college questions/stuffs...

[eLiu]

Hey

I'm currently a soph in HS...kinda early to be thinking of college, but my parents think I should visit some schools this summer, b/c my next one will be rather busy.

Anyways, what I'm interested in is math/compsci/aerospace; so basically, an engineering school (since most engineering schools will also have fairly good cs/math programs...right?)

so...the schools I'm thinking of:
Georgia Tech
MIT
Penn State Univ Park
Univ Illinois @ Urbana Champagne
Purdue Univ
Univ of Michigan

I did some basic research...like I looked thru the information provided by USNews.com--their rankings, school info, etc & collegeboard. When I get some more time, I'll go thru the schools' websites too.

and, I'll apply to NC-State no matter what, so it's not in the "i have no clue" column listed above.

But anyways, my parents say that I should pick out 3 or 4 colleges to visit summer (maybe more, maybe less, depending on the cost of travel). Can y'all recommend a few to visit?

Also, what do y'all think of my list? Good? Bad? Are there schools I should remove/add? (Note: I wanna keep the total # around 5-7, so don't add any w/o telling me one to remove...). I'll also go visit my counselor after AP exams are done (week after next).

Thanks in advance,
-Eric

Edit: oh, and if anyone is interested...the USnews rankings are here.

Edit2: I'm currently thinking of visiting MIT, Illinois, and Georgia. But since Purdue is close to Illinois & Penn state is close to MIT...well, I may just hit those two as well. If not, which should I visit of Purdue & Illinois?

Grades: my grades are very strong; I should graduate top 5 from my school (Enloe HS, country's best magnet school, one of the top50 Hiskoos). I'm also participating in the IB program & am taking a "rigorous" courseload (AP/IB). Extra-curricular activities is on the weak-mediocre (i have a 3 major things...some leadership) side though, which is why I'm kinda veering away from Ivy-League schools, as I assume (correctly?) that engineering type places dont place as much emphasis on that.

 

[minendo]

Well I am a little biased, but Purdue would be a great choice. Especially for aerospace engineering. Take a look at how many former astronauts have graduated from Purdue. I have a few friends in the aerospace program here at Purdue and I could get you into contact with them if you are interested.

 

[fatalbert]

its good to have a range of schools that you are looking at (I see you do)

I don't know your grades, but it sounds like a challenging list of schools.

As for schools to visit, what is important to you, i.e. Program, Location.

I'd recomend visiting schools in both the college town atomosphere and a city schools because the location may sway your vote.

I'd say visit MIT and Penn State during one trip, they are both in the same general direction from NC so it makes sense to plan to see them one after the other.

 

[Supermercado]

I'm biased, of course, but if you're looking at schools like Georgia Tech and NC State for engineering, you may also want to check out Clemson.

 

[minendo]

If you plan on visiting Purdue (which you should plan on doing) send me a message and I'll be glad to show you around campus and answer any questions you have.

 

[Sybren]

Well I don't know what kind of campus you are looking for, but personally I don't recommend GA Tech in the least (and I live in Atlanta). It's campus is completely urban, and it's in a pretty ghetto part of Atlanta. There is no grass, and if you ask me, I wouldn't even call it's 'campus' a campus. And all of this doesn't even account for the fact that it's about 70% guys, which kind of screws up what a lot of people want out of a college experience. If I were looking to go into engineering, I would look at schools that are known for both their liberal arts and their engineering... which mostly limits you to private schools, but hey... it's my opinion that it would provide for a more well-rounded college experience.

 

[jpsj82]

well if you are going to be in the northeast for mit you should also check out rpiand wpi. both are reguarded as great schools (and they are both engineering schools).

 

[ScottyB]

What about Michigan Tech?

 

[vi edit]

It's tough to go wrong with University of Illinois school of Engineering. Had a couple guys in my high school class graduate out of their CS Engineering school...needless to say...they are doing QUITE well for themselves.

I know a guy who graduated from the Areospace engineering school there as well, and he is doing contract work for the Navy working on missle and satellite guidance systems. He makes some big time $$$$$.

It's incredibly tough to get into the engineering schools though. Very, very selective.

 

[eLiu]

minendo, that'd be great if you could put me in contact with some students I'll PM you about visits and such 2maro...I want some sleep

I would look at schools that are known for both their liberal arts and their engineering... which mostly limits you to private schools, but hey... it's my opinion that it would provide for a more well-rounded college experience.

Which schools are "well-rounded"? Cornell comes to mind, but they lack aerospace as a major (according to collegeboard at least).

Programs are important to me...location might be, but I'm not really sure of the difference between an urban/nonurban environment (I've spent 1 month in Taipei a few times...my only real 'big city' experience).

Ill add an edit w/other info to the orig post...

-Eric

 

[vi edit]

UI U/C is certainly a small town like atmosphere.

PM Amused One here from the forums. He lives there and can probably tell you anything you want to know about the area.

 

[Gibson486]

Most private Boston area colleges (MIT, Northeastern, Boston University) have excellent engineering programs. Boston University has an excellent areospace program since the top floor of the college has a aerospace company, which leads to lots of coop. northestern requires all graduates of engineering to have a really good amount of Coop in order to graduate, as a result, however, you spend 5 years inorder to graduate. MIT, well, everyone knows MIT is tops in everything.

 

[GiGoLo]

i dont know if this is still the case, but the only reason i chose NOT to goto Georgia Tech was a 4:1 Guy: Girl ratio

 

[Jfur]

CalTech absolutely. And you can intern at JPL while you're there

 

[Goosemaster]

Drexel is awesome too.....Never heard of it? many haven't
(next to Pennstate...Pretty big too...Uiversity City ius made of Penn, Lincoln and Drexel....)

The guy who invented Lasik Eye Surgery went here....

Our profs are excellent..THey teach you how to do stuff to the point where you can effectively learn stuff yourself...not just "memorize" stuff


MANY MANY students come here for a specific prof we have here...


By the way, CO-OP is a part of the curriculum....That is a good thing by the way.

By the time I have my undergraduate degree, I will have gone through 5 six-moth CO-ops...IF i recall correctly(5 yr prog..4year available too)


That is Freakin Awesome if you know what I mean...

I have friends working for SUnoco...
The military..
Overseas..


EVERYTHing..

Sorry about the caotic reponse...just been playing soccer for a few hours.....tired and out of breath.

 

[nightowl]

Purdue would good choice for any engineering major or computer science. One of the CS professors is well-known for is development with IP and the Internet.

<-- Response is a little biased - another Boilermaker