Aerospace Engineering

dingpud

Make sure that the school that you pick has a reputable program. Also, when you visit, try and talk with some students which aren't recruiters and see if they like going there.

Also, if you get the chance, got to www.ratemyprofessor.com and then you can look up some of the professors from that particular school and see if any of them are good or not.

Other than that, any science related field is going to be a blast. Just don't give up. :surprise:

enkar

I'm a third year AE at Georgia Tech. Getting into the real courses now. The first couple of years were disappointing. The professors don't really attempt to make any investment in the interested students and a lot of my peers have grown complacent and just do enough to get by. Some of the professors' materials are pieced together from website fragments spanning ten years or more. I really hope that my next two years will drastically change my opinion of Tech. I'm not quite sure how it keeps in the top of AE rankings myself.

devious_

Thanks a lot for all the input guys!

I think I'm gonna go for a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering, then an M.Eng. in Aerospace. That seems like the best route.

Oh, and I'm shooting for MIT, Caltech, Berkeley, Cornell and Princeton. According to my research, that's how they're ranked according to the strength of their engineering departments. Anyone wanna comment?

LastOneStanding

That sounds about right to me. When the time comes, I'd love to come to the States for University. I've been doing some research lately, there's ONE university in Canada (my home) where you can get a PhD in aerospace engineering. Actually, University isn't the only thing I'd like to go south for...I wonder if NASA hires foreigners...

enigma

Don't sell public institutions short.

University of Maryland, College Park (where I go) has a top rated AE program, and you have the advantage of dozens of internship possibilities nearby. NASA Goddard is 5 minutes down the road. Orbital, Lockheed, Raytheon, and other companies all have offices nearby. The Naval Surface Warfare Center is in Annapolis about an hour away.

Oh... and we've got one of the very few (I think there are 2) university-run neutral bouyancy labs in the country.

[/soapbox]

devious_

I'm not selling them short. I just listed my "reach" schools of which I'm gonna choose 4.

russ_watters

Have you seen the Naval Academy's facilities? Also top notch. Its public...with a catch.

enigma

Two of the folks who work in my lab were in the Naval Academy's AE program and transferred into UMCP after 2 years.

I personally don't think I could take the abuse they dish out to the plebes, even if I was getting my education for free.

KrazyIBKid

Well, i dont take any classes in AE or subsidaries thereof, but i read alot of book on planes and the dynamics of flight and such, for me it is really appealing and ive learned alot from my father as well... (he literally a rocket scientist... so u know).. and also about the Naval Academy it rough, ive visited Annapolis a few times (once again becuz of my dad , hes a CO.. so i get to do cool stuff with the navy).. but AE and flight itself and the dynamics of flight are{is a} really cool topic[s].