Is there any advantage to a large, public university (Purdue, Ohio State) vs a smaller school (Case Western) for an engineering major?

John:

In general a large state college or university will offer a wider variety of engineering courses. However, many, if not most, of your courses will be very large class size, often several hundred. The chance for meaningful interaction with your professors at an undergraduate level is typically very low. Small colleges typically offer much smaller class sizes and a much greater chance to directly interact with your professors, offering, perhaps, a more meaningful college experience. On the negative side, smaller, private colleges are more expensive to attend, particularly compared to attending a public college/university in the state where you live. These are factors you should consider in selecting a college to attend.

Good luck, Pete Sturtevant, P.E.

I attended a small private university in Illinois (Olivet Nazarene University) with a program derived from Purdue. Before starting, I had toured Bradley and Augustana, which had really well equipped laboratories. I never regretted my decision, because I always considered undergrad as a course in learning to learn. So go where you will feel most comfortable with the learning environment and the college experience. While there were certainly times that I thought that larger schools had more advanced programs and laboratory activities, I had a very personalized education with small classes and access to teachers. It was also a great time to develop life skills. Some corporations may look at schools as a benchmark for someone's professional capacity, but you will quickly find a network of professionals who graduated from your respective school. I have worked for Motorola Mobility, Jabil Circuits, and Google. I have classmates who have worked at NASA, Emerson, Honda, and GE.
I am not familiar with Case Western, but I would suggest reaching out to the school to ask if you can talk to one of their alumni from a prospective field, in which you are interested.

Good luck!

John,

In my opinion, it really depends on how certain you are with what you're choosing to study. I chose a small university (Widener Univ) and studied Mechanical Engineering. It worked for me because it had everything I was looking for (small classes, work/study program, and a close proximity to home). Had I not known what discipline of Engineering I was interested in or wanted to study something more specific a larger university would have probably made more sense. I'd suggest visiting both large and small schools and ask to sit in on a lecture at both. Both have their advantages and disadvantages and worst case you can always change schools/majors.

Best of luck!