Civil Engineering colleges?

[pianocello]

I'm starting my senior year of high school, so that means I'm also starting to look at colleges. I plan on majoring in civil engineering, so I figure the members of this forum know what schools have good civil programs/reputations. From your experience in school and in the workplace, what schools are the best for civil engineering?

[OracleUsr]

Far as I know, Clemson University has a pretty strong CE program (was a Computer Eng. major there), but it's in South Carolina.

[Special K]

Iowa State would be a good in-state option for you.  Very strong Engineering college.  Most of the transportation engineers I know are ISU CE alums.

[agentsteel53]

gotta throw in a vote for good old MIT.

[Roadgeek Adam]

In Jersey, besides the two state colleges (Rutgers and NJIT) that have CE, Farleigh Dickinson has a strong engineering program. The other one I believe is Stevens. There are other NJ residents on this site, they may be better than I am at this.

(I am an Education-History double major at a county college, going to start applying for Montclair State this upcoming year, since I have 9 classes left.)

[nexus73]

If you would like the lush green Willamette Valley to be your home as you receive a quality education, try Oregon State University.  Here is a link for you to explore what is offered in CE:

http://cce.oregonstate.edu/

Rick

[DaBigE]

Take a roadtrip up US 151 north to Wisconsin. First, you'll come across the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, a very well respected engineering school (except by those of us Madison alumni ). Good Transportation Engineering program there too, if that's what you're looking to get into. And of course, a bit further up 151 would be UW-Madison...which is pretty-much self-explanatory...just about every engineering discipline under the sun there. A little over a year ago, they installed a nice driving simulator.

[CentralCAroadgeek]

What are some good civil engineering colleges here in California?

[silverback1065]

Purdue university 5th best in the nation. Its where i go

[cpzilliacus]

If you want free and can handle the military aspect (including an obligation to serve after graduation), there's the original engineering school in the United States, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.

My alma mater is good in civil engineering (but not my major), University of Maryland at College Park.

Other ACC schools with good civil engineering reputations including Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia.

Not as "famous" as its medical school and hospitals, Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore has a very well-regarded civil engineering department.

[Ian]

I'm going through the same thing you're going through, pianocello. I plan on applying to several different colleges this fall that have civil engineering. Here's a list of the ones I'm applying to that are my top 4, which have that major...

-West Virginia University (my top choice)
-University of Maine at Orono
-Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA
-University of Massachusetts at Lowell

[Alps]

Some that are good in my experience:

* Georgia Tech
* MIT
* Stevens (Hoboken, NJ)
* RIT (Rochester, NY)
* WPI (Worcester, MA)

Check US News and World Report. The above listing covers a lot of people in the workplace. There are also those who went to Rutgers, West Virginia, etc.

[Revive 755]

I'm starting my senior year of high school, so that means I'm also starting to look at colleges. I plan on majoring in civil engineering, so I figure the members of this forum know what schools have good civil programs/reputations. From your experience in school and in the workplace, what schools are the best for civil engineering?

If the location for your profile is accurate, go for Iowa State.  I've heard that the University of Iowa, though it has a smaller program, has produced good traffic engineers and has better hands on access to traffic simulation software.

Others:

* University of Illinois - Chambana (hard to get into)
* Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville (MoDOT and IDOT have gotten some good talent from this one).
* University of Missouri - Columbia

If you are studying civil engineering with the dream of working for a state DOT, be advised you will often be disappointed when higher ups (either politicians or more senior employees in the agency) make decisions you find objectionable.

[Alps]

Oh, absolutely some advice: Intern with both a public (usually state) DOT and a private firm. You'll know very quickly which you prefer. Different strokes for different folks.

[hbelkins]

Just about all the KYTC engineers went to UK. The scholarship program I mentioned in a different thread is pretty popular. Keep your grades up and you are guaranteed summer employment and a job after you graduate. Perhaps either Iowa or Iowa State offer such a program. Get in touch with Iowa's transportation agency and inquire if they have a scholarship program similar to Kentucky's.

[Revive 755]

^ Barring a change in the past few years, the Iowa DOT did not have such a program, and did not have any sort of summer internships or co-ops due to budget cuts.  But it would be best for someone interested in such opportunities to actually contact the agency - some of the state DOT's do not post all opportunities on their websites.

[cu2010]

I'd be a horrible alumnus if I didn't mention my alma mater, Clarkson University, located way up in northern New York.

The middle-of-nowhere location and hellish winters tend to scare people off...

[BigMattFromTexas]

This is my Junior year. My dream is to get into Cockrell School of Engineering, at University of Texas. I'm keeping my grades up, taking dual credit classes, but unfortunately I don't 'enjoy' math. But I'm getting there. If I can't get in on a basketball scholarship, then hopefully my grades and good looks will get me in.
BigMatt

[Duke87]

"Civil Engineering" is a very broad umbrella. Under that you have:
- structural engineering
- environmental engineering
- geotechnical engineering
- hydraulic engineering (water resources, etc.)
- transportation engineering

And for any of those things you can do construction management and be mostly in the field or design and be mostly in an office.

Most places that have a "Civil Engineering" program focus mostly on structural engineering. If you're looking to do transportation, make sure you ask about that specifically. But also note that you will have to have some knowledge of all five of the subjects mentioned to pass the FE exam.

[J N Winkler]

My take on this, not as someone who has done a BSCE but who has done two degrees in three majors, gone into graduate school, and observed state DOTs for about a decade, is this:

*  With some exceptions, such as Caltrans, most state DOTs recruit from within their respective states.  It has been suggested that in some states the state DOT recruits from the bottom up of each graduating class of civil engineering majors at the state universities, since it is to this group (rather than the academic elite) that the tradeoffs involved in entry-level state employment (middling pay, good job security, less variety in work) are most likely to appeal.  I would expect this to be especially true in states, such as Kansas, where the vast majority of the design work on major projects is done not by the state DOT but rather by legacy consulting firms.  (There is a very short list of consultant firms in Kansas whose names routinely appear on chopblocks for KDOT projects:  HNTB, PEC, Burns & McDonnell, Cook, Flatt, and Strobel, Wilson and Company, George Butler and Associates.)

*  Compared to some degree fields, such as the humanities as a whole, certain fields in the hard sciences, and some high-demand engineering fields such as electrical and electronic engineering, I would expect the prestige of the university to add very little to the value of a civil engineering degree.  If this is true (and if it is not, I beg informed contradiction), then it implies that the smart strategy is not to look for the best civil engineering program, but rather a good civil engineering program at an university whose tuition and fee scales will allow you to graduate debt-free.  Ideally this program should also allow you to participate in research as an undergraduate, since this will improve your shot at graduate school if you choose to go that route, and will also make you more attractive to potential employers both in the public and private sectors.  It is important to keep debt to the absolute minimum because, unlike doctors and lawyers, civil engineers generally don't pull in enough income to finance a heavy load of student loan debt.  (Unlike consumer debt, student loan debts cannot be discharged through bankruptcy.)

*  Be aware of credential inflation and plan your education accordingly.  Right now a BSCE will put you on the track to a PE license, but this could change in the future--there is already talk of requiring a master's degree as the minimum qualification for a PE.  (It used to be possible to obtain a PE on experience alone, without any formal postsecondary education, but those days are long gone.)  Also, in the future it might not be enough to have just a PE; for example, in the transportation engineering specialty you might need a PTOE as well.  Even if these added qualifications do not become part of minimum requirements for employment, the salary increments associated with them are already fairly large.

[silverback1065]

that's not completely true, you can earn a good living as a civil engineer, it really depends on where you choose to work and which discipline you choose in civil.  Also going to one of the best colleges for civil (and for really any major) is a better thing, i believe it does matter to employers as to which college you go to because not all colleges are actually good in all the majors they offer.  Student loan debt is a big thing to consider in your decision though.  civil engineering gives you lots of flexibility in career choices since and least where i go has 9 different disciplines (structures, transportation, construction, architectural, environmental, geotechnical, land surveying, hydrologic, and materials).  so if transportation doesn't work out you have lots of others to choose from.  By the way,don't PE licenses varied by state? If so, requirements aren't always the same from state to state.

[Duke87]

What school you went to will affect things when you're looking for an internship or your first job out of college. But as you get older, it becomes increasingly meaningless - people will be more interested in your work experience.

[Alps]

All of the last three posters make excellent points. When looking for a civil engineering college, make sure they have ABET accreditation for civil engineering degrees. That's what you need to become a P.E. and advance in the field.