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A good friend of mine applied to both. He wants to go into either computer science or chemistry...which would be best?

By Chrisd (Chrisd) on Monday, February 16, 2004 - 12:50 pm: Edit

He would get a fine education at either school. The schools are in different settings: would he be happier in a large urban area in NE Ohio(Case), or a small city in upstate NY (RPI)? I think a campus visit would greatly help him decide.

And. . .does RPI offer a chemistry major? Chem engineering, yes, but I don't know about straight chemistry.

By Constellation35 (Constellation35) on Monday, February 16, 2004 - 01:08 pm: Edit

He would actually go into chemical enginnering, or anything chemistry related, and then specialize in metallurgical engineering in graduate school.

He is leaning more toward computer science, though.

He doesn't care much about the setting.

By Baltodad (Baltodad) on Tuesday, February 17, 2004 - 03:52 pm: Edit

If he visited RPI, he might decide he DID care about the setting. The grungy surroundings turned off my son (and us too), while he liked the vibe of CWRU quite a bit.

Visiting is important, and an overnight dorm stay is the best way to visit.

By Chrisd (Chrisd) on Tuesday, February 17, 2004 - 04:50 pm: Edit

Yes. The area surrounding Case is hardly a garden spot, but compared to Troy. . . . Hmmm, there is the Cleveland Botanc Garden within walking distance.

Baltodad--did your son apply to Case? How about Tulane?

By Baltodad (Baltodad) on Tuesday, February 17, 2004 - 05:12 pm: Edit

Chrisd -

Yes; both place. Hasn't heard from either yet, but both are high on his list.

I told him he'd need a good chunk of merit aid if he wanted to go to Tulane, since I'm not crazy about the party atmosphere and well-down-the-list rank for undergrad engineering. He hasn't visited yet (and, surprisingly, hasn't proposed going down during Mardi Gras!)

Got into Rose-Hulman a while back and one of his safties - Clemson - a couple days ago. Turned down by Olin (as expected). Should hear from UMCP this week.

By Chrisd (Chrisd) on Tuesday, February 17, 2004 - 05:49 pm: Edit

Sounds like he has some good options! I often read good posts about UMCP around here. I'm keeping my eyes open about schools for D#3, currently a h.s. sophomore. Not interested in engineering.

What are the dorms like at Case? I recall that the dorms at RPI were basic, okay, with Barton Hall being very nice and new. And I thought the cafeteria food at RPI was pretty good...my daughter spent some time at CMU and the food there was terrible. When we visited RPI, they had begun construction on a very large new academic building... something like electronic arts maybe?