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I would call around and try to talk to some actual engineers working in the field as well as HR people who hire engineers and see what they think. Part of it depends on your goals and ambitions. Do you want to be a top paid engineer at a top rated company or will you be satisfied "just" being an engineer at any place making an average salary? If it were me, unless the first choice was ranked as one of the best engineering programs and that was important to me and my career goals, I would probably take the free ride.
I'm going into engineering (likely civil), so according to the general rule of not letting loans exceed your first year's pay, I might figure around $50,000?
It's not like the full-ride university has a bad reputation necessarily, but compared to the other schools I'm considering, it's less than stellar. It's a state school known for its partiers in a state full of party schools. Plus, it's in my hometown which, though I like it well enough, I'm ready to get the heck out.
I haven't given too much though to graduate school, but it would be incredibly convenient to have money saved up from undergrad if I decided to return to school. I'd probably do an MBA or master in an engineering.
The private school, though expensive, has a very good financial aid program that can bring it within range for middle class families. If my family demonstrates need (it seems like it would), my loans would not exceed $10,000 for the entire four years. I'm not sure how state budget cuts will affect this, though.
So many things to consider. Le sigh...
I think it's also important to consider what you want to get out of college: great education, fun time, networking and/or opportunities for good careers.
In that case, did you check out how the engineering programs at each school are rated/ranked? Also, very good schools typically have a lot of recruiters come on campus - so that's a plus.
Loans of $10,000 for the entire four years sounds pretty good, especially for a good private school. Most likely you will be working during some of the summers, so you might even pay that off very quickly.
For the campus experience, perhaps you can ask those who are familiar with your list of schools on boards like college confidential, etc.
When asking this to people in real life, I've gotten every response from "Go where you want no matter what it costs"
to "Follow the money." So what do y'all think?
Oh my... Where to begin?
First and foremost you need to have "objectives" for your education. BTW, the objective of having some fun taking some classes is a valid objective. Once you determine what your objectives are, start looking for a school that "will" help you reach your objectives, not their objectives.
Second and also important. There is a huge difference between paying for your education and "following a program" that affords you financial aid.
Next, don't select your objectives based on what you will learn, but what you will get out of learning it. You can learn anything you need to know without ever attending a single college course. But, if you need to have a degree to get license to perform a particular job then you'll have to attend college.
If the smaller school's reputation is so poor that OP can't get a job in their field...
The OP should not put control of their life in the school's hands. The OP should make sure to have a plan for getting a job or better yet becoming independent outside of the school's control.
It's not like the full-ride university has a bad reputation necessarily, but compared to the other schools I'm considering, it's less than stellar.
You're getting caught up in the marketing hype of the "college industry". The fact that you're going to college says you have the intelligence to set objectives and find a school that is gonna' help you reach them.
Forget the marketing hype and find a school that will cater to *your objectives*. Only after you find the "right school for you" should you look into financing options.
That is the correct way to approach everything in life unless you want to be a stooge:
Figure out what you want.
Come up with a way to get it.
If you're not getting where you want to go try a new approach.
I would call around and try to talk to some actual engineers working in the field as well as HR people who hire engineers and see what they think. Part of it depends on your goals and ambitions.
Ideally, you go to the very best ranked school you get into. But you also want to manage the debt load, too. Is it worth the loans to go to a Top 10ish engineering program at UT vs an unranked one elsewhere? If you think you can do the UT coursework and graduate with over a 3.0.....it probably is worth it. If it will leave you $80k in debt, that's a reason to think twice and perhaps go to the 2nd best school.
I second this opinion. You are thinking of civil engineering, which is easily the most competitive and least paying engineering major right now. There are tons of civil engineers out of work currently. Personally, I would consider Petroleum, Chemical, Aerospace, Electrical, Nuclear, Biomedical, Computer or Mechanical over Civil. Mechanical would probably be the closest to Civil in what you end up doing. You will find it 100 times harder to find a job with a Civil Engineering degree compared to the other engineering degrees.
But if I can't change your mind and you are dead set on doing Civil then I would definitely choose the best school you can. You will need a school that is highly ranked and well known-- for job placement purposes in Civil Engineering.
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 4th 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). I don't usually put a tremendous amount of weight on the rankings, but I have a hard time believing all college degrees are equal.
One of my cousins is a chemical engineer for Exxon. She is fairly high up in the ladder, and she has said that the reputation of the school has some bearing, but how you interview is more what matters. However, patterns have emerged as to the quality of applicants they get, and a school's reputation is often deserved.
Last edited by Westerner92; 01-28-2011 at 10:11 AM..
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 all very good schools. I work with plenty of engineers (oil and gas) who have degrees from all of those schools.
I would call up (or email) the career counseling department at each of those schools and ask them what their job placement rate is for their civil engineering majors (I'm sure it will probably be > 80% for all the schools mentioned). Also ask them what their average starting salary is for new graduates in civil engineering after graduation. This won't take very long to figure out and will definitely help you choose a school.
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You are very smart for choosing engineering and you are bound to have a great career ahead of you.
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