Hey what’s up, I’m a freshman about to enter the ASE program at University of Miami. I had top notch scores in everything and also ranked in the top 1% of my high school class, so of course I looked into and was accepted into every aerospace program I applied for. I’ll give you a small list of schools and a bit of info from a high schooler’s point of view, and also why I didn’t choose any of the schools with the best ASE programs in the US.

1) Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach – best school in the US for aeronautics and aerospace, but scholarship program sucks, there’s no variety in student population and interests, and the female population is nonexistent.

2) CalTech (fantastic school in beautiful Cali, but didn’t offer me enough scholarships. Featured in playboy magazine for best end of semester party at a university) Works directly with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab. Go here if you can.

3) MIT – another great school, but the students seem to die from the workload. They average around 4 hours of sleep per night due to homework. Needless to say, MIT is extremely competitive and I didn’t like a single person I met there. They were all rather snobby and considered themselves better than anybody else just because they went to MIT. Not something I wanted to be around or become. But if you think you have what it takes to get through the toughest and most prestigious engineering program in the world, go here, because the companies who hire from MIT are of very high caliber and also pay a lot. The winters are very cold here.

4) Cornell University – Great school, doesn’t offer aeronautical specifically, but rather combines it with mech engineering. Lots of Cornell alumni go to NASA and the people here are very nice.

5) Purdue University – Located in Indiana, the town is small and rural, so not my type. And it’s also very cold. But it’s a excellent engineering school and has a good sized female population.

6) Georgia Tech – good school with high reputation. Only issue is that every student on campus hates the school. They all seem to transfer after 4 years.

7) University of Michigan-Ann Arbor – Great school, but too cold here. I would get brain freeze by standing next to a window. highest female ration out of the schools listed here.

Finally, the University of Miami. This place is like paradise. They are ranked #54 on US News’ Best colleges of 2007, and still climbing every year. They offered me more scholarships than any other college, and the business program is phenomenal (which I’m double majoring in). Of course, the ASE program at UM doesn’t compare with the other colleges on the list, but the school spirit is amazing and also offer something none of the others on the list offer: normal college students who don’t spend every waking moment in a dorm room studying. After 4 years of hell going through AP programs and college courses in high school, I decided to go to somewhere I would actually enjoy for the next 4 years, and then transfer to Ivy League for a MBA.

Hope my experience has helped!

Well IIT and some NIT offer Aeronautical Engineering courses at graduation level, but was told that it is better to do mec. engg at grad level and then go for Aeronautical Engineering at Masters level coz if u choose Aeronautical Engineering at grad level ur knowledge about mechanics will be limited to only one area and so will be ur options for Masters. If i was in your place i would prefer to study in india for my basic degree education, not just coz i will have better friends here and also my family will be here, but it is risky to go for grad level outside as u never know what will happen(like the attacks in indians in aus these days) or may be india will stop recognizing the degree of US, and u will end up with no gred level degree without which u cant get a decent job.