Valpo Engineering

[historyman]

things like engineering, and having the only solar research facility in undergrad life, draws kids like Alex Peters. 

Alec Peters could have gotten an engineering degree at a school like Purdue which would go a lot farther than an engineering degree at Valpo. He could have been a star in a bigger conference. What Peters really went to Valpo for was the coaching of Bryce Drew and Roger Powell and the christian atmosphere they promote on the men's basketball team at Valpo.

[vu72]

things like engineering, and having the only solar research facility in undergrad life, draws kids like Alex Peters. 

Alec Peters could have gotten an engineering degree at a school like Purdue which would go a lot farther than an engineering degree at Valpo. He could have been a star in a bigger conference. What Peters really went to Valpo for was the coaching of Bryce Drew and Roger Powell and the christian atmosphere they promote on the men's basketball team at Valpo.

Really?  We are talking about undergrad engineering. Valpo is ranked in the top 25 engineering schools by US News and their civil engineering program is ranked 7th.  Enginnering firms know the value of hiring a Valpo grad.  To say "a lot farther" is inaccurate.

[valpo95]

things like engineering, and having the only solar research facility in undergrad life, draws kids like Alex Peters. 

Alec Peters could have gotten an engineering degree at a school like Purdue which would go a lot farther than an engineering degree at Valpo. He could have been a star in a bigger conference. What Peters really went to Valpo for was the coaching of Bryce Drew and Roger Powell and the christian atmosphere they promote on the men's basketball team at Valpo.

Really?  We are talking about undergrad engineering. Valpo is ranked in the top 25 engineering schools by US News and their civil engineering program is ranked 7th.  Enginnering firms know the value of hiring a Valpo grad.  To say "a lot farther" is inaccurate.

Thanks for catching this, 72. While I am a College of Engineering alum, I can say with certainty that Valpo offers a world-class undergraduate engineering education.  The only thing lacking in some circles is name recognition.  I have worked with engineering graduates of MIT, Stanford, Purdue, Penn State, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Georgia Tech and many fine schools.  The undergraduate engineering education at Valpo is as good or better than those instituitions, many of whom get their reputation because of their graduate programs.  Now that I think about it, Valpo alums end up being accepted to those programs for grad school.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

an engineering degree at a school like Purdue which would go a lot farther

since we're piling on, it's "further"

[historyman]

Alec Peters could have gotten chosen an engineering degree at a school like Purdue which would go a lot farther than would be equivalent to an engineering degree at Valpo. He could have been a star in a bigger conference. What Peters really went to Valpo for was the coaching of Bryce Drew and Roger Powell and the christian atmosphere they promote on the men's basketball team at Valpo.

I updated it for you engineers but I think the point I make is still the same. Peters is at Valpo for both the engineering degree and the coaches and the atmosphere they have created. He had the choice to play in a bigger conference and decided against it because of the coaches.

[vu72]

Alec Peters could have gotten chosen an engineering degree at a school like Purdue which would go a lot farther than would be equivalent to an engineering degree at Valpo. He could have been a star in a bigger conference. What Peters really went to Valpo for was the coaching of Bryce Drew and Roger Powell and the christian atmosphere they promote on the men's basketball team at Valpo.

I updated it for you engineers but I think the point I make is still the same. Peters is at Valpo for both the engineering degree and the coaches and the atmosphere they have created. He had the choice to play in a bigger conference and decided against it because of the coaches.

I now agree.   

[valpo95]

 

Alec Peters could have gotten chosen an engineering degree at a school like Purdue which would go a lot farther than would be equivalent to an engineering degree at Valpo. He could have been a star in a bigger conference. What Peters really went to Valpo for was the coaching of Bryce Drew and Roger Powell and the christian atmosphere they promote on the men's basketball team at Valpo.

I updated it for you engineers but I think the point I make is still the same. Peters is at Valpo for both the engineering degree and the coaches and the atmosphere they have created. He had the choice to play in a bigger conference and decided against it because of the coaches.

I now agree.   

[agibson]

Really?  We are talking about undergrad engineering. Valpo is ranked in the top 25 engineering schools by US News and their civil engineering program is ranked 7th.  Enginnering firms know the value of hiring a Valpo grad.  To say "a lot farther" is inaccurate.

Just to be sure we're comparing apples and apples.  Valpo's presumably ranked in the top 25 (and civil #7) for undergraduate engineering education for schools _not offering a doctorate_.

That list has Rose Hulman, Harvey Mudd, and the service academies at the top.  And, I can imagine Valpo might make the list - a fine achievement.

They also have a list for engineering undergraduate programs at schools that do offer doctorates.  It's MIT, Stanford, Cal Tech, Berkeley, etc.  Purdue's tied for 10th with Princeton and UT Austin.

US News doesn't compare those two categories any more than they compare Valpo (regional university) to Carleton (national liberal arts college) or to the University of Chicago, Northwestern, Purdue, etc. (national universities)

[vu72]

Really?  We are talking about undergrad engineering. Valpo is ranked in the top 25 engineering schools by US News and their civil engineering program is ranked 7th.  Enginnering firms know the value of hiring a Valpo grad.  To say "a lot farther" is inaccurate.

Just to be sure we're comparing apples and apples.  Valpo's presumably ranked in the top 25 (and civil #7) for undergraduate engineering education for schools _not offering a doctorate_.

That list has Rose Hulman, Harvey Mudd, and the service academies at the top.  And, I can imagine Valpo might make the list - a fine achievement.

They also have a list for engineering undergraduate programs at schools that do offer doctorates.  It's MIT, Stanford, Cal Tech, Berkeley, etc.  Purdue's tied for 10th with Princeton and UT Austin.

US News doesn't compare those two categories any more than they compare Valpo (regional university) to Carleton (national liberal arts college) or to the University of Chicago, Northwestern, Purdue, etc. (national universities)

Of course you are correct.  However, we ARE talking about undergrad engineering and as valpo95 points out, most of the reputation gained but bigger names is as a result of their doctorate programs. It is also true that Valpo has the ONLY solar furnace at an undergrad level which affords our students with unparalleled research opportunities, again, on a undergrad level. I'm pretty sure you would rank the Valpo physics experience quite high because of many factors including quality of faculty and ability to have access to faculty.  The quality of Valpo grads has much to do with where they are accepted for grad school.  Many of our law professors, for example, are Valpo undergrad alums while gaining law degrees from the whose who of nationally recognized institutions.

[usc4valpo]

things like engineering, and having the only solar research facility in undergrad life, draws kids like Alex Peters.

Alec Peters could have gotten an engineering degree at a school like Purdue which would go a lot farther than an engineering degree at Valpo. He could have been a star in a bigger conference. What Peters really went to Valpo for was the coaching of Bryce Drew and Roger Powell and the christian atmosphere they promote on the men's basketball team at Valpo.

Really? We are talking about undergrad engineering. Valpo is ranked in the top 25 engineering schools by US News and their civil engineering program is ranked 7th. Enginnering firms know the value of hiring a Valpo grad. To say "a lot farther" is inaccurate.

Thanks for catching this, 72. While I am a College of Engineering alum, I can say with certainty that Valpo offers a world-class undergraduate engineering education. The only thing lacking in some circles is name recognition. I have worked with engineering graduates of MIT, Stanford, Purdue, Penn State, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Georgia Tech and many fine schools. The undergraduate engineering education at Valpo is as good or better than those instituitions, many of whom get their reputation because of their graduate programs. Now that I think about it, Valpo alums end up being accepted to those programs for grad school.

Wow, this caught my eye as a Valpo engineering alum.  I agree that Valpo provides an excellent undergraduate education in engineering.  My negative part of the experience, because of the smaller school size, is the lack of diverse engineering classes during the senior year.  For your freshman, sophomore and junior years, Valpo is great!  For senior level classes, they are limited.  The classes and education is not bad, but it would be great to take classes more specfiically meeting your interest.  But the instructors and support at Valpo is pretty solid.  Regarding a wide variety of classes, Valpo cannot accomodate this, nor would I expect them to.

Thus, the key advantage of the bigger-named universities regarding senior and graduate level education is the variety of available classes.  I experienced this at USC, and I currently see this in my current system engineering studies at MIT.

[agibson]

However, we ARE talking about undergrad engineering and as valpo95 points out, most of the reputation gained but bigger names is as a result of their doctorate programs. It is also true that Valpo has the ONLY solar furnace at an undergrad level which affords our students with unparalleled research opportunities, again, on a undergrad level. I'm pretty sure you would rank the Valpo physics experience quite high because of many factors including quality of faculty and ability to have access to faculty.  The quality of Valpo grads has much to do with where they are accepted for grad school.  Many of our law professors, for example, are Valpo undergrad alums while gaining law degrees from the whose who of nationally recognized institutions.

I'm with you.  And, indeed, we do like to think that we provide a high quality education.  A lot of that, indeed, has to do with contact with faculty, attention to teaching and mentoring, etc.  And, indeed, when I got to graduate school at a top nationally-ranked program I was pleasantly (naively?) surprised to see that our better/best students at Valpo compared well with the undergrads there.

I just think we should be careful about abusing outside comparisons.  Maybe I'm insecure and unduly concerned about inviting ridicule, but I'd prefer to stand on easily defensible merits, and not on too shaky of a foundation.  I think it's better to be ranked well, rather than not, for sure.  Even if we might question the methodology of those doing the rankings.  But, we shouldn't confuse the rankings that are out there and use them to make invalid comparisons.  By somebody's standards, even reasonable standards, VU might be a better place than Purdue to be an undergrad engineering major.  I'm fairly sure it _is_ a better place for some students.  But, US News chooses not to make that comparison.  (Not that anyone here was directly claiming that US News _did_ make the comparison.... but maybe they were getting close to it.)

[usc4valpo]

However, we ARE talking about undergrad engineering and as valpo95 points out, most of the reputation gained but bigger names is as a result of their doctorate programs. It is also true that Valpo has the ONLY solar furnace at an undergrad level which affords our students with unparalleled research opportunities, again, on a undergrad level. I'm pretty sure you would rank the Valpo physics experience quite high because of many factors including quality of faculty and ability to have access to faculty. The quality of Valpo grads has much to do with where they are accepted for grad school. Many of our law professors, for example, are Valpo undergrad alums while gaining law degrees from the whose who of nationally recognized institutions.

I'm with you. And, indeed, we do like to think that we provide a high quality education. A lot of that, indeed, has to do with contact with faculty, attention to teaching and mentoring, etc. And, indeed, when I got to graduate school at a top nationally-ranked program I was pleasantly (naively?) surprised to see that our better/best students at Valpo compared well with the undergrads there. I just think we should be careful about abusing outside comparisons. Maybe I'm insecure and unduly concerned about inviting ridicule, but I'd prefer to stand on easily defensible merits, and not on too shaky of a foundation. I think it's better to be ranked well, rather than not, for sure. Even if we might question the methodology of those doing the rankings. But, we shouldn't confuse the rankings that are out there and use them to make invalid comparisons. By somebody's standards, even reasonable standards, VU might be a better place than Purdue to be an undergrad engineering major. I'm fairly sure it _is_ a better place for some students. But, US News chooses not to make that comparison. (Not that anyone here was directly claiming that US News _did_ make the comparison.... but maybe they were getting close to it.)

Well, regarding engineering the Purdue and Valpo academic experiences are different just like student's needs.  For some students the academic experience may be better at Valpo and for others it may be better at Purdue.  We are also comparing two schools with entirely different missions.  Personnally, I went to Valpo because of size and attention to academics and access to instructors. The instructors overall were good.  For the most part, I was prepared for graduate school and in my employment.   Valpo did have faults for my needs - weak or limited extracurricular activities and social life, lack of diversity (this is changing for the good), and sometimes too conservative in a scary Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann-like manner (maybe it has changed).  Overall, at the end, I was pleased.

[StlVUFan]

If you were a student prior to the openness to the ELCA, that might have something to do with the overly conservative feel to it.

[usc4valpo]

If you were a student prior to the openness to the ELCA, that might have something to do with the overly conservative feel to it.

Indeed it was.

[usc4valpo]

If you were a student prior to the openness to the ELCA, that might have something to do with the overly conservative feel to it.

You are correct.  Back in the early 80's, and I know this is not exactly PC, but women literally were looking for Mrs. degrees, and for some, Lord know if you were not engaged by your senior year.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

women literally were looking for Mrs. degrees, and for some, Lord know if you were not engaged by your senior year

It was largely that way in the 90s, and I would say, much more like that today, if not in absolute terms, then in comparison to other colleges.

I remember Kevin Geiman saying something like what you said, USC, in a philosophy class, that "only at VU would a relationship end at Thanksgiving of senior year if there still wasn't a proposal" ... :/

[usc4valpo]

women literally were looking for Mrs. degrees, and for some, Lord know if you were not engaged by your senior year

It was largely that way in the 90s, and I would say, much more like that today, if not in absolute terms, then in comparison to other colleges. I remember Kevin Geiman saying something like what you said, USC, in a philosophy class, that "only at VU would a relationship end at Thanksgiving of senior year if there still wasn't a proposal" ... :/

yes, that was pretty pathetic and in reality true.  I think about it now and it is pretty hilarious.  Valpo's culture was sort of in a vacuum.  Lordy, how horrible it would be if your sorority would not place in Songfest!!

One huge difference between Valpo and USC was culture.  Valpo, a small semi-rural school on a tundra.  USC, with a mix of Reagan youth and a lot of international diversity, in South Central LA.  Valpo lived in the days of "I Like Ike."  USC is a combination of Beverly Hills 90210 and The Big Bang Theory (especially in the engineering department).