O.T Help With College Selection.

Where is the best college for electrical engineering? I live in Macon Georgia and I Graduated High School last saturday and was looking at taking EE online and onsite at Georgia tech because that would only be a small drive for me but much of it can be done online. Problem is that I have worked with 3 EE from tech at a different plant and none of them really impressed me and to tell you the truth at my beginner level I am not hard to impress.

I am getting a late start on deciding and registering but I want to get the most bang for my buck.

From what I see most college EE programs now are geared more toward electronics and I wish to be educated more in Plc’s, Motor controls, Advanced Process Controls, Power Quality, etc

Just want some advice from the many experienced professionals here. Because here I am always impressed.

Check out Purdue Univerisity in Indiana. They have a couse geared toward Automation Enginnering or some such thing. I do not know the detail but have heard good things about it.

Good Luck

I am not an experienced professional, but I am currently enrolled at the University of Washington in Electrical Engineering. At UW, we have several 'specializations' that you can focus on while obtaining a BS in EE. I suggest you first look at the availibility of a program that interests you.

As far as getting the most 'bang for your buck', stay in state and go to a state college, not a private one. I am not sure how it works in Georgia, but in Washington, in-state resident tuition is about $6,802 a year while out-of-state tuition is $23,219 a year.

Hope that helps

I took the low buck approach of getting a two year degree then finishing up at a state school (Rutgers) with an ME degree.

Since then I have learned more from working on my parents farm, working with experienced mechanics, and working with good programmers/electrical engineers than I ever learned at school.

The degree is handy for getting your foot in the door, but I feel that a good work ethic and the ability to teach yourself is much more useful to employers.

At least it was for me.

Kid

I am a former consumer of the university system ending up with a masters. Did the time paid the tuition got the degree.

What is the best university?
The one you like and are willing to pay for. Close to home is a good thing especially if they charge out of state tuition.

At this stage I would recommend doing a year in industry. I know you have put some time in out there in the real world
BUT a little more seasoning and experience is a good thing.

IF you MUST get started I would start at a community college for the first two years worth of the 100 and 200 series classes. Concentrate on physics and math thru calculus.

Education wise you said you wanted to learn PLC motor control, power quality. A lot of this can be gotten from community college.

I would recommend a community college
From my experience you pay half the tuition, twice the instruction and half the class size. You also get a FULL TIME instructor who should be more dedicated to education and not involved with research - a MAJOR source of university funding. You are also taught by INSTRUCTORS and not some Teaching Assistant who is more dedicated to his thesis. Also is the burocracy at a 4 yr school as example Univ Washington used a calculus class to weed out for their EE school. Community colleges do not waste your time with this BS.

DOWNSIDE of community college - I found that a lot of my comm college credits would not transfer to 4 yr school. Find out which credits will transfer and what will not.

Talk to your local utility guys about power quality and see what they recommend for schooling. Talk with a local contractor who does power quality ie harmonics and all that NOT AN ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR unless they have a real sharp engineer.

Talk with possible future employers in teh areas you are intersted in. They will be more than happy to help you IF THEY HAVE TIME. They gotta eat lunch so drop a few bucks and buy em lunch besides you now have them away from the phone.

Consider the military for training. Some of it can be very good and exactly what you want. REMEMBER they are training you for THEIR equipment and could not care about what civilians need. Stay away from weapons and heavy equipment electrical. DO NOT sign unless they have in writing what schools you are going to and YOU have a copy and ideally have a lawyer review it. DOWNSIDE they own you body and soul and will do with you whatever they want - your needs and wants do not matter. Ideally go talk with some guys doing the work you want to do - you will get the truth from them - make your recruiter earn his money and find these guys for you. The recruiter is NOT your buddy - he is a headhunter - after he has your head he goes looking for the next one. It is just business so do not take it personal just be a GOOD consumer. You are bargaining a part of your life - get the best deal you can OR do NOT sign. I did six in the Navy and got electrician school and nuclear power school -- some of my best education. The Navy made damn double sure they got their investment out of me so do not forget that - they NEVER give out freebies you will pay for it with the rest of your hitch.

Dan Bentler

I 100% agree with Dan.

And Money for College

Here is another vote for Dan's reply. Not only would you get the benefit of training in a field you are interested in, you can also get money to pay for college.
I think I heard the Navy is giving over $50,000 at the moment, but I don't know what the required commitment is.

I also recommend that you take as many computer programming classes as you can fit into your desired studies. Many of the quality replies I see here seem to come from people who have other forms of programming in their arsenal.

http://www.navy.com/careers/

Did 8 years in the Navy, learned a lot, grew up fast!