Anonymous
Post 12/13/2025 19:08     Subject: Engineering schools that won’t crush my child’s soul
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:If you're going to study engineering, do it in California. Cal Poly SLO has some of the happiest students I've ever seen. At least you're slogging through a rigorous program and not having to battle seasonal affective disorder at the same time.


Cal Poly SLO is at least worth a look see. Great placement into Silly Valley tech jobs.

Don't know if it meets OP's criteria.


The more important question is: what is OP's kid's criteria?

Anonymous
Post 12/13/2025 18:35     Subject: Engineering schools that won’t crush my child’s soul
Anonymous wrote:If you're going to study engineering, do it in California. Cal Poly SLO has some of the happiest students I've ever seen. At least you're slogging through a rigorous program and not having to battle seasonal affective disorder at the same time.


Cal Poly SLO is at least worth a look see. Great placement into Silly Valley tech jobs.

Don't know if it meets OP's criteria.
Anonymous
Post 12/13/2025 18:11     Subject: Re:Engineering schools that won’t crush my child’s soul
I've heard good things about the balance of rigor and culture at

OSU
Pitt
Wisconsin
Marquette
Stevens
UMN twin-cities

(varies a little depending on concentration)
Anonymous
Post 12/13/2025 14:13     Subject: Engineering schools that won’t crush my child’s soul
Anonymous wrote:If the kid is happy at a TJ-caliber school he might not be content with a mid engineering program at no-name school and mid peers.



This. Go for the peers that match your kid. Top 1/5th of TJ will not likely be among peers if they go to Engineering outside ivy+ privates with actual E schools or T3 Public Engineering schools.
Anonymous
Post 12/13/2025 14:01     Subject: Engineering schools that won’t crush my child’s soul
If you're going to study engineering, do it in California. Cal Poly SLO has some of the happiest students I've ever seen. At least you're slogging through a rigorous program and not having to battle seasonal affective disorder at the same time.
Anonymous
Post 12/13/2025 11:09     Subject: Engineering schools that won’t crush my child’s soul
If the kid is happy at a TJ-caliber school he might not be content with a mid engineering program at no-name school and mid peers.

Anonymous
Post 12/13/2025 10:54     Subject: Engineering schools that won’t crush my child’s soul
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We are looking for engineering programs for my DC too. My DH is an engineer and has a PhD in EE. He went to a well known competitive private university that’s highly regarded for engineering. He hated it. He hated his classmates. It was a total grind. He wants DC to go to a state university for engineering. Because engineering programs are accredited, they all teach roughly the same thing (same classes). The difference is the amount of homework assigned and the culture of your classmates/program. He feels more homework doesn’t lead to better engineers.


Umm...Call Berkely and Georgia Tech are two of the Top 3 Engineering colleges in the US and they are Public. Quite certain they are no less a grind or less competitive. So, I assume you mean further down the chain among Publics? The question is how far down? Auburn has a good Engineering program as well as UF.


It seemed pretty clear to some of us that she was thinking of an ordinary in-state public engineering program, in whichever state that might be, and not a program chosen for its rank.


Sorry, I'm slower than most.

Anonymous
Post 12/13/2025 10:18     Subject: Engineering schools that won’t crush my child’s soul
I would not send my kid to Purdue or UIUC engineering.

Every exam is stressful and the overall focus of the kids transitions to not failing classes vs learning / exploring engineering.

I think schools like NC State, U Colorado Boulder offer a much better environment with decent outcomes in terms of jobs post graduation.
Anonymous
Post 12/13/2025 10:13     Subject: Engineering schools that won’t crush my child’s soul
Anonymous wrote:We are looking for engineering programs for my DC too. My DH is an engineer and has a PhD in EE. He went to a well known competitive private university that’s highly regarded for engineering. He hated it. He hated his classmates. It was a total grind. He wants DC to go to a state university for engineering. Because engineering programs are accredited, they all teach roughly the same thing (same classes). The difference is the amount of homework assigned and the culture of your classmates/program. He feels more homework doesn’t lead to better engineers.


There are excellent public university engineering programs that are well regarded and offer an excellent education. If your kid did very well in HS, schools like UMD, UIUC, Purdue are top tier contenders. Other good schools include Rutgers, Ohio State, Delaware.

Our son is first year engineering at UMD and has found it very manageable thus far. He has plenty of time for a couple of clubs and socializing. His public HS prepared him well for first semester engineering, but he understands that it will get tougher.
Anonymous
Post 12/13/2025 09:36     Subject: Engineering schools that won’t crush my child’s soul
Try places like Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Nebraska. They are clean, safe, sane, & well-organized.
Anonymous
Post 12/13/2025 09:24     Subject: Engineering schools that won’t crush my child’s soul
Them
Grind

Stupid autocorrect
Anonymous
Post 12/13/2025 09:24     Subject: Engineering schools that won’t crush my child’s soul
I definitely appreciate the retention rate metric. Kids with great work ethics getting into them leaving the major at 19 are a strong signal that a program is a friend.
Anonymous
Post 12/13/2025 09:21     Subject: Engineering schools that won’t crush my child’s soul
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We are looking for engineering programs for my DC too. My DH is an engineer and has a PhD in EE. He went to a well known competitive private university that’s highly regarded for engineering. He hated it. He hated his classmates. It was a total grind. He wants DC to go to a state university for engineering. Because engineering programs are accredited, they all teach roughly the same thing (same classes). The difference is the amount of homework assigned and the culture of your classmates/program. He feels more homework doesn’t lead to better engineers.


Umm...Call Berkely and Georgia Tech are two of the Top 3 Engineering colleges in the US and they are Public. Quite certain they are no less a grind or less competitive. So, I assume you mean further down the chain among Publics? The question is how far down? Auburn has a good Engineering program as well as UF.


It seemed pretty clear to some of us that she was thinking of an ordinary in-state public engineering program, in whichever state that might be, and not a program chosen for its rank.
Anonymous
Post 12/13/2025 08:56     Subject: Engineering schools that won’t crush my child’s soul
Anonymous wrote:We are looking for engineering programs for my DC too. My DH is an engineer and has a PhD in EE. He went to a well known competitive private university that’s highly regarded for engineering. He hated it. He hated his classmates. It was a total grind. He wants DC to go to a state university for engineering. Because engineering programs are accredited, they all teach roughly the same thing (same classes). The difference is the amount of homework assigned and the culture of your classmates/program. He feels more homework doesn’t lead to better engineers.


Umm...Call Berkely and Georgia Tech are two of the Top 3 Engineering colleges in the US and they are Public. Quite certain they are no less a grind or less competitive. So, I assume you mean further down the chain among Publics? The question is how far down? Auburn has a good Engineering program as well as UF.
Anonymous
Post 12/13/2025 08:44     Subject: Engineering schools that won’t crush my child’s soul
Anonymous wrote:We are looking for engineering programs for my DC too. My DH is an engineer and has a PhD in EE. He went to a well known competitive private university that’s highly regarded for engineering. He hated it. He hated his classmates. It was a total grind. He wants DC to go to a state university for engineering. Because engineering programs are accredited, they all teach roughly the same thing (same classes). The difference is the amount of homework assigned and the culture of your classmates/program. He feels more homework doesn’t lead to better engineers.


+10