It’s great to have well-defined goals and shoot for the most prestigious schools of course, but do keep in mind your undergrad degree is just that. And as far as living life and such, remember that you don’t get those years back.
Of course manage your class and study time appropriately, but there’s nothing wrong with picking a school for the overall experience versus strictly the academic reputation. (esp when an undergrad degree figures to mean less in the immediate future anyway)
[quote]chillain wrote:
It’s great to have well-defined goals and shoot for the most prestigious schools of course, but do keep in mind your undergrad degree is just that. And as far as living life and such, remember that you don’t get those years back.
Of course manage your class and study time appropriately, but there’s nothing wrong with picking a school for the overall experience versus strictly the academic reputation. (esp when an undergrad degree figures to mean less in the immediate future anyway)[/quote]
I am trying to get the whole undergraduate part does as fast as possible, which is why I am taking so many AP classes.
[quote]ukrainian wrote:
[quote]chillain wrote:
It’s great to have well-defined goals and shoot for the most prestigious schools of course, but do keep in mind your undergrad degree is just that. And as far as living life and such, remember that you don’t get those years back.
Of course manage your class and study time appropriately, but there’s nothing wrong with picking a school for the overall experience versus strictly the academic reputation. (esp when an undergrad degree figures to mean less in the immediate future anyway)[/quote]
I am trying to get the whole undergraduate part does as fast as possible, which is why I am taking so many AP classes.[/quote]
Don’t be in a rush to finish out undergrad… take all 4 years… take extra classes because you’ll have open slots etc… from your ap classes. This is going to be the best time of your life enjoy it… after school its just work, and more work.
and as chillian is hinting at… it is just your undergrad. Go somewhere you will enjoy that is still competitive because chances are you’re going to go for your masters as well and the grad school will really be what matters when applying for jobs etc…
[quote]ukrainian wrote:
On another note, do you know how good the ROTC engineering programs are?[/quote]
ROTC is a separate entity from your academic major. ROTC classes prepare you to be a leader in the branch of your contract. there is really no relation between ROTC and your college major.
the military has tons and tons and oodles of jobs for an engineer. mechanical, electrical, aviation, chemical, combat. on and on and on
[quote]HolyMacaroni wrote:
[quote]ukrainian wrote:
On another note, do you know how good the ROTC engineering programs are?[/quote]
ROTC is a separate entity from your academic major. ROTC classes prepare you to be a leader in the branch of your contract. there is really no relation between ROTC and your college major.
the military has tons and tons and oodles of jobs for an engineer. mechanical, electrical, aviation, chemical, combat. on and on and on[/quote]
Alright. Thanks.
CU has to be the worse school I have ever been to and I’ve been to Auburn, Troy, CU, Univ of Denver and Denver Metro. Stay far away from that school unless you are seriously fucked up. If you want to stay close to home look at the School of Mines. If you want to save money like I do, I’m pretty happy at Denver Metro. Come to think of it, If mom and dad are paying, look into that Colorado College in co springs, I hear it’s one of the best.
[quote]101airborne wrote:
CU has to be the worse school I have ever been to and I’ve been to Auburn, Troy, CU, Univ of Denver and Denver Metro. Stay far away from that school unless you are seriously fucked up. If you want to stay close to home look at the School of Mines. If you want to save money like I do, I’m pretty happy at Denver Metro. Come to think of it, If mom and dad are paying, look into that Colorado College in co springs, I hear it’s one of the best.
[/quote]
Unfortunately, I completely believe you. CU is crazy, but that is why it is my back-up. CSU, however, is my back up before CU.
I second everything you’ve heard about prescott/Embry except to say that I’ve heard it is one of the best educationally.
and I’ll add that the housing and job market here comepletely blows.
[quote]cct wrote:
How was your experience at MIT? Is it convenient to lift there? Are there many serious lifters? Thanks![/quote]
I had a good time at MIT, but since I stayed on for grad school anyway, I kind of wish I had gone somewhere more fun for undergrad. Taking Ph.D. classes at Arizona State is an eye-opener, from a social/girls aspect. Having MIT on your resume always helps in a job hunt though, whether or not it should.
There are hardly any serious lifters there. When I started, the gym was an old basement and I was the only staffer there much of the time, so it was pretty solid. Dim, hot, dirty, metal playing on the stereo until a cardio girl would complain. Then around 2003 they built a shiny new “fitness center” that was run by an outside group and is pretty much like any other big commercial gym. No chalk, they’d bitch if you made noise dropping weights (even though there are DL/clean platforms), etc. But the equipment is/was nice and there’s a lot of it. I haven’t been there since 2005. The old gym is now the athlete’s gym, so maybe people get serious lifting with the team, but I doubt it. There’s a great powerlifting gym about 15 miles north called Olympia Barbell. Some of the dorms have gyms in the basement which are actually pretty decent if you like that garage feel.
[quote]Pigeon wrote:
[quote]cct wrote:
How was your experience at MIT? Is it convenient to lift there? Are there many serious lifters? Thanks![/quote]
I had a good time at MIT, but since I stayed on for grad school anyway, I kind of wish I had gone somewhere more fun for undergrad. Taking Ph.D. classes at Arizona State is an eye-opener, from a social/girls aspect. Having MIT on your resume always helps in a job hunt though, whether or not it should.
There are hardly any serious lifters there. When I started, the gym was an old basement and I was the only staffer there much of the time, so it was pretty solid. Dim, hot, dirty, metal playing on the stereo until a cardio girl would complain. Then around 2003 they built a shiny new “fitness center” that was run by an outside group and is pretty much like any other big commercial gym. No chalk, they’d bitch if you made noise dropping weights (even though there are DL/clean platforms), etc. But the equipment is/was nice and there’s a lot of it. I haven’t been there since 2005. The old gym is now the athlete’s gym, so maybe people get serious lifting with the team, but I doubt it. There’s a great powerlifting gym about 15 miles north called Olympia Barbell. Some of the dorms have gyms in the basement which are actually pretty decent if you like that garage feel. [/quote]
That is pretty much what I expected out of the fitness center they have there, but it is nice to hear that there is good enough equipment.
Have a back up plan if ROTC falls through. ROTC is very competetive, or at least it was 4 years ago when I tried to get into Marine ROTC. The time to start working on ROTC is now, you will need letters of reference, and a letter of recoomendation from a politician. (I used a local district representative, I just called for an appointment, wore a suit, and gave him my transcripts, a little sheet about myself and what I was invovled in. They don’t have to really know you, just give them enough information to make it easy for them)
Secondly, have you considered the air force academy in colorado?
[quote]BarneyFife wrote:
Secondly, have you considered the air force academy in colorado?[/quote]
I have, but that is really damn hard to get into. I have done a bit of research, and I am still unsure if I want to go there.
I went to Georgia Tech for Aerospace Engineering. If you want to work in the industry rather than do research, Tech has a really good reputation and a really good co-op program. It lets you get some exposure to companies while you are still an undergrad, which will probably help you decide what you really want to do.
I ended up not going into the aerospace industry after I graduated, but as other people have said, an AE degree exposes you to enough ME work that it isn’t too big of a transition.
One thing to think about, if you go to a solely engineering/science focused school and decide halfway through you want to do something different, you’d be forced to change schools. If you go to some place like Berkley, that has a good engineering program in addition to a lot of other majors you’ll have more options available to you.
[quote]gt8006b wrote:
I went to Georgia Tech for Aerospace Engineering. If you want to work in the industry rather than do research, Tech has a really good reputation and a really good co-op program. It lets you get some exposure to companies while you are still an undergrad, which will probably help you decide what you really want to do.
I ended up not going into the aerospace industry after I graduated, but as other people have said, an AE degree exposes you to enough ME work that it isn’t too big of a transition.
One thing to think about, if you go to a solely engineering/science focused school and decide halfway through you want to do something different, you’d be forced to change schools. If you go to some place like Berkley, that has a good engineering program in addition to a lot of other majors you’ll have more options available to you.[/quote]
I have actually been considering Georgia Tech as one of my high interest schools, so it’s high on the priority list as of now. It’s a good thing that I found out about it from here, or else I would have never considered it.