college for engineering major

[Kteacher]

My DS just graduated h.s. He will be majoring in Mechanical Engineering and applied mostly to New England schools ( UMASS, RPI, BU, Northeastern, Worcester Polytech, Univ. of Vermont, McGill, and Western New England College ). He received academic scholarships at all the schools, but Western New England offered him a 4 year free ride. It's a small private school in Springfield, Ma.-nice campus with small class sizes. Good luck to your son

 

[robsmom]

I went to Lafayette. I was not an engineer but many friends were. It is in Easton Pa and is a liberal arts college and enginnering school (i know strange but good combinaton). A good choice if he wants to take art courses or other things. It is a very small school (2000 total) with one on one time with professors. Ranked about 25-30 in National Liberal Arts Colleges. They have too many people from PA and NJ so they are usually trying to give scholorship money to people a little further away.

 

[Mouseless2Long]

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'm not an engineer, but have spent 25+ years as a human resources professional primarily responsible for staffing engineering positions. My experience is that the above poster is correct. It was never that important to my selecting officials, the majority of whom possessed advanced degrees in engineering themselves, from where the applicants came but rather how well they did in school (overall GPA and major GPA).

 

[DVC Sadie]

Looking for a college with mechanical engineering program that is generous with academic scholarships. We get a 50% tuition break for any Illinois state college but we are trying to see what else might be available outside the state. Son has 4.4047 GPA out of a 5.0 at a small private high school. Classes are tough, they do not actually rank beyond the first two because the top students' GPA's are all clustered together but he is 15th out of 34.

My father went to North Eastern in Boston for both industrial and mechanical engineering and I know for a fact that there are numerous scholarships and grants available for those who have a 3.5 GPA or above.

Some of these scholarships offered cover 100% tuition.

 

[toledo13]

I didn't read all of the responses- but take a look at Case Western Reserve in Ohio. I work at a college in Central Ohio (in Admissions no less)- and when people ask us about Engineering schools, I always tell them Case. Though, DBIL went to THE Ohio State University for his Engineering degree....

 

[beachbunny]

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandr.../college/rankings/brief/webex/merit_brief.php

Above is a list of the most generous colleges.

Compare it to a list of colleges that offer mechanical engineering.

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/majors/brief/major_15-0805_brief.php

Personally, I would pick a college or several colleges that your son wants to attend and see what they offer. Some of the most expensive colleges offer the most money. You never know...

 

[JoiseyMom]

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.

Sounds like my DS. He loves roller coasters and that was his main goal when he first majored in engineering. Now he is more into cars.. He did do some very cool projects in college though. You son has plenty of excellent options!

 

[slightly_obsessed]

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.

Yes they do.

I went to Rolla too.. the engineering programs are awesome; there's a good variety - probably 20 different majors of engineering covered (and many go for dual majors fairly easily). I would guess about 1/4-1/3 of students are non-engineering... engineering is definately king. I know that they offer a discounted tuition for several surrounding states and are pretty good with the scholarships. I was offered pretty close to a full ride there vs. Rose Hulman (saw someone else mention them) where I got a loan for laptop. Big help that was.

It's a small town, but has lots of involvment on campus for those who want to be involved. I hope he gives it a look! I really loved it there, even when I decided engineering wasn't for me. Good luck on his search!

 

[newtodcl]

As an alumnus, I guarantee you could not go wrong with GA Tech for any engineering major. You will graduate ready and able to do what you aspire to do. And they have plenty of special interest projects / groups for the "more interesting" applications of engineering!!

 

[tomthebarncat]

I work with a bunch of engineers, all of whom went to MIT. They were recruited right out of school and are now living and working in Europe, developing and designing nuclear power plants. They love their lives and especially MIT!! as it is considered a very prestigious school. Harvard and MIT are the two well known schools in europe and even the europeans are impressed with these schools. Good luck to whatever he does, please remember there are no bad schools just bad students!!

 

[Green Tea]

University of Dayton was high on the generous list and the mechanical list. That isn't too far from your home, right?

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.