Expert: Paul Soderman - 4/11/2007

Question
Paul - My son is currently a junior in HS and has done well enough in SAT test to be considered by MIT but is no "shoe in" for admissions.  He would like to pursue a career in Aerospace Engineering and I am encouraging that.  MIT is obvoisly an outstanding school but my unerstanding is that Cal Poly SLO is also very good for a BS as is Purdue, GA Tech and many others.  

Would it be bad advise to encourage him to go to Cal Poly and work hard, get great grades and then go to more well known school for his Masters?  Would a school like MIT even consider a graduate from CalPoly SLO for thier Masters Program?  I'll be honest here and admit money is a factor.

Thank in advance  

Answer
Gary - MIT is a great school, but I would not hesitate to send my son to Cal Poly SLO.  At NASA, I worked with some great professors from Cal Poly (and GA Tech also).  I can't speak for MIT, but I can't think why they wouldn't accept a Cal Poly graduate.  You have hit on a very practical education path for any student.  Get the BS degree in as good school as you can find economically and then go on to graduate school at a more prestigious school if possible.  I started at Oregon State University, which had, I believe, better teachers than most and then went on to the U. of Washington and Stanford for advanced work.  Stanford had Noble prize professors, who were not exactly good teachers like at OSU, but were tuned into the latest research.  I'm not saying that is the best path, but it worked well for me.  Good luck to your son.
Paul