Colleges

Hello everybody I have been following this website for years and now I am a junior in Highschool. I plan on getting my masters degree in Mechanical Engineering and hopefully someday design coasters. Does anybody know any good colleges or can anyone refer me to someone in this field get advice. Thank you 😊

http://www.ehow.com/list_6116123_top-10-colleges-mechanical-engineers.html

Do some research..colleges need to be your choice on your goals and wants.

Good list. Let me add my alma mater Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Good amount of interaction between professors and students, not just TA's and students. World renowned.

Kettering, I didn't go there but they have a great ME program.

Also, be very careful where you get your info. Sites like eHow are simply not trustworthy for anything, they exist purely to draw visitors and generate ad revenue. Which is why you will see a lot of "lists" on these types of sites, because American's have a lazy love of lists. It's kinda sad actually.

I just typed in mechanical engineering colleges, and did the first link. I'm not him, I'm not ganna research for him. I was ganna give him a let me google that for you link, honestly.

Colleges are your choice, it's all on you. Gatta do your own research for em.

Youngstown State University has an OUTSTANDING Engineering program with a very high success rate. If you're good with Math, you will do great! I highly recommend it.

Cleveland State has an excellent program that improves more and more each year. I am completing my MCE degree this year and have enjoyed my time there. Some amazing professors that make it enjoyable as they are passionate about what they do. A friend who went to Case Western for a little over two years prior to transferring said she prefers CSU in many ways.

Make sure wherever you go to do internships and coops. I have done 5 personally through CSU (all paid of course ranging from 15-23/hr) and the network and experience is everything. I basically am handed jobs easily now with little effort. Compare to those who don't and struggle to find anything... I have done stuff in the medical field, aerospace, power generation, machine design and currently at a combustion company. Hoping to get my full time offer next week from them, six months prior to my graduation. Can't beat that. Experience is key!

Oh, and why a masters? I originally wanted to as well, but most realize quickly that it just is not worth it usually. Very few people I have ever met in industry have a masters in engineering. They would rather have you get a P.E. if you want to do more. Most who get a masters end usually end up with a PHD lol.

But if you get it, good for you! I couldn't do it. I would rather get a MBA, something easy!

Not to discourage you, but the number of job openings for coaster engineers with an amusement ride company is very, very small. I'm sure that some day, with the right education, you can design a fine coaster. Finding someone to actually pay you for that job is the big problem you face.

Pete is right. Plus, there's an abundance of college graduates with mechanical engineering degrees flooding the workforce now. Like others stated above, take advantage of interns and co-op's. Network whenever possible, it's a very competitive job market.

Magnum-Man, looks like we're pretty similar. I'm also a junior in high school and plan on going into mechanical engineering with my goal of becoming a coaster designer. I know it will mainly be luck getting into the industry, but good luck to you as well!

I am currently working towards my ME degree at the University of Toledo. I based my decision on the way they run the engineering college. The schooling will end up being 5 years instead of 4 because of the mandatory co-ops. I really like the co-op options compared to others. A co-op is essentially a paid internship. Elsewhere such as Ohio Northern you had an option for one where at Toledo you are required to take three and have a possibility for a fourth. The bonuses of the co-ops other than getting paid is that most likely the company you co-op with will hire you right after graduation. Though i think kilepark may be wrong. At Toledo the job placement is in the high nineties. it will be hard though getting into the amusement industry, those jobs are few and far between, though luckily we recently had a person co-op and is now working in Orlando for Disney. we also had a second just finish a co-op.

My personal experience with Toledo's engineering program was highly negative. I encountered way more administrative incompetence than a respectable program should ever tolerate. But I may very well be not the norm.

^ I go to UT as well, and they definitely have a high amount of administrative incompetence. However, I have never seen any of the engineering students do poorly.

Try CollegeBoard.com - when I was looking at schools, that's one of the websites that I used to give me an idea of what schools offered what programs.

I have only had a few negative experiences with the administration though I have heard many stories. But aside from online sites I'd try to take multiple college visits and at each schedule a meeting with their engineering program.

I just searched to see if my desired school, Ohio State, has any good engineering co-ops. Wouldn't you know it, the first image I see on the site was one of a student at Cedar Point, more specifically it looks like he's standing on the lift hill of Millennium Force. Pretty cool.

Just some food for thought: My husband is a mechanical engineer but his experience in working with machinery during his college has helped him tremendously, but he's also very mechanically inclined. (Which saves us a lot in labor costs!) I don't know what field any of you are considering in mechanical engineering but my husband at times has complained to me that they have had trouble either recruiting engineers who know what they're doing or have let go new engineers that just don't understand how things work in real life. Maybe these co-ops and internships help with that aspect, too. Those who want to design coasters, maybe try to work on CP's maintenance team in the summer or something of that nature.

Good point ^

At a few of my interviews I have been asked how mechanically inclined I am, such as working on cars for example (which I do). I was told recently that they are surprised how many mechanical engineering students they interview have little to no 'experience' and probably don't know one tool from another.

Even after 2-3yrs of intern/coop experience, at each job you learn more and more. I have worked at 5 different companies so far since starting college ranging from engineering in the medical industry to aerospace, machine design and now combustion.

Interviews get easier though with more experience, and I must admit the past few were practically given to me based on my job experience in engineering while in school. Employers respect somebody that has so much experience before they graduate (plus you make quite good money that helps pay for books, tuition and other fun stuff).

I actually just got an offer this week for a full-time position where I have been an intern the past three months, six months prior to my graduation in May. I start in a week and a half with full salary, benefits, etc... You don't hear of many employers offering that before you get that paper. My buddy finishes in six months as well and has had a few interviews and all have basically told him to kick rocks until he graduates. I don't even have to think about looking for a job close to graduation now while my friends are struggling to find something.

While it may be nice and peachy to finish college in 4-years and be done, the job search will be hard. It is better to spend the 5 to 6yrs in school being active in the coop/intern program and have a much easier time afterward. I would be beyond stupid with "book smarts" alone in any place I have worked, as the experience you gain in these places is way more valuable. In engineering, school is more teaching you how to problem solve in different ways.

I highly recommend the field though... Great jobs, money and a WIDE range of stuff you could work on. It is extremely versatile.

Good luck!

That's great you have some offers. I hope you make a good choice! It certainly sounds like you're on your way and have definitely made an impression.

I kind of related to my husband this evening what I was trying to say here. He said that early in the industrial age, especially in the auto industry, there was a lot of over the wall engineering and now it's not very well tolerated these days. If an engineer doesn't know his way around a plant floor's equipment then he will have a hard time. Sometimes my husband actually has had to help fix something himself. My husband was the kid who used to take apart things just to figure out how to put it back together, even household appliances. His father had him work on cars with him, his first car he had to rebuild the engine. He worked as a machinist and later on construction equipment.

This thread has held my interest because I have two boys that might very well want to enter the engineering field, the way they talk and the kinds of things they like to do. It's really intriguing reading about the co-ops/internships and how some colleges with them would help landing a job. I told my husband about this and he is familiar with it and he's heard that it has helped new grads. He says this country is not producing enough engineers to keep up with demand.

He's also said before that German engineering is the world leader. It's true that each company he's worked for are native Germans or German headquarters. If anyone has the opportunity for study in Germany, do it if you can!

Anyway, I'm relating this so some of you may know that hands-on experience may be an important aspect in gaining and retaining employment. For my husband, it's been invaluable.

Edit: TMI, might as well post his resume!:P