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does anyone have any information on drexel? I am interested in being in a city environment(phila.)
Imfrom the suburbs of NYC and want to stay within a 3-4 hour radius of home. Also Northeastern in boston i a consideration-
thanks.

By Dave Berry on Friday, December 21, 2001 - 10:26 am: Edit

Dana, what degree program(s) are you interested in? That may be one of the more important selection criteria for you.

By david m. hughes on Saturday, January 05, 2002 - 12:53 pm: Edit

Drexel is primarily a coop school. They mix work experience with classes. (I did not go there but have had several Drexel coops at work.) At best the work experience leads to a future job. At worst, you find out what you don't like. The coop program also may mean an extra year of school or summer semesters. Drexel is close to Penn but the area is not as dynamic as Boston's college scene. It is close to the rail and subway transportation center of Philadelphia so you can get to areas of interest in the city or home.

By David Hawsey on Friday, January 11, 2002 - 07:18 am: Edit

Drexel made their name when, in 1984 they became the first university in the country to require all students to have a computer. At the time, it was OK to have picked Apple, and as a reseller of all Apple products, students were snapping up 128k Macs, printers, software -- you name it.

The university has a respected name in all engineering disciplines, matching rival Penn State's prowess in electrical, mechanical, chemical and materials engineering. The business school, touting a new $10 million building (funded by CEO of tobacco company Liggett, Inc. and an alumnus) is sort of the workingman's answer to Wharton's business school just a few hundred yards away. Graduates get jobs, and that's that. They offer an online MBA, night classes and even weekend executive tracks. The school of design is very well-known, including a fashion, art and related design programs, and even a very good restaurant management program, complete with eating establishment and very large bar.

The humanities and sciences are filled with the usual: chemists, poets and the like. The communications program, though small, touts some very respectable coop jobs and internships. The school of information, the old library science program, can't seem to find it's way: constantly fighting computer science and business to gain respectability and affirmation that they are NOT still library science. They aren't, and the programs in what used to be MIS are quite good, although too academic and not applied enough for most would-be employers.

This is real-world, city-based education. The traffic is dangerous, but students learn how to walk across Market and Chestnut streets with their head held up, but eyes locked on to the driver's as they play cat-and-mouse.

The faculty, unionized, has had some rocky times in past years. They have gone on strike, and students have suffered. However, under Dr. Papadakis (president) things have picked up and the University is well-respected. It is seemingly a blessing to be a graduate of Drexel, when parked right next to an Ivy League (Penn) that costs more, but offers less in post-graduate employment.

I spent two degrees there, and made it all the way through to the comprehensive exams in the doctoral program, but after seven years the place wears you down.

If you want several job offers before you even graduate, Drexel will get you there. As a billboard on Ben Franklin bridge used to say: "Go To Drexel, Get A Job". It's true. And with a fair amount of merit scholarships, it's at least affordable for the Not-So-Blue-Blood populace of the northeast.

Student life is OK, although limited on-campus activities, more due to the fact that the university is surrounded by things to do off-campus. Teaching assistants abound, but they are some of the best: an Iranian doctoral students helped me go from a D to A's and B's in calculus. Oh, by the way: EVERY major, regardless of technical vs. humanities, is a BS degree. We all took math and science courses. I thought they were a waste, until I realized (17 years later) that they do, indeed, help you think in ways your mind wasn't trained to do before Drexel.