comparable. They don't even have to be tippy top students.
c) Not everyone can get into their own state's flagship.

Glad your son is so special that he can get a PhD from MIT. Truly happy for you that he is so talented. Who needs advice if their kid is the top of the class? It is the rest of us that are looking for more varied opportunities.

a. getting in not half the battle. if you have hard time getting in, eng is not for you
b. instate cost about 25k, OOS cost about 45k/privates cost 65K or so. tell me which school given that much merit for middle of the pack students
c. see a.

What does "a hard time getting in" look like? You either get in or you don't. Same effort for all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

your answer isn't helpful because:

a) Some schools weed people out so getting in is just half the battle. Why do that?
b) Kids can get merit aid at OOS flagships and make the cost comparable. They don't even have to be tippy top students.
c) Not everyone can get into their own state's flagship.

Glad your son is so special that he can get a PhD from MIT. Truly happy for you that he is so talented. Who needs advice if their kid is the top of the class? It is the rest of us that are looking for more varied opportunities.

Pitt is a good alternative for eng majors having a tough time getting in to state schools Generous with merit aid as well.

Pitt engineering might be easier to get into than UMD or VT but the merit aid is nowhere near enough to bring it down to an in-state cost, even for the top students. Certainly a student who would get denied for engineering at UMD or VT isn't going to get much if any merit aid at Pitt.

But they also won't be going to VT/UMD so need alternatives.

Potential engineering students in VA should also apply to other engineering options in-state, i.e. GMU, VCU, ODU, so there's an option that's more affordable. But totally reasonable to also apply to OOS schools and see where the cost comes out.

[Anonymous]

OP, it really helps to make a call on narrowing his non-academic criteria. Have you started visiting any schools yet? Example, our DC after visiting a lot of schools realized he wanted a mid-sized school, so that narrowed the list significantly by dropping all of the big state schools and all of the tiny schools. So his list looked completely different from his bff's list as that kid really wanted a big school with a fun football culture.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What about CNU?

They have a limited set of engineering majors -- computer engineering and electrical engineering. Other majors in the "engineering school" are computer science, cybersecurity, information science, physics.

[Anonymous]

It may be more urban than desired but I know a kid having a good experience at Wentworth Inst of Tech in Boston

[Anonymous]

The topic was started 4 years ago, in 2019. OP's kid was likely a 2020 admit and is not a rising senior in college. I suspect she's not looking for any advice on college admissions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The topic was started 4 years ago, in 2019. OP's kid was likely a 2020 admit and is not a rising senior in college. I suspect she's not looking for any advice on college admissions

Somebody bumped it. I've been seeing this more often lately. PP's if you are bumping an old thread, add info as to why! Or just start a new thread. College admissions has changed a lot in the last few years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Engineer here. There are really no bad engineering programs because they tend to weed less qualified or motivated students out. The difference between elite schools (eg MIT, Stanford) and everyone else is that the weeding out happens during admissions. And of course those elite schools have great networks,facilities, etc. But your child will get a solid education from any program. I say this having attended both a normal school for undergrad and an "elite" school for grad school.

Have you considered co-op schools, like Drexel or Northeastern? These programs will allow your child to actually try out engineering for six months at a time, in a form of extended paid internship. Really good experience and provides your child with info on whether engineering will be a good career fit (vs just class study) and whether they should consider a different type of engineering (eg comp vs electrical) based on the type of work. We engineers call this a feed back loop

Finally a knowledgable well thought out response!

Sure, MIT, Cal Tech, Harvy Mudd are world renowned programs. And if you want to get a PhD in engineering and do some ground-breaking research you should aim for schools like that. For everyone else who just wants to be an engineer and get a job doing actual engineering, virtually any ABET accredited program would be fine. Decide what other attributes are important in a college to help you narrow it down.
I went to Notre Dame. Not necessarily known for its engineering program, but it has a fantastic aerospace program that is part of the joint aero/mechanical department. So it might be a great place to look if you want a Catholic school in Indiana. (And as many others have said, if Indiana is an option, absolutely consider Purdue.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about CNU?

They have a limited set of engineering majors -- computer engineering and electrical engineering. Other majors in the "engineering school" are computer science, cybersecurity, information science, physics.

True, but CNU actually is a fine option if DC is interested in any of those degrees. Admissions to CNU are a bit easier than say VPI or UVA and its an in-state public for Virginians. ODU in Norfolk is another less heralded option for VA in-state Engineering. Both used to primarily be commuter schools, but now have more campus life and out of area students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The topic was started 4 years ago, in 2019. OP's kid was likely a 2020 admit and is not a rising senior in college. I suspect she's not looking for any advice on college admissions

Somebody bumped it. I've been seeing this more often lately. PP's if you are bumping an old thread, add info as to why! Or just start a new thread. College admissions has changed a lot in the last few years.

Whenever I start a new thread your opposite posts a snippy comment directing me to use the search function.