Engineering Colleges

[zookeeper]

They rank 17 schools. I don't consider it a complete list.

And MIT does consider OKSTATE (not Ohio State) a competitor (actually, THE competitor). And I'm an engineer by profession, and we consider OSU (OK State) a very high ranking quality program to recruit from as well. Texas A&M also. They're also not on the list.

So again, my original point/post still stands.

No. They rank most every school with these programs, you just need a subscription to see them all. I already said I believe you!

[jerrywall]

No. They rank most every school with these programs, you just need a subscription to see them all. I already said I believe you!

Actually, you said you believed OnlyOne. But by the transitive property, I'll take it!

[CaptDave]

OSU is also associated with University Multispectral Laboratories that does a ton of defense and aerospace research. They are one of the primary reasons there is so much unmanned aerial vehicle development occurring in OK.

[blangtang]

OP, does your kid want to be an engineer? or do you want him/her to be one?

please ask your kid how much student loan debt he/she is willing to take on for a degree, 20k, 45k, 80k? I'd like to hear what the up and comers think is reasonable these days.

[Brownwood]

They rank 17 schools. I don't consider it a complete list.

And MIT does consider OKSTATE (not Ohio State) a competitor (actually, THE competitor). And I'm an engineer by profession, and we consider OSU (OK State) a very high ranking quality program to recruit from as well. Texas A&M also. They're also not on the list.

So again, my original point/post still stands.

Wow, that's very impressive. I'm really glad to learn about OSU's excellence and reputation.

[Brownwood]

OU or OSU would be the way to go in my opinion, although if scholarships make the costs similar, it would be worth it to apply to one or two of the ivies you mentioned.

My wife has completed her bachelors in civil engineering and will complete her masters in engineering at OU. She has gotten a top- notch education and practically has to fend off job suitors.

That's very reassuring. I don't think we will know the final out of pocket cost until after acceptance but it's good to know there are excellent options both in state and out of state. Thanks for the input.

[PWitty]

I have degrees in Chemical Engineering and Petroleum Engineering from KU, and these are just my opinions based on friends I have who went on to bigger private schools (Cal Tech, Stanford, etc.) for grad school.

It seems to me like the only advantage the BIG state schools (Texas, Michigan, GT, etc.) and the big private schools (MIT, Stanford, etc.) have for engineering graduates is if you're looking to stay in academia and do research, or if that school is in a region of the country that you would like to move to for work. Don't get me wrong, all of the schools I mentioned have national connections, but it will be much easier to get a good engineering job in Boston/NYC if you go to MIT, or a tech job in SF if you are from Stanford or Cal Berkley because of their job placement connections. Engineering isn't like a lot of other degrees that may not be as rigorous at OU as it is at MIT. Engineering schools all have to stay accredited and all the universities are going to be teaching their students the same thing. The biggest benefit to the big private/state schools is the research capabilities that the students have at their fingertips. They also have the ability to be much more selective in their admissions, so most of the kids at engineering schools like MIT aren't going to be the types of kids to fail out or not be able to make the cut. At smaller regional state schools like OU and KU who can't be as selective, there is going to be a lot of "weed-out" classes to make sure that the students who don't belong in engineering don't advance past their first or second year. But I would say that the kids who graduate in the top 20% of OU/OSU/KU's engineering classes are every bit as talented as graduates from a more prestigious school.

Just my opinion though. And like others have said, each school will have its strengths and weaknesses even within Engineering.

[LandRunOkie]

My advice would be to focus on the strengths of the specific programs your son is considering rather than the prestige of the institution as a whole. OU is unbeatable in meteorology and petroleum engineering. MIT and Stanford are going to be tops in robotics, weapons engineering, computer science, etc. UCO is building a great reputation in forensics. But each school is going to have a few flagship programs that are well respected. Don't think twice about sending him to South Dakota if that's where the best program is for his interests. Also the more the parents can help financially the better the chance of graduating. Many scholarships have higher GPA requirements than the college requires - this info makes a difference when the class average for a thermo exam is 40 and the instructor decides to curve grades and no one knows whether they pass until grades get reported at the end of the semester. How deep a parent's pockets are is unfortunately more predictive of graduation than the intelligence of a student.