Good Engineering Schools in the South

Hi Erin -- Not sure why you want to steer clear of Georgia Tech... but, I would like to recommend a smaller school that is not well-known, but among academics and in industry is known as the "Harvard of the Southwest".

Check out US News 2016 Rankings:

"The most popular majors at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology include: mechanical engineering, petroleum engineering, chemical engineering, civil engineering, general and electrical and electronics engineering. The average freshman retention rate, an indicator of student satisfaction, is 76 percent."

2014 USA News listed GA Tech @#2 and NM Tech at #8

When you say south - do you mean southwest or south east? In the South East great schools include Virginia Tech, GA Tech, Clemson, NC State, West Virginia, Duke. For undergraduate, most will provide you a good base engineering education. If there is an area you want to focus on e.g. EE with software radio focus, then look for schools which have some research in this area you might get involved in in your junior or senior years. Also consider locations - you will be spending 4 or more years of your life there - you better enjoy where you live. E.g. if you are more city focused - GA Tech and NCSU. Mountains and outdoors - VT and Clemson. Also consider a co-op or intern program where you work for a company to get real world experience to tie with your classroom experience.

Hi Erin,

Ken has shared some really good information for you to consider in your search. But I am going to share another angle: while you can find some really good engineering schools in the south e.g. UT Austin, Rice University, etc. I would seriously consider other options on the west coast such as UC Berkeley, UCLA, Stanford University, University of Washington to name a few. A note to consider: the chances to get into these schools can be higher for an out of state applicant.