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wharfrat
Citizen
Username: Wharfrat
Post Number: 861
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Friday, November 28, 2003 - 8:02 pm: | 
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My nephew is a junior in HS, and is getting gearing-up for college applications. At the moment he thinks he wants to be an ME.
Any advice from people (parents and students) who have been there-done that ?
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Joan
Citizen
Username: Joancrystal
Post Number: 2229
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, November 29, 2003 - 4:18 pm: |
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Finding a college which has a strong program in your nephew's chosen major is a plus but it shouldn't be the only consideration. Your nephew should also consider factors such as cost, location (city-suburb-local), focus (strictly engineering/technical or more of a liberal arts orientation), size of the college in which he will feel most comfortable, whether the college has strong extracurricular programs in activities which interest him, whether he prefers living on campus or commmuting daily from home, if he will be working part-time and if so what job opportunities exist in close proximity to the college of his choice, where his friends are going, even what the weather is like. A good guidance counselor can help answer many of these questions and there is a lot of information available in books dealing with college selection and on the web.
Good luck. |
yabbadabbadoo
Citizen
Username: Yabbadabbadoo
Post Number: 5
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, November 29, 2003 - 10:49 pm: |
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I was accepted as an engineering major and lasted about a month. I discovered that that major had the least flexible curriculum for any course of study except for pre-med. I think it was 2 electives in 4 years. Life's short. No regrets. |
bobk
Supporter
Username: Bobk
Post Number: 3950
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, November 30, 2003 - 4:37 am: |
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I am not an engineer, but I work with a bunch of people who are, but went in for a mid-career job change.
There views are that the starting salary for engineers in attractive, but you peak out pretty quickly unless you move into management. If you move into management you end up on the road most of the time. One guy I know had to go to Asia for month long stints on a power plant job. One year he was on the road over forty weeks. Also, most engineering fields are changing quickly and becoming obsolete ten years down the line is a real possibility.
A couple of guys have indicated that they missed the overall college experience (which I take to mean drinking, partying and wrenching) because of the extremly inflexible and tough curriculum. You can take this as you may.
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Southorangemom
Citizen
Username: Southorangemom
Post Number: 52
Registered: 6-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, November 30, 2003 - 1:55 pm: |
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My experience with my son who is now a college junior is similar to what they say in real estate transactions -- location, location, location. Have your nephew think about WHERE he wants to spend the next 4 years. Does he like cold weather? Would he want to stray far away from home or stay within a few hours drive of mom and dad?
Next consideration is size of school. If he goes to a small high school, he may not be comfortable with a university that has thousands of undergrads. On the other hand, he may not want a college that is so small everyone knows each other by sight.
Of course, cost figures into it. As does his grades, SAT scores, and his high school career [sports, music, extracurricular activities].
At the end of the day, I do believe it is a crap shoot. You roll the dice [so to speak] but there is no way of knowing why the admissions office accepts one kid and rejects another.
Good luck!
SouthOrangeMom |
sac
Citizen
Username: Sac
Post Number: 801
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, November 30, 2003 - 8:30 pm: |
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If the climate preferences lead south, and the student has excellent grades and other good achievement indicators, then be sure that he looks at Rice University in Houston. It is a top tier school and also a true bargain among private institutions.
I should mention that, as an alum, I am not unbiased. Also, I too changed majors out of engineering, for similar reasons to those mentioned above. However, I would definitely recommend Rice to any good student interested in engineering as well as many other areas of study. |
shoshannah
Citizen
Username: Shoshannah
Post Number: 316
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Monday, December 1, 2003 - 11:42 am: |
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My nephew just started University of Rochester as an engineering student this semester. Can't say yet how he likes the engineering curriculum because that doesn't start full-force till next semester. However, I can tell you that he chose U of R over Georgia Tech so that he would have the flexibility to change if he so decided. Also, one tip he got when applying last year was that he could apply to liberal arts programs as a math major (adminssions officers love new math majors -- they are rare!) then change to engineering if he felt that his credentials weren't competitive enough to get admitted directly to engineering school. As it turned out, he got 800 on his math SAT, so he applied directly to engineering. |
bak
Citizen
Username: Bak
Post Number: 398
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, December 1, 2003 - 12:15 pm: |
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As a Lehigh grad, I have many friends that began in the Engineering school, but can count on one hand the number of those whose current positions are related to their engineering degree.
Most engineers, however, went on to very successful business careers in consulting and management.
At many of the top enginnering schools, hybrid degrees are now available, which combine enginnering with a related business field, creating a more marketable graduate. Check with the shcools about the latest trends and degrees--your nephew may find the possibilities exciting. Good luck! |
Tom Reingold the prissy-pants
Citizen
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 1225
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Monday, December 1, 2003 - 2:24 pm: |
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My degree program was in computer science, so strictly speaking, it wasn't an engineering degree, though I've hung out with engineers so long, I consider myself among them. Overall, technical careers are pretty rewarding. During the dotcom boom, people started admiring us, but before then, and since, people have thought that we're boring nerds. I think they don't appreciate the depth and breadth of our fields and tangential interests.
In a sense, it almost doesn't matter what your major is when you're an undergrad. Often, I think an English degree is the most valuable, not because it leads to a job, but because it teaches skills, reading and writing, that will be necessary everywhere.
I started out as a music major. My mother stressed that I ought to go to a university rather than a conservatory, so I'd be exposed to different fields of study and people. I think that worked out well. That advice might apply to an engineering major, too.
Tom Reingold
There is nothing
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mayhewdrive
Citizen
Username: Mayhewdrive
Post Number: 568
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, December 1, 2003 - 2:38 pm: |
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Having gone to Georgia Tech, I can tell you that it is a great expereience and going to a good engineering school is key. Although, keep in mind that if he is looking for a good female/male ratio, or a wild party time, he is looking in the wrong place. 
I'd also agree that most people I know who graduated with engineering degrees enjoyed the relatively high pay for a few years & then moved on to management or Law School. |
Tom Reingold the prissy-pants
Citizen
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 1226
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Monday, December 1, 2003 - 2:40 pm: |
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What's all this I hear about low pay? About three years ago, a person who had just earned a PhD in electrical engineering would get a starting salary at Bell Labs of about $130,000 per year. Of course, not everyone will get a PhD, and not everyone can get a job at Bell Labs. Heck, Bell Labs is pretty much gone now.
Engineers don't generally strike it rich, but they make good steady money over their careers. Things are tough these days, but I'm still pretty optimistic. There are lots of gadgets still left to be invented.
Tom Reingold
There is nothing
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1-2many
Citizen
Username: Wbg69
Post Number: 645
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Monday, December 1, 2003 - 5:41 pm: |
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TomR - I guess the grass does always seem greener - I have an English degree and by and large have found it to be not that helpful! it seems to be perceived as the extended version of "undecided". I often wish I had paid more attention to my math/spatial skills in picking a career. maybe I'll take a do-over... |
Tom Reingold the prissy-pants
Citizen
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 1230
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Monday, December 1, 2003 - 8:52 pm: |
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What are you doing with your English degree?
I've had many "computer people" work by my side who had liberal arts degrees.
Tom Reingold
There is nothing
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lamojo
Citizen
Username: Lamojo
Post Number: 59
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Monday, December 1, 2003 - 10:29 pm: |
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Hi - Another Lehigh grad here (ChemE). Engineering was tough for me, I think cuz I lacked some confidence as far as numbers were concerned. I finally got it all figured out senior year. I worked in engineering for five years, then did some teaching, went to business school, and now work for a large company in which I am in "finance" but rely somewhat on my engineering.
Engineering is a terrific choice - your nephew will learn great problem solving skills that he can apply to his profession as an engineer, or in any other field he might choose later on.
An engineering degree also commands some respect, probably no matter what school you go to.
I also chose ChemE when I was a high school junior, not really knowing what the ham I was getting into. Although it was tough I stuck it out for pride and because I did really enjoy chemistry. Your nephew might want to explore other engineering options when starts school - he may find another aspect more interesting.
The curriculum is tough and there are only limited options for electives. I had five humanity electives in four years at Lehigh (placed out of English)...definitely would have preferred more.
HTH |
Chalmers
Citizen
Username: Chalmers
Post Number: 29
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 2, 2003 - 10:47 am: |
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I'm not an engineer (nor do I play one on TV), but my alma mater, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has an excellent engineering college that several of my friends/roommates attended. Their experience is similar to the other fine engineering programs described by other posters (tough classes, few electives, many students switching majors).
If a 16-hour drive and a huge Big Ten student body doesn't bother your son, even the out-of-state tuition can be a real bargain given the faculty and facilities.
Journalism students like myself called the engineering quad the "Emerald City" partly for the green glass on the brand-new structures and partly because it made our surroundings look like those "Wizard of Oz" black-and-white Kansas scenes.
http://www.engr.uiuc.edu/
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