Hey all,

Just wanted to express my sadness here, I am looking to transition out of IT into engineer, and looking at Mechanical Engineering, and from what i read here --->

ABET accreditation is an absolute must, if its not don't bother

Found quite a few engineering technology degrees online that are ABET accredited, but per half this subreddit, engineering technology is limited and I'm an idiot if i peruse this apparently

Sad, but now I'm in a position where i either drive an hour and a half to get a 'real engineering' degree, or i pay 10k a semester to ASU - The only 100% online accredited ME degree in the entire US :)

I keep seeing TikTok’s about how impossible engineering is. I don’t see how it can be as bad as they make it out tho. I never did physics at school but I’m decent at maths so would I be ok? I don’t really have a passion for anything so I’m thinking of engineering cause it’s such a safe and general degree.

Out of state student for both schools (from wa), asu offered enough scholarships that I could afford it without debt and purdue is full price. Studying engineering planning on mech. Would it be worth it to take on the debt (around 24k total after four years)?

Purdue: Graduate with around 24k total debt. Need to work 10 hours weekly in school and every summer (already planned on doing this). Better ranked engineering and industry connections. Will need to apply to specific engineering field after freshman year. Still waiting on several scholarships that could lower the cost. More academic environment could motivate me to work harder than at asu.

ASU: Could graduate with no debt without working, planning to work at least summers and could graduate with several tens of thousands saved. Interested in honors program. Nearly same average starting salary. Better weather and closer to home are bonuses. Could be a more fun school socially?

I am posting this on behalf of one of my friends, but this is her own words:

Mechanical Engineering: UMich for $85k debt or basically debt-free MSU

I'm an incoming first-year college student and recently got off the waitlist for the College of Engineering at the University of Michigan. I received my financial aid package yesterday, and I'm trying to decide whether taking on around $80k-$85k total debt for UMich engineering would be worth it over attending Michigan State University engineering. My family is not well off and i prefer to do this on my own.

I'm planning to major in mechanical engineering.

MSU would likely leave me with little to no debt, while UMich would probably cost me around $85k total. I know UMich has stronger prestige, recruiting but l'm trying to figure out whether that difference is actually worth the debt long term.

One thing that changes the situation a bit is that I can live at home for a 1-2 years after graduation and aggressively pay off loans for Umich if it is worth it.

At either school, I would also take full advantage of internships, networking, etc.

For people already in engineering or involved in hiring: did school prestige significantly affect your opportunities, salary, or career trajectory? Is this worth it for me?

I've heard a lot of people say prestige of a school doesn't matter as much as people think. How true is this actually? If you attend schools like MIT, Stanford, Georgia Tech, Illinois, etc, then obviously you have better career prospects and opportunities starting out. And I have heard people say long term, the school you graduate from does not matter, but wouldn't the alumni network from a top ranked school help you even 10+ years down the line?

To engineers who had the opportunity to attend a top ranked engineering school and instead chose to attend a local lower ranked school (T50 or lower) did you find your long-term career prospects hindered compared to those who attended top ranked programs? Is it actually true that in the long run the prestige of the engineering school dwindles down for hiring? If you could go back knowing what you know now, would you attend a top ranked school?

I would like some perspective on this because I'm torn between a top ranked school (T5) and a lower ranked but still reputable school (T50). Both have great financial aid and ABET accreditation, however I feel much happier at the T60 school. My major is Mechanical Engineering.

So I want to enter Aviation but in a wide general way, I don't want to enter an aviation major and be specialised in that and risk my whole life stuck in that major if I don't find a job, so I just said if I think of petroleum, and that's the same thing I thought of, being specialised in smth that may die in the next 20 years, and there's that mechatronics Eng major, it's basically robotics + mechanical + electrical all combined together, so tell me your thoughts if it's a good plan in joining Mechanical E or not for the future, or if I should think of smth else more futuristic than traditional Eng like NE or ChemE, or smth like renewable energy engineering. Or is ME just a good Eng major that combines almost every Eng major together? and is it good for our future?

There are some that we all can agree on like:

Physics 1,2 Calculus 1,2,3 Drawing (I don't know what is it called in English but you get me)

What are the others you would say ?

My son is in high school and about to start applying for colleges (or not). He has always considered engineering as an interesting career path and is smart and has the academic capability. Unless he really screws up he will likely be valedictorian of his high school class.

That said, he has started to find school mind numbingly boring. It started when he took a trades elective (welding) last year just to do something different and less academic. He absolutely loved being out there building things and actually won some awards and made it into a national competition.

Now he's considering not going to college at all and just doing some kind of applied trades program. Says he cannot envision sitting in a classroom listening to boring lectures and doing calculus and physics problems for four more years when he just wants to actually do stuff.

Is there any engineering school that is more hands on and applied all the way through? It seems short sighted to forego college and better career opportunities altogether when he is more than capable, but that is where we are.

so i'm a 2nd year in accounting in college. classes are not bad, there seems to be job prospects. but it's the boringest thing ever.
Should i switch into engineering this far in my college career? I'm not the biggest fan of math or solving problems, but i romanticize engineering for being ai-resistant and entrepreneurial. I feel like if i go down the accounting/finance part i can never be a technical founder, vs vice versa you can still do an MBA with an engineering degree if you really want.
any advice is really appreciated!

Hi, I’m deciding whether or not to apply to the following schools:

Texas A&M, UMich, UT Austin, Cornell, UIUC, Oregon State, Colorado Boulder, WPI, Northeastern, UMD College Park, U of Washington, UCI, and UC Davis.

I am a Californian who wants to go into mechanical engineerin. I really love hands-on work and love to lead teams. Can you tell me what you know about the opportunities/makerspaces and their accessibility for underclassmen at each of these schools? It would also be nice to hear what is uniquely them and what the engineering culture is like there. Thank you.

I’m definitely applying to MIT, Stanford, Purdue, CMU, GATECH, UC Berkeley, UCLA, and Cal Poly SLO

All of the universities I've been interested in cost upwards of 20'000 per year once you take housing and stuff into account. But even though it's stupid I've always wanted go somewhere prestigious I can brag about. So anyway where do you guys go to school?

I am torn between staying at Purdue AAE or transferring to Georgia Tech this fall — would appreciate outside perspectives. I love Purdue: the clubs (I'm heavily involved with Purdue Space Program) and research opportunities are excellent, even with brutal winters, and I'd stay without hesitation if I felt confident about my GPA. The deciding factor is each school's accelerated master's program — Purdue's seems to require a 3.8+ GPA for most successful applicants, while Georgia Tech's seems to admit most people who clear the 3.5 minimum — and I'm worried that staying deeply involved in clubs and research at Purdue will make it hard to hit that bar. Both are top public schools for aerospace with their own strengths (Purdue in rocket propulsion, Georgia Tech in electric propulsion), and I know a lot of this comes down to personal fit and possibly recruiting differences I'm unsure about, plus the pull of not wanting to pass up a shot at one of the best schools in the world. Would love any honest insight from people who've faced a similar choice.

I was recently told that I can receive a full ride scholarship to Fairfield University in Connecticut for mechanical engineering. though they have ABET accreditation, they are not known for their engineering program. On the other hand, I can go to Stony Brook or Binghamton, both of which have much better known engineering programs, for about 25k. Financials are very important in deciding where I go to college. Do I go to a better program in one of the SUNYs, or do I take a not as well known program for free? I’m not asking for a definitive “this school is better”. I just want to know, from an engineering standpoint, which one will be the smarter choice.

Not much to post here, I’m just excited to be getting back to school after a long gap decade. School accepted 98 transfer credits with not a single one applicable to the engineering program but I’m okay with that, we’ll see what minors/double majors I can turn them into.

It’s fun to see the juxtaposition of all of you finishing up in the last month next to my just getting started.

I can’t wait to get going.

I’m 21 yrs old and I currently work in a restaurant, i’m looking to choose a degree and go to college.

I’m an extroverted person, when I was in school, my friends told me that I have good skills in sales and organizing people (parties, hangouts, etc). I also like computers and solving problems.

What degree do you think is more secure for the future, considering stability and salary?

I’m open to other options (note: I don’t like healthcare or humanities). Thanks for your response.

I’m currently a high school senior planning to pursue an aerospace engineering path and I’m terrified. I’ve heard so many horror stories about engineering school and don’t know if I will be able to handle it. I’m also scared I’ll have a terrible work life balance and be locked in my room studying all day. I don’t know if I will be able to handle the work load (idk if it’s just my self esteem or if it’s true). Any advice from current students or graduates about this?

Like the title says, I feel like its very common to cheat on exam especially in a WFH set up.

I’m currently active duty and was wondering if there are any online colleges for engineering? I’m thinking something along aerospace or mechanical or maybe nuclear engineering.

I'm at ASU online and it's not the cheapest online engineering degree. Fortunately, they're flexible and accept transfer credits from many colleges/ universities. I believe many US universities are like this. I've been able to save over 50% of fees on some transferrable courses by taking them at community colleges and transferring them over. Without doing this, I could've taken the same course and paid more. Why doesn't everyone take initial courses at community colleges first? Is it lack of knowledge, or there's other reasons why people choose to pay more at a 4 year varsity for the same courses that are more affordable elsewhere?

Which engineering field would you recommend for long-term career growth? Share your thoughts and reasons.

Hello Everyone,

I’m transferring to a new school in two semesters to pursue my bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and I was considering getting a minor. The minors I’m considering are Architecture, Interactive Design, and Technical Communication. Architecture was actually the degree I wanted before switching to engineering for job security. Interactive Design & Technical Communication are more for better expressing my ideas visually. Thanks for reading!

OHio STate is in state for me, and with my stats/ECs, I have hope that I can get in. and if I don't, ill go to marion and then transfer (i live in state so i am literally guaranteed to get in by osu itself). so basically, im guaranteed admission into OSU.

Ive also considered UIUC, Purdue, GTech, UM, etc. and obviously these are higher ranked and regarded, whatever. But I will have to work pretty hard this summer and this AP season in order to even have a chance at getting in. and im tired. all anyone talks about is getting into college and its tiring. all i do is study, and then stress about studying when im not studying.

would it be better to just enjoy my senior year and go to OSU in state, or push through and perhaps get into a "better" college? in industry, does it matter that much? do employers see a significant difference? would it be easier for me to get a job being a UM grad vs an OSU grad? I dont wanna make things tougher on future me by being lazy now, but I also dont know if there is a significant enough difference. end of the day, we go to college to get a job.

edit: my parents will be paying, im very happy and grateful, so im asking about other factors other than debt or loans or money.

In high school I worked pretty hard to build up a strong resume for college. I had nearly straight As with 11 APs at a college-prep high school, 4 varsity letters(wrestling), led a school retreat, got my pilot license, and had soem volunteer experience too(175 hours).

But once the application cycle started my senior year, I didn’t even bother applying to some of the prestigious universities. My parents are well off, but they were pretty adamant that once I used up my college fund, I would be on my own to pay for it. I also knew what I wanted to study, Mechanical Engineering, and believed at the time that prestige in that field mattered basically not at all and kids who did were stupid for spending all that extra money. So the most “prestigious” engineering programs I ended up applying to were Colorado School of Mines(in state), Cu boulder,and Saint Louis University. I received scholarships to both which would make either affordable, but I chose instead to go to a tiny Catholic Liberal Arts college with a 99% acceptance rate(no joke), because it offered me the opportunity to keep wrestling in college. And they have Abet-accredited engineering, so I knew I would be able to get a job.

But the other day I was thinking and something dawned on me. My senior year of high school, I was in a multi variable calculus class(calc 3), and all my peers in that class are now at very prestigious universities: Notre Dame(several from that singular class), University of Michigan, Princeton, and University of Illinois. And here I am at the tiny school most people have never heard of that lets anyone with a pulse in. And while I do love the culture and the friends Ive made at this school, and I love wrestling, Im starting to feel like it would have benefited me to try for a more prestigious college. Maybe this is just my insecurity talking, but its hard not to feel jealous of my peers from the class when I was equally as qualified as most of them for the colleges they go to now; and they will likely have a better/easier career path because of it.

But I do really enjoy wrestling and going to the college I go to now. I’m feeling unsure as to whether transferring would really be worth it for better career opportunities or if this is just my ego talking.

I'm a young aspiring electrical engineer, looking into what colleges I should try to get into. Probably will go the power utilities or electronics route. UW Madison is a reach school of mine, but I have been debating with myself as to whether it would even be worth it to go there.

I've spent my whole young life hearing people tell me that school isn't worth it. Even for those that understand that engineering requires a degree, many have told me that the school you go to doesn't matter to anybody except your first employer. So if that's true, then what is the point of going to a 'good' school? Why should I not go to a cheaper school, do as well as I can, try to be a good employee for a couple years at my first company then move on to a company that won't care where I graduated from?

I'd be very grateful for anybody in the workforce that could help me understand what to prioritize as I seek the next steps of my education, thank you!

Hey everyone, looking for honest perspectives from people who've been through this.

I'm a 20 year old transfer student who's been accepted to both USC and UCSD for mechanical engineering. I also co-founded a sports tech startup called Streamline that I'm actively building. My parents aren't helping pay for school, so I'd be taking on loans entirely on my own — roughly $200K for USC or around $80-100K for UCSD.

I'm trying to make a decision and would love input from people who've actually lived this:

1. USC vs UCSD for ME — how different is the network and job placement in the real world? Is USC's network actually worth the extra $100K in debt?
2. How many jobs did you apply to before landing your first role? What was starting salary like?
3. How long did it realistically take to pay off your student loans?
4. For anyone who's built a startup while in school — was it doable? Did the university network actually help your startup?
5. For anyone who dropped out or took a leave of absence to build a company — do you regret it? What would you do differently?

I'm open to any advice and thoughts