@westside-steve said:

@westside-steve said:

Hey I got mail from the RNC. I'm assuming they want me as a presidential running mate in 2016...

WSS

Right, because that's the exact same thing. Believe me or not, idc. I know what was going on and I knew I had a good shot to get in. But, like I said, I fucked up and never took those SAT II subject tests.

In the end it doesn't matter, because I would have gone to Michigan either way.

WSS

Rankings are not irrelevant. Yes, obviously on an individual basis you could find someone from Akron that is smart/more successful/a better engineer than one from Michigan. But rankings, in a general sense, give a pretty good snapshot of one school vs another. The opportunities, the recruiting efforts, the average student qualifications, and so on at Michigan/Illinois/Purdue/etc will be better than Akron. This will be reflected in a ranking. Again, since I know you'll bring this up again, I realize no one is really gonna give a shit where you went to school when you start working, just what you produce for them. But coming from these tops schools helps you tremendously at getting a foot into the door and broadening your options.

I applied to Stanford, but fucked up the application. Turns out, you needed to take 2 SAT II subject tests. I had no idea what those were as a Jr in high school. So I applied, I even got emails from them about applying to the honors program, and then didn't get in for an incomplete applications. So, I fucked up. But, in the end, I wouldn't have gone to Stanford over Michigan. I just wanted to add a high profile school to my application list. Again, at the time, I didn't really realize how good Illinois and Purdue were.

I am in Indiana right now, but my company is located literally everywhere. We're a Fortune.. umm... 200 or 150 company. I'm in Manufacturing. My company is in a ton of industries.

@mld-woody said:

@the-gipper said:

Well, I know you at one point compared Miami OH to Michigan overall and Akron engineering to Michigan engineering. That's why I bring it up to poke fun at you. I do not remember what forum that was in though. Happy to see you are pulling back on that comparison.

LACs can be better at what they do, I just am not sure that what they do is better. Up to the individual though I guess.

One of the main reasons I never even considered Case was that it was too close to home. It wouldn't feel like a "real" college experience that close. I needed the full college experience. I needed to be thrust into Ann Arbor, by myself (no one else from my HS) and find my own way. It was good for me.

I applied to Michigan, OSU, Cincy, Purdue, Illinois, Stanford and Drexel (Drexel offered a free, 15 minute application and accepted me a week later. Never planned to go there, but figured I might as well apply). Michigan was my #1. I considered Purdue my safety not realizing at the time how good of an engineering school it was. Illinois gave me the most money in scholarships.

One of the info pamphlets I got from MIT talked about how they didn't do grades the first year. Just pass or fail. This was a way to keep the stress down year one. In the end though, that's not really what I wanted. Sure, the name to everyday folk sounds awesome, but it wouldn't have necessarily helped me get into my career (manufacturing). it would have been a very specialized school, and probably not that diverse. Plus Ann Arbor is the shit, Saturday football, IM sports, tons and tons of groups. It was awesome.

I never posted where I worked. I didn't want that as public knowledge. If you want to know though, let me know and I can PM you. I don't think I have to worry about you at all lol

@mld-woody said:

Not Miami OH.....that is not considered on the same level.

I was saying that the smaller liberal arts colleges in Ohio......Kenyon/Oberlin/Denison are better at what they do.

And speaking of a couple of schools that you referred to....my son is interviewing at Case this weekend for their doctoral program in Molecular Biology. While he is interviewing that school may not land on his short list. He interviewed there for a couple of reasons: A. it is close to home and B. In his field, being close to the Cleveland Clinic and University Research hospitals is highly valued in that field...probably more so than a Case engineering degree is.

Also, he too did not choose to apply to MIT...or Harvard. He just didn't want to engage in the cutthroat competition that goes on there. Not to worry though, he has already been accepted by Johns Hopkins Univ....which is ranked #1 in his field. Though, it is possible that he may decide to go into plant biology rather than human biology. If so, then Cornell, who is ranked #1 in the world in that field, wants him. So he has good, but very rough times ahead of him.

By the way, where did you say you worked?

@the-cysko-kid said:

I got mail from MIT but never pursued it. I was probably a long shot to get in, and even if I did, that really wasn't what I was looking for as far as a college experience goes. Also, though the MIT name is kickass to normal people, not every company is looking for an MIT engineer. The job I have right now, which I really enjoy, probably would not realistically look at MIT for candidates.

I don't believe my school will matter that much as I go throughout my career. Going to a large school with a spread out and successful alumni base is great for networking, but a lot of places have that (i.e. OSU). Where I mainly benefited was the opportunities presented to me at the school and the amount of attention we got from recruiters. By taking advantage of both of these, I had my choice of a number of jobs at well known and respected companies.

There's no telling if I could have the same job I have now if I went to Case. I can tell you that Case isn't on my company's list of "Target Schools". I can also tell you that more companies and more higher profile companies will visit a Michigan engineering fair than a Case engineering fair. That's no knock on Case, but Michigan is known across the country/world to recruiters and it is just the reality of the situation.

Now do I get insulted for always talking about Michigan? Do I get told I am talking out of my ass? Does Gipper respond with anecdotal evidence to tell me why Miami of OH is equal with Michigan? I can't wait to find out!

@browns149 said:

I can promise you that wasn't the case.

@the-gipper said:

Hahaha, my bad. You're right, I'm obsessed. I'll stop now...

and I have told you a few times why I didn't go to OSU.

@the-gipper said:

Maybe they wouldn't take him

That's just unacceptable and this kid will help put us back on the map.