college for engineering major

[JoiseyMom]

My son went to Clarkson University in Potsdam NY, http://www.clarkson.edu/.

It's a small private school upstate NY. He graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, 2 years ago.

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

My undergrad is from Duke (but it was not engineering), which is actually quite generous with academic aid and offers a highly ranked engineering school. My grad degree in engineering is from Rensselaer (RPI) - it was free for me as a TA/RA, so I don't know about undergrad aid.

DH's engineering degree is from NC State.

I'd also throw in a vote for Georgia Tech. I don't know about their aid packages, but their engineering programs are top-notch.

Here's a link to some of the top-ranked engineering programs in case there is a school near you that you might not have considered:

http://polycentric.csupomona.edu/campus_news/usnews_engineering14th.pdf

 

[hmdavid]

It used to be, but has since changed, that it was comparable if not cheaper for Illinois students to pay out of state rates at Iowa State than it was for many of the in-state Illinois colleges. (DH is an Iowa State Construction Engineering grad). I remember when we lived in Texas a few years ago we were at an alumni softball tournament and met another IA State alumni who was from Illinois. She said it was true at the time she went, but she had a sister who was a student there now and it had changed and was more expensive than in-state rates.

There were a lot of guys in DH's dorm from the Chicago area when he was an RA back in the mid 90's.

My DH was ConE as well... when did yours graduate?

 

[HayGan]

I work in an engineering company (although not an an engineer.) Most of my colleagues in this office went to Penn State. Most of my Canadian colleagues went to McGill. They would be industrial engineers (most of them.)

 

[lilybrooke14]

The most well known one in Missouri is the "Missouri University of Science and Technology" (Formerly University of Missouri - Rolla....and I just can't get used to the new name). DH got a great scholarship there, and got his Computer Engineering degree there. I also got a scholarship there, and attended for a few years, but did not finish college. It's not one of the most dynamic campuses in the world, but the grads from there don't seem to have much trouble getting jobs at some pretty cool places. We have friends that work for Garmin, Boeing, Cerner, the US government, and a host of other cool "techie" places. Pretty much everyone that goes there is either an Enginnering, Computer Science, or Architecture major.

*ahem* the football team sucks though.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

I have a BSME from a small private engineering college. I almost hate to type this out, but your son will stand a much better chance of a scholarship to one of the private engineering schools if he qualifies as a minority of some sort. I really think that my financial aid was so good because I'm female (and therefore a big minority in engineering).

 

[megthewonderful]

My DH and I both graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. I have a BS and a MEng in Industrial and Management Engineering and my DH has a BS and a MEng in Mechanical Engineering. I'd like to think we both turned out as good engineers! While I'm currently a domestic engineering (my name for a SAHM) my husband is using his degree in the defense industry. RPI is a tough school, but it's worth it. The campus and the surrounding city of Troy aren't the best though.

 

[Anne34]

My husband went to Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) -- good school, but very expensive...they do give aid, but it will probably still be more expensive than an in-state Illinois college with reduced tuition.

 

[Andrea from PA]

Drexel in Phila PA is fairly good at merit awards. They have a great co-op program.

That said -- Beware -- Engineering is touted as a great major, but many high achieving high school kids are pushed into sciences only to discover they hate it -- If your child has never been exposed to non-science fields or if hours of math & lab could bore them, please open up your search to liberal art schools with "strong" science programs.

Easier to change a major than change a school down the road.

 

[mtblujeans]

My DS is currently in his third year at MSU Bozeman. I can't speak to how generous they are with the scholarships but you could certainly take a look at Bozeman to compare. I think comparing the schools helps to knock some right out of the running. Good luck to you and your DS!

 

[malibuconlee]

My DH was ConE as well... when did yours graduate?

Cool!! Small world. He graduated in 1996.

 

[mjh8955]

Great information here!! Additional information:

Not a minority student. Not particularly competetive, just smart. He will be a senior, his cumulative is just below a 4.5 on a 5.0 scale. ACT was a 28. My son's greatest desire is to become a roller coaster designer/builder. He enters and wins virtual roller coaster competetions with his designs. I personally think his gift is the imagination part of designing, but he really feels an engineering background will help him reach his goal someday. This summer he is going to an engineering/construction camp at a military base hosted by the Society of American Military Engineers (got a scholarship) and this will hopefully show him if he can love engineering or if he hates it and needs to think about something else. He will apply to U of I but it is very hard to get into engineering without a pretty high GPA. His next choice is University of Central Florida because of the work study programs with Disney, Universal and NASA. Any out of state or private school is being considered, but it would sure help if we could find one that offers some kind of scholarship. Not sure his grades are high enough for that. We do have a good community college in the area and that is being considered as well, then transferring into an engineering program afterwards.

 

[Nolcrest]

My son just finished his junior year in Mechanical Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy NY. He did 2 years at community college and transferred to RPI. I felt they were very generous with their awards and scholarships. Because of this he is able to go there. Troy area is not so nice however he was able to get very reasonable housing. He LOVES RPI. This school is a great fit for my son. DS is currently doing an internship for the next 2 semesters so he'll be back there in January to finish up. He is so happy with his internship because he is gaining valuable work experience and the company has already told him he'll be guaranteed a job upon his graduation if he was interested. GO REDHAWKS!

Lauri

 

[mtblujeans]

Great information here!! Additional information:

Not a minority student. Not particularly competetive, just smart. He will be a senior, his cumulative is just below a 4.5 on a 5.0 scale. ACT was a 28. My son's greatest desire is to become a roller coaster designer/builder. He enters and wins virtual roller coaster competetions with his designs. I personally think his gift is the imagination part of designing, but he really feels an engineering background will help him reach his goal someday. This summer he is going to an engineering/construction camp at a military base hosted by the Society of American Military Engineers (got a scholarship) and this will hopefully show him if he can love engineering or if he hates it and needs to think about something else. He will apply to U of I but it is very hard to get into engineering without a pretty high GPA. His next choice is University of Central Florida because of the work study programs with Disney, Universal and NASA. Any out of state or private school is being considered, but it would sure help if we could find one that offers some kind of scholarship. Not sure his grades are high enough for that. We do have a good community college in the area and that is being considered as well, then transferring into an engineering program afterwards.

My DS seriously considered Bozeman when he and DH drove down there to check out the campus and they got a GOOD look at the science and engineering departments. We live in Montana but we didn't even know of the connection between Bozeman and NASA. That little tidbit was the deciding factor for DS.

When DS took his SATs, he had the results sent to Bozeman and, that, with his HS counselor, helped him scan through the scholarships that would be available to him in his chosen field of education. Once those test scores are made available to the colleges en mass, we got offers of scholarships from all over the country.

Unfortunately, you may have to do some traveling to check out some of the schools/options available to DS in order to get a full picture.

 

[bmoncher]

I went to Lehigh for Engineering, but seriously considered RPI.
My BIL and DSis went to RPI - wonderful school..

Lehigh was great for engineering - small classes..
When I went to school out mascot was a Lehigh Engineer... they have now become politically correct and are the Lehigh Brown and White

 

[EthansMom]

Great information here!! Additional information:

Not a minority student. Not particularly competetive, just smart. He will be a senior, his cumulative is just below a 4.5 on a 5.0 scale. ACT was a 28. My son's greatest desire is to become a roller coaster designer/builder. He enters and wins virtual roller coaster competetions with his designs. I personally think his gift is the imagination part of designing, but he really feels an engineering background will help him reach his goal someday. This summer he is going to an engineering/construction camp at a military base hosted by the Society of American Military Engineers (got a scholarship) and this will hopefully show him if he can love engineering or if he hates it and needs to think about something else. He will apply to U of I but it is very hard to get into engineering without a pretty high GPA. His next choice is University of Central Florida because of the work study programs with Disney, Universal and NASA. Any out of state or private school is being considered, but it would sure help if we could find one that offers some kind of scholarship. Not sure his grades are high enough for that. We do have a good community college in the area and that is being considered as well, then transferring into an engineering program afterwards.

You're getting a lot of endorsements for different engineering programs.

Both DH and I have engineering degrees. DH has his BS from U of Mich and his MS from MIT. I have my BS from Wash. State University.

We both feel pretty strongly that most students can get a good Bachelors Degree in Engineering (esp. the "basic" engineerings like Mech, Civil, etc.) from any good-quality accredited program. Most states have at least one state university that would qualify, by our standards. An amibitious, hard-working student can get a pretty dang-good education by attending a high-quality engineering program at a state university.

Most state schools charge a higher tuition rate for out-of-state students (thousands of dollars more in tuition). Check with your state to see if they have a "reciprocal agreement" that lets students from your state attend state university in other states at in-state rates. If so, check out programs in those states as well as your own.

OTO, some private universities have large endowments (scholarship donations) that allow them to give more aid and scholarships. Thus, some programs that you *might* consider to be more expensive could actually be less expensive.

Good Luck!

 

[malibuconlee]

I would definitely say he should look at structural or mechanical engineering then if he wants to do roller coaster design.

Maybe he can do some research over the summer and find a company that does roller coaster design, contact them and see if he can come in to do a day or so of job shadowing. Might be worth the expense of a trip to see if it's what he really wants to do.

As for Community College, DH did 2 years at CC, then 3 at Iowa State and he wouldn't do it any other way.

 

[miraclemommy]

Rose Hulman in Terre Haute, Indiana. It is small and very hands on. They have a good internship program and offer quite a few scholarships.

Jennifer

 

[mtblujeans]

MIT was DSs first choice but I didn't want him that far away from home right out of high school. He still has MIT in the back of his mind after undergrad. I may have to start a thread, then, and get more info down the road.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

You're getting a lot of endorsements for different engineering programs.

Both DH and I have engineering degrees. DH has his BS from U of Mich and his MS from MIT. I have my BS from Wash. State University.

We both feel pretty strongly that most students can get a good Bachelors Degree in Engineering (esp. the "basic" engineerings like Mech, Civil, etc.) from any good-quality accredited program. Most states have at least one state university that would qualify, by our standards. An amibitious, hard-working student can get a pretty dang-good education by attending a high-quality engineering program at a state university.

Most state schools charge a higher tuition rate for out-of-state students (thousands of dollars more in tuition). Check with your state to see if they have a "reciprocal agreement" that lets students from your state attend state university in other states at in-state rates. If so, check out programs in those states as well as your own.

OTO, some private universities have large endowments (scholarship donations) that allow them to give more aid and scholarships. Thus, some programs that you *might* consider to be more expensive could actually be less expensive.

Good Luck!

I totally agree with you. In our old area, there was no differentiation between the grads of our private engineering college and the grads of the state engineering school when it came to hiring. People frequently had an undergrad degree from one school and a grad degree from the other (or vice versa) too, so they really were considered pretty interchangeable.