Engineering

[RESmonkey]

Originally posted by: KillerCharlie
Having a few coworkers at MIT (and getting accepted there for graduate school myself), I can tell you there is little extra value going there (as an undergraduate) as opposed to a state school that has a good engineering program.

Why so? I choose UIUC and feel bad about not applying to MIT, kinda. What are the advantages of a good state school?

 

[BarneyFife]

I'm a civil engineer and I never touched calculus or dif eq since I graduated.

 

[IEC]

Originally posted by: JohnCU

Originally posted by: darthsidious

Originally posted by: Epic Fail

Originally posted by: filthylopez
Is it a choice between doing something that has a practical application and is tangible, because most Engineers could probably have a good career in mathematics. Anyone agree?

Maybe as high school math teacher.

Yeah. Most engineers don't have the skill or inclination to be a mathematician (IMO).

all i did in school was math...? i'd say they have the skill.

One of my close friends here is a BME/Math double major. He has problem-solving skills + abstract math skills.

 

[darthsidious]

Originally posted by: RESmonkey

Originally posted by: KillerCharlie
Having a few coworkers at MIT (and getting accepted there for graduate school myself), I can tell you there is little extra value going there (as an undergraduate) as opposed to a state school that has a good engineering program.

Why so? I choose UIUC and feel bad about not applying to MIT, kinda. What are the advantages of a good state school?

A good state school would cost a lot less than the sticker tuition at MIT. But not everyone pays full price - over 70% of the student body gets financial aid.

To be honest, if you're a good student, you'll do well at any decent school. Infact, in some senses, you might be better off being a big fish in a smaller pond, than at a place like MIT. But MIT does have it's own advantages IMO. It's what you make of it. Unlike many large state schools, there are almost never waiting lists (except for restricted humanities classes). It's possible to do great research in top labs as an undergrad, and easily take grad level courses. The MIT tag can be valuable when applying for jobs, esp if you're applying for a quant/ibanking job w/an engineering background. Finally, as I've mentioned, the student body is great if you're a certain type of personality. It is worth paying a lot more than a state school for? That is debatable.

 

[theeedude]

Originally posted by: filthylopez
Is it a choice between doing something that has a practical application and is tangible, because most Engineers could probably have a good career in mathematics. Anyone agree?

Nobody could have a good career in Mathematics 😀

 

[RESmonkey]

Originally posted by: darthsidious

Originally posted by: RESmonkey

Originally posted by: KillerCharlie
Having a few coworkers at MIT (and getting accepted there for graduate school myself), I can tell you there is little extra value going there (as an undergraduate) as opposed to a state school that has a good engineering program.

Why so? I choose UIUC and feel bad about not applying to MIT, kinda. What are the advantages of a good state school?

A good state school would cost a lot less than the sticker tuition at MIT. But not everyone pays full price - over 70% of the student body gets financial aid.

To be honest, if you're a good student, you'll do well at any decent school. Infact, in some senses, you might be better off being a big fish in a smaller pond, than at a place like MIT. But MIT does have it's own advantages IMO. It's what you make of it. Unlike many large state schools, there are almost never waiting lists (except for restricted humanities classes). It's possible to do great research in top labs as an undergrad, and easily take grad level courses. The MIT tag can be valuable when applying for jobs, esp if you're applying for a quant/ibanking job w/an engineering background. Finally, as I've mentioned, the student body is great if you're a certain type of personality. It is worth paying a lot more than a state school for? That is debatable.

Hmm...not to mention commuting 6+ hours. I'll probably apply to MIT for grad school, though.

 

[Fenixgoon]

Originally posted by: RESmonkey

Originally posted by: KillerCharlie
Having a few coworkers at MIT (and getting accepted there for graduate school myself), I can tell you there is little extra value going there (as an undergraduate) as opposed to a state school that has a good engineering program.

Why so? I choose UIUC and feel bad about not applying to MIT, kinda. What are the advantages of a good state school?

UIUC was a bunch of punks.. charged me full out of state tuition (like 33k/year) so i didn't go there 🙁

great school though.. #1 state school for materials engineering, IIRC :thumbsup:

 

[sunzt]

MIT as a research institution is great because of it gets lots of funding and recognition. As an educational institution, it offers marginal value and is very misleading in terms of financial aid (aid drops dramatically after freshman). The MIT name may allow you to get a better shot of having your resume not being thrown in the trash once HR sees it, but it doesn't guarantee it'll be passed on to hiring managers.

My advice if you wanna go into Engineering: Get into any Top tier (top 50) engineering school, and get as much EXPERIENCE (research, student engineering projects, etc) as you can handle during your first few years so you can tell recruiters that you actually did something (other than Chem 101 and Math 101) and did some cool work. It doesn't matter where you go. Its what you do and what you know that gets you the dream job.

Edit: 1 more thing... when looking for a job, don't forget to apply online at the company's career site. Hiring managers are more likely to see the applicants that submit online to specific job queries (at least in my experience).

For example: After being reject for on campus interviews and at my campus career fair, I applied online to a job at the same company and got the internship as an Applications Engineer for the summer.

 

[slackwarelinux]

Originally posted by: filthylopez
Imp, I'm seriously interested in what you say. How can someone hate math and not be good at it and be an Engineer? I thought you had to be very good at math to even get on an Engineering degree?

I'm not Imp, but I have something to say about math 🙂

I'm an engineering student, (not at MIT, I didn't bother applying, I knew my chances 🙂) and I'll be about 12 credits away from a math minor after taking all my required math classes. You'll need math for engineering.

You'll need math for math.
You'll need math for physics. You'll be doing calculus based physics.
You'll need math for chemistry. You'll be using calculus for error propagation.
You'll need math for *insert engineering major here*'s classes.
You'll need math for programming. You'll be calculating the efficiency of algorithms.

You'll learn not to be afraid of it, hopefully. I didn't (don't?) really like math very much, but I wasn't bad at it. Math in college is a bit more interesting, can be applicable, depending on how it is taught. If you are planning on going to MIT or any engineering school, you should ideally have a year of calc in high school.

At any rate, there are many more schools than MIT. If you are looking for engineering focused schools, you might want to look into WPI, RPI, Stevens Institute of Technology, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (I'm a bit biased on that one). If you are applying to MIT, you'll need backups.

 

[RossGr]

Originally posted by: filthylopez
Is it a choice between doing something that has a practical application and is tangible, because most Engineers could probably have a good career in mathematics. Anyone agree?

LOL! Engineers are NOT mathmaticians. The thought processes for the 2 fields are completely different. No comparasion.

 

[filthylopez]

Yeah, I guess that it was bit of a stretch to say that anyone in Engineering could progress into mathematics. So in regard to salaries of Engineers, what can they make? One of the better paid careers?

 

[legoman666]

I'm currently working on my BS/MS in EE. I will also be getting a minor in mathematics when I finish the next quarter (spring). I like the math and the RL applications. Using equations to model RL shit is fun.

 

[clamum]

Originally posted by: JohnCU
i worked with a girl from MIT during an internship one time, she was fucking crazy weird, but kinda cute

Made me :laugh:

 

[Minjin]

Before going to MIT for engineering, you might want to read this book: http://www.amazon.com/Idea-Fac...hink-MIT/dp/0262731428

As for engineering in general, I went into it because I love problem solving. I like designing and creating new things. Engineering allows you to understand how the world around you works and why things are the way they are. Thats really engineering in a nutshell.