Was hoping someone here might be familiar with the program, graduated from it, etc. Anyone tell me their thoughts and opinions ? Especially civil engineering. Trying to compare for someone who just completed a tour of UT where they were told that program is #32 in the country with a goal of 'top 25' in the next 3-5 years (UT, that is). Thx.

I know several civil engineers who graduated from UoM but I don't think they post here and who are very successful. All big Tiger fans.

PM coming.

Mississippi State is a top Engineering school. I went to Herff College, however.

I am a civil engineer with 20 years in the Memphis area. I graduated from CBU but I know and have dealt with a lot of UM grads.

Regionally, UM has a fine reputation. It depends on the kid but they are mostly indistinguishable from CBU and Miss State grads. You tend to get a more intellectual kid from CBU and more of a country kid from Miss State but that has more to do with the admission process on the front end than the training they get while in college. I don't think you are going to wow anybody in, say, California with a UT, UM, CBU, or Miss State degree (any more than a kid coming here with a Colorado School of Mines degree) but regionally they all hold up fine. If you went out west or northeast, you'd be perfectly fine with a fully accredited engineering degree from any of these schools.

I personally know several recent UM civil grads and most of them are bright and well thought of.

I graduated UofM in Mechanical. Go where you want to go. Unless you are considering a truly, truly elite engineering university, the degree will be the only important thing, not which school you went to. No reason to pick UTK over Memphis over Arkansas over MTSU over any regular state funded institute of higher learning unless its truly a top engineering school like Virginia Tech or Georgia Tech or better. I just googled top 25 civil programs, didn't see your amazing Volunteers anywhere.

(10-08-2014 01:57 PM)cmt Wrote:  I graduated UofM in Mechanical. Go where you want to go. Unless you are considering a truly, truly elite engineering university, the degree will be the only important thing, not which school you went to. No reason to pick UTK over Memphis over Arkansas over MTSU over any regular state funded institute of higher learning unless its truly a top engineering school like Virginia Tech or Georgia Tech or better. I just googled top 25 civil programs, didn't see your amazing Volunteers anywhere.

(10-08-2014 01:50 PM)Memphomaniac Wrote:  You tend to get a more intellectual kid from CBU and more of a country kid from Miss State

One of the deans of some college at MIT who himself had been a dean at the engineering school at Iowa State made the comment that farm kids made the best engineers. They could visualize putting together and taking apart almost anything.

I got my EE from Herff so long ago that Nixon was president. One thing that I bet (or, at least I hope) hasn't changed about the engineering programs at Herff is that they're small enough that you could get to know your professors and they were very good about having generous office hours to meet with you and explain difficult concepts, etc. The flip side of that would be that you might not have as many flavors of engineering from which to choose at some larger programs. You're probably not going to have the same employers interviewing on campus as, say, Stanford or MIT, but you'll get the same crowd that visits UT, MSU, Auburn and all the other SE engineering schools. If your grades are good, you'll get solicited by the same grad schools as everybody else. Of course, getting free tickets to see Finch, Robinson and Kenon may have colored my opinion.

My brother-in law is an ME from U of M. He has done very well.

OTOH, I and 5 others in my family have engineering degrees from Tenn Tech, which is head and shoulders above UT in engineering. No reason to go to UT unless you are being forced to do so.


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(10-08-2014 03:16 PM)roundhouse74 Wrote:  I got my EE from Herff so long ago that Nixon was president. One thing that I bet (or, at least I hope) hasn't changed about the engineering programs at Herff is that they're small enough that you could get to know your professors and they were very good about having generous office hours to meet with you and explain difficult concepts, etc. The flip side of that would be that you might not have as many flavors of engineering from which to choose at some larger programs. You're probably not going to have the same employers interviewing on campus as, say, Stanford or MIT, but you'll get the same crowd that visits UT, MSU, Auburn and all the other SE engineering schools. If your grades are good, you'll get solicited by the same grad schools as everybody else. Of course, getting free tickets to see Finch, Robinson and Kenon may have colored my opinion.

Mech engineering '95. Had a class with dr Thompson with two (2) people in it (aerospace propulsion systems). Degree and what you do with it matters...connections in industry likely better in general at other, larger nationally renowned schools. That always helps...

On a side note, here is a sampling of some of the engineeringdegrees of people who work for me:

Rutgers
Penn State
Georgia Tech
US naval academy
lehigh (great school)
Etc...

Point is once in industry and experience behind you...where you went becomes less important...oh yeah...not being a d*** helps too..

Another excellent choice in the area is Missouri University of Science and Technology at Rolla, Missouri. They have an excellent reputation and are in a small town.

(10-08-2014 02:30 PM)cotton1991 Wrote:  

(10-08-2014 01:50 PM)Memphomaniac Wrote:  You tend to get a more intellectual kid from CBU and more of a country kid from Miss State

One of the deans of some college at MIT who himself had been a dean at the engineering school at Iowa State made the comment that farm kids made the best engineers. They could visualize putting together and taking apart almost anything.

Add to that their ingrained work ethic and I agree.

I have my ME from Memphis,and so does a nephew. I'm doing well working in the field I wanted to as a kid (space biz). The nephew works in th defense industry in St. Louis. I've found my degree/knowledge was equal to folks I work with.....grads from Rice, A&M, Texas, Kansas, Notre Dame, Michigan, etc. Memphis is a quality engineering school....getting that degree was tough, especially since I was in the MSOS also!!

Peace

(10-08-2014 01:57 PM)cmt Wrote:  I graduated UofM in Mechanical. Go where you want to go. Unless you are considering a truly, truly elite engineering university, the degree will be the only important thing, not which school you went to. No reason to pick UTK over Memphis over Arkansas over MTSU over any regular state funded institute of higher learning unless its truly a top engineering school like Virginia Tech or Georgia Tech or better. I just googled top 25 civil programs, didn't see your amazing Volunteers anywhere.

Completely agree. This goes for a degree in anything.

I know a few engineering grads from Herff and one is CE. He has had a very successful career out West and had no problems initially landing this same job out of college. UAH here in Huntsville has a decent engineering school and there are a lot of internship opportunities with various companies here in Huntsville but they MAY mostly be materials, systems, electrical, mechanical, etc...due to the military, technical, and aerospace focus here. Not bad when a college kid can intern with a Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, etc... Does Memphis partner with any companies to place interns?

(10-08-2014 01:57 PM)cmt Wrote:  I graduated UofM in Mechanical. Go where you want to go. Unless you are considering a truly, truly elite engineering university, the degree will be the only important thing, not which school you went to.

I also hold mechanical engineering degrees (BSME '70 and MS '75) from Memphis. Although I was an average student, at best, I had no trouble passing the Tennessee professional engineering license exams. I spent the first 12 years of my career working for an international company alongside graduates of such elite engineering schools as Georgia Tech, Auburn, Notre Dame, Illinois, Purdue, Texas A&M, Miss State, Rice and Stanford and competed well enough. Prior to transferring to Memphis (due to marriage), I attended Tennessee Tech for a year. It is a quality engineering school, but I liked Memphis better because the engineering classes were smaller, allowing better dialogue with professors. How much you learn and how well you do has more to do with how you apply yourself and your own ability than anything else.

I got my ME at UM in the mid-80s. On my first interview, the plant manager asked me why I went to UM rather than UT. I told him that Newton's Laws weren't any different at UT than they were at Memphis. I got the job.

You get out of school what you put into school. I agree with most all of the comments here. Unless you're going to a truly top tier engineering school, the basic core curricula are all the same/similar.

(10-08-2014 04:46 PM)Gray Avenger Wrote:  

(10-08-2014 01:57 PM)cmt Wrote:  I graduated UofM in Mechanical. Go where you want to go. Unless you are considering a truly, truly elite engineering university, the degree will be the only important thing, not which school you went to.

I also hold mechanical engineering degrees (BSME '70 and MS '75) from Memphis. Although I was an average student, at best, I had no trouble passing the Tennessee professional engineering license exams. I spent the first 12 years of my career working for an international company alongside graduates of such elite engineering schools as Georgia Tech, Auburn, Notre Dame, Illinois, Purdue, Texas A&M, Miss State, Rice and Stanford and competed well enough. Prior to transferring to Memphis (due to marriage), I attended Tennessee Tech for a year. It is a quality engineering school, but I liked Memphis better because the engineering classes were smaller, allowing better dialogue with professors. How much you learn and how well you do has more to do with how you apply yourself and your own ability than anything else.

absolutely

(10-08-2014 01:57 PM)cmt Wrote:  I graduated UofM in Mechanical. Go where you want to go. Unless you are considering a truly, truly elite engineering university, the degree will be the only important thing, not which school you went to. No reason to pick UTK over Memphis over Arkansas over MTSU over any regular state funded institute of higher learning unless its truly a top engineering school like Virginia Tech or Georgia Tech or better. I just googled top 25 civil programs, didn't see your amazing Volunteers anywhere.

Just a side note... As of 2010, MTSU does not have an Engineering Degree. They have an Engineering Technology Degree. Big difference. They may have added one since my son was shopping colleges, but I'm not aware of it.

Facilities have held the rankings from showing te quality of the program but that's changing. Major upgrades are on the way. Also important is the drastic increase in the quality of students with unprecedented numbers of 30+ on the ACT and a 50% increase in out of state Freshmen.

If you haven't been to the U of Memphis lately you have been to the U of M. Old Herff was always a very solid program without a well known rep. Now they are making waves. Research is growing by leaps.