Best Colleges for Skiing?

Ethan Snow wrote

I am currently in a Mechatronics program. I am just finishing up my first year.  But it is not an engineering program, it is an AAS/BT.(2+2) That's why I am considering transferring after next year.
I wonder if there are any Mechatronics Engineering programs, or are all Mechatronic programs Technology programs?

Yeah I remember reading that.  Not sure... in my mind mechatronics is mechanical + electrical engineering, and I have seen programs like that.  I asked at RIT if I could minor in EE but they wouldn't let me - had to be liberal arts .

You can do a dual major too, but it's a lot of work.  I considered that too because I really couldn't decide.  I'm glad I did ME though.

If you are doing a 2+2 I would do engineering science (it's undecided, same for EE or ME) and decide on which to take when you transfer.  The AS degree is worthless, you have to finish and get your BSME/EE.  There are lots of other degrees out there for engineering but I would stick to ME, EE, or if you are a computer guy, CE.  A BSME or BSEE will get you far.

You guys exchange emails yet?

pm goes right to email on this forum.  Email away if you have any questions.

This is perhaps gone away from colleges for skiing to just colleges for engineering.

SUNY Polytech, (one of the schools which I may attend, and have established communication with) has an ABET accredited ECE program. Electrical, and Computer engineering. I find Electronics to be very fascinating, but also very abstract and confusing. Mechanics seem to come naturally to me, so ME may be a better fit for me. After all, I did build my own ski lift from scratch which is they main reason I'm even on this website right now. But at the same time, mechanical systems have already been engineered many years ago. Pretty much everything you need to know about mechanics can be found in the Industrial Press Machinery Handbook. That thing is handy.  Electronics, and computers are always evolving, and improving, so there seems to be a brighter future in that field. But I may be wrong.

I'll tell you what, there is no shortage of misunderstanding and confusion in mechanics.  It's actually a lot messier than you might think.  IME with electrical design it's much easier to correlate to theory.

Look into something called Tribology.  If you think mechanics is well understood, then you haven't learned about Tribology yet.

Also Fluid Mechanics is very, very, very difficult.  Understanding and modelling something like combustion or even fluid flow from an injector to atomized droplets to vapor is incredibly difficult to model, measure and understand.

Hardware engineering on the electrical side may not be as glamorous as computer engineering, but every bit as important, and not going anywhere anytime soon.  Almost every system these days is electromechanical in some way or another, and computer controlled, but they still remain almost seperate entities.  Especially considering coding, which is a major field for CE.  HW design is more of a EE side of CE.  Also another huge challenge, which you may not realize in computing is actually the mechanical aspect.  Heat transfer for things like processors or power supplies, and also stuff that is seemingly simple as connectors and enclosures are a huge challenge in certain environments.

If you want to be on the cutting edge of things, consider optics.  Light, quantum mechanics, extreme speed and dimensional scale along with being the newest and therefore perhaps least understood of the physical sciences makes for some unique challenges.

Also material science and engineering is fairly cutting edge and where most real, big innovation and advancement is in mechanics.  It involves mechanics, chemistry and tribology.  Composites and plastics have always been considered the cutting edge but metallurgy is still a HUGE and ongoing science.  You learn and use perhaps but a fraction of that in mechanical engineering.  The amount to know and exploit from metal alloys alone is mind boggling, literally.  Just steels alone is a ridiculously enormous subject.

Hit another important milestone with regard to Clarkson today.

The Clarkson School is all high school seniors who are ready for college level work, but haven't graduated yet.  Because they are a university and not a private boarding school, they do not grant high school diplomas.  There are basically two ways to graduate high school while attending TCS.

Option 1:  Work with your current high school to satisfy any remaining requirements during your first year.  Some students can graduate by January, and others need the full year to fulfill all requirements.  You then receive your diploma from your former high school at the end of your TCS year.  You can continue at Clarkson and graduate in three additional years, or transfer somewhere else, but as a freshman with advanced standing.

Option 2:  Drop out of high school and take the GED exam when you arrive at Clarkson.  They bus you to the test center and provide tutoring services to help you prepare.  This option is used if there is no way to satisfy hs requirements and maintain a normal course load, or if your high school will simply not work with Clarkson.

I am planning to use option 1.  I made a rough version of my schedule today.  If I take two easy online classes, I can meet all hs graduation requirements with a normal course load, graduating after the full year.  I just need to make sure my current high school will approve the courses I would be taking.  One interesting fact is that if a high school doesn't work with Clarkson and a TCS student has to take the GED, they are registered as a dropout.  This obviously doesn't look good for the high school they're coming from, as TCS students tend to be in the top 10% of their class and not only does their graduation rate drop, but they're losing a very good student.  It sort of gives high schools an incentive to work with Clarkson to keep their graduation rate up.

the school where you are coming from loses a high scoring student on state mandated testing which does not make them happy campers

I'd be interested to hear what your school says about this.  We have some decisions to make in the next couple years about how we are going to handle Double Z's schooling around his racing and training schedule.  he is a high ranking student so we are trying to decide how to push those buttons correctly.  Northwood is an option as well and we are making a visit there next week on my sons spring break.  

  My Senior year in high school was some great times. Stay at your home high school and have the time of your life. College will be there forever. Sno you will grow up too fast already enjoy your time with no responsibility.

Coach:  I've already spoken with guidance and the principal at my current high school.  They're all in favor as long as I can satisfy their graduation requirements.

Gunny J:  I don't have many friends now, due to factors that have been there for years.  The only way to fix it is a completely clean slate.  I can't even go to my junior prom, that's how few friends I have.  I've already committed to Clarkson, so that's where I'm going to be.  

you don't need lots of friends to go to prom.  you just need to ask one girl

get off the forum and go find one

a new environment is not going to change you from being shy - you need to change yourself

That said you are committed to doing this so do it right and be a new person socially when you do go to Clarkson.  

what % of those going to this program are girls - my guess its going to be a dudefest.  Clarkson as a whole is probably heavily guys but as mentioned before there is SUNY Potsdam nearby a teachers college where there are more girls than guys so it will balance out but probably not for a high school student.

No friends, scared of girls?  Oh man, you are going to be a GREAT engineer Sno!

Prom - a waste.  Don't feel bad about not going.  It's just a dog and pony show for jocks and cheerleaders.

Z, I've tried to change who I am socially for 3 full years, ever since I went from middle school to high school.  However, in my district, there is only one middle school and one high school, so it's all the same people from middle school that go on to high school.  They had already formed these hard set clique groups that I was never able to work my way into and I lost nearly all my friends because of it.  Because I didn't know these people in middle school, getting to know them in high school wasn't going to happen.  I go out of my way to try and reach out to people, and they balk on it every single time because I'm "not approved" as part of their clique group.  I have determined that a clean slate is the only way it's going to improve, and that's what I'm getting at Clarkson.  

snoloco wrote

Z, I've tried to change who I am socially for 3 full years, ever since I went from middle school to high school.  However, in my district, there is only one middle school and one high school, so it's all the same people from middle school that go on to high school.  They had already formed these hard set clique groups that I was never able to work my way into and I lost nearly all my friends because of it.  Because I didn't know these people in middle school, getting to know them in high school wasn't going to happen.  I go out of my way to try and reach out to people, and they balk on it every single time because I'm "not approved" as part of their clique group.  I have determined that a clean slate is the only way it's going to improve, and that's what I'm getting at Clarkson.

So wait... you've wasted 3 years of your life trying to fit into some tight nit clique groups... not unlike those on... ahem, a ski forum...

This is the saddest thing I've ever read.

Be yourself goddamn it and fuck anyone who doesn't accept that.  I'm not saying you should be afraid to branch out and try new things, but Jesus, don't waste your goddamn time trying to fit in. If people don't want to be your friend because of some social black-balling, then fuck them.  And I mean in a very serious way.

You'll soon learn if someone wants to be your friend, it should be despite any social constraints i.e. what makes them look good in front of their friends or what benefits them at the moment.

My honest opinion, and really don't take this the wrong way, but you probably won't fit in at college either.  Those groups you talk about will form in college, and after college in various ways.

You're a smart guy, people will gravitate toward you to help pull them along, and others will despise you out of jealousy.  Learn to deal with people like this, because you'll encounter this throughout your life, not just in college.  Best thing is to keep the haters close, but not too close, and the same with the leeches.  Be cordial but not close.

I've never been clique guy myself.  I do my own thing, and if people accept me, great, we might be buds.  If not, then don't fuck with me (and stand your ground on this-I've been forced into many cliques where people tried to bring me down - hazing, bullying, whatever... it still happens a lot in college).  A true friend is hard to come by.  They'll be cool with you, and you with them and ask for nothing and expect nothing in return.  They won't change their story depending on who they talk to and back you up even when it makes them look bad.  It's a rare thing.  Most people will be acquaintances, and most stay in herds like they did in high school.

Don't be desperate and don't expect college to change the problems you've had in HS.  It's likely just who you are, and some day hopefully you'll accept it and use it to your advantage.

Sno

We all have been thru high school and know in many ways it sucks but most of us also fondly remember it was a good time.  Same goes with college.  

I went to a high school with over 800 in my graduating class.  I wasn't in the A social group maybe the b or c but there were lots of kids so you could find a group to fit into if you tried.  Key word is tried.

As a parent of another only child I was very concerned about this kind of shyness.  Only kids relate better to adults than kids sometimes.  Probably why you like this forum so much.  I made a point of forcing my son to grow out of this.  You are going to have to address this at some point.  You are going to get two do overs here but if you do not change and put yourself out there the change of location isn't going to matter.  

I'm not very shy at all, and anyone who's met me in person I'm sure would agree.  I do tend to interact better with adults, as many only children do, yet when faced with a completely new environment outside of high school, I can make lasting connections.  I am still connected with someone I met at a summer camp 2 years ago, and we are the same age, and I'm connected with a few people from my job last summer who are a couple years older than me.  I'm fairly certain that my problems are mostly isolated in school, and changing that is very likely to solve them.  I feel as I can say that my high school experience has been considerably worse than for most other kids my age.  I know that it has sucked for 3 years, and it's not getting better the last.  Time for a change in scenery.

Geezus, Sno --- you truly need to lighten up. Learn to laugh at yourself before anything else......your one serious little dude.

Coach Z wrote

what % of those going to this program are girls - my guess its going to be a dudefest.  Clarkson as a whole is probably heavily guys but as mentioned before there is SUNY Potsdam nearby a teachers college where there are more girls than guys so it will balance out but probably not for a high school student.

The Clarkson School is about 60% female and 40% male.  The university as a whole is 70% male and 30% female.  SUNY Potsdam is 60% female and 40% male and slightly larger than Clarkson.  When you're at TCS, you are a college student, not a high school student, and you aren't a social outcast just because you're younger.  You can join any clubs on campus, and you are in the same classes as everyone else.  I was told that "schoolies" sometimes throw off the curve on tests, and get some negative attention for it.  

Work on yourself.  Develop your own talents and interests. Enjoy and like who you are first and the rest falls into place.  If youre shy or an introvert then  fine be shy and introverted. Most people talk way too goddamn much and don't really have much to say anyway. If others don't appreciate your talents and passion, fine move on - you'll find people who do eventually.  Don't waste your time brooding about what others think about you.  

You seem like a kid with a lot of passion when you get interested in something-that's cool.  You write well- that's cool.  Those two things already make you more interesting than most of the people whose friendship you seem to seek. Not everyone is going to like or appreciate what you have to say- that's cool too, people disagree.  Enjoy your life and who you are.

Coach Z wrote

its going to be a dudefest

Dude. This made me laugh!

Good luck at Clarkson sno, good move IMO.

Actually more of a Sausagefest