Help me with my college decision

ScubaSteveFather

ScubaSteveFather

Member
So by may 1st I have to decide between these 4 colleges. I am going to major in either electrical or computer engineering and maybe also in business.

Minnesota Twin Cities---> Ranked 28th in nation for engineering and pretty good business school. Also it's a huge university (over 50000 undergrads) and there is Hyland (about 30 min drive) nearby which has a pretty sick park. For me this university would cost about 24000

Colorado School of Mines-----> Ranked 25th in nation for engineering but if i would go there i could only get a minor in business. Small university (less than 10000) and closest skiing is about 50 min away but there is copper and breck and lots of other super sick places less than 2 hours away. For me this university would cost about 27000 but its in colorado which is sick

Madison----> Ranked 20th in nation for engineering and phenomenal school overall. Pretty big university but might be a bit too close to my home ~45min. Skiing has tyrol nearby (45 min) but it doesn't have a great park. This university would cost around 20000

University of Portland----> Not sure on the ranking but doesn't seem too terrible and neither does it seem too good. small university but has some sick skiing sort of close (mt Hood). this university would be 24000.

I listed my choices in order from the one i'm most considering to the least but mines and twin cities should be tied i can't figure out between those 2. All costs include room and board and a few other expenses i added in.
 
When i was looking schools, one thing i looked at said colorodo school of mines was the worst overall school in the coyntry overall. Based on retention, night life, on campus activities, price etc. Dont know if its true though
 
Thx for the insight +K to you Guys and will give +K to good replies.

School of mines is close to denver though so i feel as if it wouldn't be too bad for girls and my gf is going there... I just don't fuckin now such a hard decision i visited all the campuses and my favorite by far was mines but i really liked minnesota too so its mostly those 2 but Portland is pretty frickin sick too.
 
dont go to mines. i know a handful of people who have gone/still go there and none of them have liked it. its only ranked decently because of its petroleum engineering program...that being said electrical engineering is the way to go
 
I went to Mines and got a Petroleum degree and I can say with out a doubt it was the best decision I ever made.

Mines might not be ranked particularly high but I guarantee among employers it is at the top with places like MIT especially in the Energy sector.

The degree for me has been worth its weight in gold. I paid off my student loans in 2 years and paid for college 100% on my own. Given I am in state and lived at home.

The kids that go there are weird to say the least, but there is a good group of very cool people who like to ski, party and have a good time. My best friends are all from Mines and very successful.

Golden is an awesome town on its own right with a ton of stuff to do outdoors. It is close to everything and soon the light rail will run to Golden making it very easy to get to Denver. It is also close to skiing and having a college schedule you will be 1 hr from skiing at great resorts.

The girl situation is getting much better even since I was there. I was recently up in Gunnison visiting my brother and there are way more chicks at Mines. The old saying still stands though "Girls at Mines are like parking spaces; their either taken, handicapped, or way the fuck out there." I started dating my girlfriend when I was a freshman and she went to CU so I never had to worry about this problem.

However Mines is not a party school. It was very hard freshman and sophomore year where they try to weed people out. A lot of people don't like the school for whatever reason and bitch about it constantly. I know a lot of kids who couldn't cut it and said they were leaving for social reasons. Maybe so, but I doubt it.

The administration is one of the worst group of people I have ever had to deal with. They are unorganized, arrogant, oppressive and just about every other bad trait you can imagine. I thought this was just Mines but it sounds like it is just a college issue. The career center being the one ray of hope. Mines has a very high placement, in the high 90's.

Also just a few tips, if you want to decided if a school is for you talk to the Alumni. A student doesn't have the perspective necessary to tell you the pros and cons. I know plenty of CSU kids who openly mocked me in college and now tell me how they wish they would have gotten a better degree.

Visit the schools you are interested in and remember that college is just 4 years (or 5) and that partying is awesome, but having something to show for it is way better.
 
Also something to think about. Do you like big schools? Are you ok with having 200+ lecture halls up until you are in your Junior year? If I was to do it all over again I would have picked a smaller school, I hate big lecture halls, and having to go through engineering makes it that much harder.
 
I'd have to go Mines on this one. Golden is 40-45 minutes from Loveland depending on how fast you drive and then not far beyond is the rest of Colorado... Beyond that Mines is a great school and you won't be disappointed with the education you get. As has been said, chicks (especially hot ones) are few and far between so that's a definite down side.
 
I looked at madison, but 400+ kids in a lecture hall wasnt for me. Neither was having classes that were 20 mins apart when you only have 10-15mins between classes. No thanks. Fun school to party at tho!
Take the rankings with a grain of salt too. In the end, getting that 100k piece of paper is what makes the biggest difference. Than and networking.
 
mines is intense from what ive heard, but golden is a cool town. and skiing on the front range is pretty killer if youre from out east
 
If you don't make the right decision you can transfer after your first year. That should take some of the stress off it.

If you are honestly thinking of getting a double major in Engineering and Business, drop it. You can make the double major / minor decision once you get to school. Business shares very little cross over with engineering. Industrial Engineering has the most cross over, and it is still just a few classes. If you are serious about getting two degrees think about grad school. Consider getting a math minor, you will take almost all the classes for it just with your engineering degree. An engineering degree with a math minor will set you up well for attempting many grad programs.

For considering which schools, look at which schools are giving you direct admissions into the engineering program (no follow up selection process), talk to alumni, and don't worry too much about the party life, skiing, etc. Your engineering degree will take 4-5 years, you will have plenty of time to play after you graduate. I know guys who skied very little in college, rarely partied, and generally worked their ass off. They landed posh jobs that they love, date cute chicks, and go heli skiing every year.

Remember you are going to college to go to school. You can spend 4-5 years drinking and banging for a lot less then college tuition.
 
Thanks everyone for all the great comments it's actually helping i'll decide sometime this week so i'll let uk

As for doing a double major i'm honestly not positive about it and ur option with math minor sounds good but i feel as if many times as an engineer u need to know about business to get advanced. I got in to the engineering schools for all the colleges and i'll call them tomorrow to talk to a counselor see if i can get any more financial aid or talk to an alum or student.
 
Double majoring looks like a great idea at first (and it is if you're not an engineer) but engineering will consume you. I started out a double major but I'm just down to civil e with a business minor. Make sure you don't bite off more than you can chew...don't count out a school just because you can't dual major
 
I think the advice that is missing here is that the student determines the education just as much as the school. Unlike high school, you will be responsible for the subject matter. Your instructors and professors will be a resource for you, not the source of your education. I initially did not understand that. I found college difficult to adapt to. Developing self sufficiency has allowed me to persue my education at a whole other level then before.
 
UP is such a cool school, I'm applying there next year and know several people who love it there. Portland is such a great town and the academics are definitely not shitty.
 
My hometown is Madison, and I love the town! You will have the huge lecture halls almost wherever you go, most of the gen-eds are in a lecture hall. As far as the skiing goes, Tyrol is great if you want to ski park. If you don't ski park, then it gets REALLY boring.

Hopefully you can pull together enough info from this thread to make a decision, best of luck to you!
 
Where are you from?Portland is sick but you have to be used to the rain and you are right in between the mountains and the coast so both are really close, which is sick. As far as psu goes im not totally sure what its like but I know a few people that are going there next year. Good luck!
 
South Dakota School of Mines is cheaper than Colorado. Also the better of the two schools in ranking as far as engineering. There's 2 ski hills that aren't too bad in the black hills, and I go there
 
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