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I might as well state the names. The tuition scholarship university is Texas A&M (top 10 for my degree). The full ride is Texas Tech (not ranked). The others are UT Austin (ranked 3rd for my degree) and Rice (top 20).
I'm not dead set on civil, but the good thing is that all of these schools are well-known for all types of engineering (save Tech).
Those are very good choices for engineering. I don't think you have to worry too much about getting a quality education then.
Have you considered the school size, location and student life? If you are close by, you can try visiting the campus - especially when they have "open house".
Have you considered the school size, location and student life? If you are close by, you can try visiting the campus - especially when they have "open house".
Good point, these are also really important factors to consider. You also may try visiting the schools (at least A&M, UT and Rice since they are all pretty close to each other) to help you decide.
I've visited all the campuses. I live in Lubbock, so I drive by Tech everyday. I had an internship at a research lab last summer, so overall, I have a very good idea of what it's like. It's nice enough, but it's not a great personality fit, and like I said before, I'm ready to move on from my hometown.
A&M is in College Station, which IMO is less interesting than Lubbock. It feels like a suburb of Houston wandered off an hour and a half northwest. I'm not sure I'd be very happy there.
UT seems like a good personality fit, and Austin is a great city. It's top 10 in almost every engineering, but it's humongous and a little intimidating.
Rice is the best personality fit for me. It's small and their dorm system really fosters a sense of community. Plus, I feel that I could get some good internships given the large corporate presence in Houston. I can't think of a drawback right now except for the pricetag.
I've visited all the campuses. I live in Lubbock, so I drive by Tech everyday. I had an internship at a research lab last summer, so overall, I have a very good idea of what it's like. It's nice enough, but it's not a great personality fit, and like I said before, I'm ready to move on from my hometown.
A&M is in College Station, which IMO is less interesting than Lubbock. It feels like a suburb of Houston wandered off an hour and a half northwest. I'm not sure I'd be very happy there.
UT seems like a good personality fit, and Austin is a great city. It's top 10 in almost every engineering, but it's humongous and a little intimidating.
Rice is the best personality fit for me. It's small and their dorm system really fosters a sense of community. Plus, I feel that I could get some good internships given the large corporate presence in Houston. I can't think of a drawback right now except for the pricetag.
Well I got my engineering degree from UT so maybe I can give you some insight on it...
The engineering school there is very challenging, I think about 40-50% of my class coming in didn't make it to graduation-- most didn't "drop out" they just changed their majors. However, this is what you get at a top 5 engineering program. Get used to energy drinks.
As far as internships go-- ECAC (engineering career assistance center) is an excellent (and easy!) way to get them. When you are a freshman I would go to the ECAC office (consequently on the first floor of the civil engineering building) as soon as possible and work with them to make up a resume. You can submit your resume to employers for each employment/internship opportunity (usually in the fall) through their ECAC system.
I didn't submit any resumes when I first arrived-- but I regret doing it. I only ended up getting two internships in college, while some of my peers had 3 or 4 (internships take place during the summer mostly). That "corporate presence" in Houston comes to Austin to do a lot of their recruiting. As a civil engineer you may have more difficulty finding internship, but if you work at it you can probably be successful. I'd recommend submitting your resume to every employer you can on the ECAC system-- as long as they are requesting resumes from civil engineers. This is what I did and although it was exhausting doing so many darn interviews (once had 7 in one day), it was worth it.
Petroleum engineers have the easiest time landing internships (because they are in the highest demand).
Even though UT is a massive school, because you are in "engineering" you will feel like it is fairly small. There isn't a huge amount of students in the upper level engineering classes (probably will have only 30-40 students in your upper level classes). Get to know your professors-- some of them may let you be an undergraduate research assistant if you ask them about it-- this is always a good idea because it allows you to put it on your resume, plus its good to have a source for recommendation letters.
UT is fun. Nuff said about that-- I think we all know it was ranked #1 party school in the nation.
I've visited all the campuses. I live in Lubbock, so I drive by Tech everyday. I had an internship at a research lab last summer, so overall, I have a very good idea of what it's like. It's nice enough, but it's not a great personality fit, and like I said before, I'm ready to move on from my hometown.
A&M is in College Station, which IMO is less interesting than Lubbock. It feels like a suburb of Houston wandered off an hour and a half northwest. I'm not sure I'd be very happy there.
UT seems like a good personality fit, and Austin is a great city. It's top 10 in almost every engineering, but it's humongous and a little intimidating.
Rice is the best personality fit for me. It's small and their dorm system really fosters a sense of community. Plus, I feel that I could get some good internships given the large corporate presence in Houston. I can't think of a drawback right now except for the pricetag.
Send me a PM if you have specific questions about what life is like at UT.
A&M is in College Station, which IMO is less interesting than Lubbock. It feels like a suburb of Houston wandered off an hour and a half northwest. I'm not sure I'd be very happy there.
Ha! Love that description!
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