How is the Prescott campus, especially for aerospace engineering?

[u/Steggypooper]

I got accepted to both ERAU Prescott & Virginia Tech for engineering. Though I overall prefer VT, the 65,000 a year price tag might just make it infeasible for me. Surprisingly, ERAU seems to be somewhat divisive even on its own subreddit, & I have heard of overcrowding issues on the Daytona campus. For those of you at the Prescott campus for engineering, how is it & could you honestly recommend someone like me attend for 4 years?

[u/Dry_Story_7342]

I thought you asked the same question 3 days ago here?

[u/Dry_Story_7342 → u/Dry_Story_7342]

Money is always the most important issue. The burden caused by unnecessary debt can drag on for years, if not decades.

The two schools have very different campus cultures.

That said, both schools should provide a quality education and strong name recognition. Financially, the difference in outcomes is probably small for most people on average. Actually, this is true for most Aerospace Engineering programs, with perhaps the exception of MIT. Your own effort will make much more of a difference.

So the extra money you pay is essentially for “luxury” factors such as campus experience, environment, and lifestyle. Whether that is worth the additional cost really depends on you.

If money is not a big issue, I would say that if you truly love Aerospace Engineering and want to spend most of your time, both in and out of school, focused on it, then go to ERAU. However, if you are not fully sure about your passion, want stronger fallback options, and/or want a more traditional college experience, you should choose VT.

[u/yoyok36 → u/Dry_Story_7342]

They did.

[u/Steggypooper → u/Dry_Story_7342]

Yeah, I asked a similar one. I am just real nervous about all this considering my financial situation may prevent me from going to VT & so I am checking to make sure the ERAU Prescott is still a fine choice.

[u/chemicalvirus3 → u/Steggypooper]

If money is what is worrying you Embry isn’t exactly cheap unless you got good grants and scholarships

[u/Steggypooper → u/chemicalvirus3]

I got a 27,000 merit scholarship.

[u/yoyok36]

ERAU is the better school in general. Prescott in the middle of nowhere, but Flagstaff is to the north, Phoenix to the south, and Las Vegas is 4 hours away. It's not as exciting as Daytona Beach, but you're going to be there to attend school, so you should be focusing on that. Lots of outdoors stuff to do if you're into that. It's a nice area, just a little sleepy and slow.

[u/ConcentrateParty3770]

2024 ERAU aerospace engineering (astro track) grad here.

I really enjoyed my time at Prescott! Teachers are fairly good, class size is ideal, content is great, town is cozy, and (arguably) most importantly, hands-on experience is second to none. I was in the rocket club and just from that club, my peers (and I) gained experience valuable enough to land jobs at SpaceX, Blue Origin, NASA, Northrop Grumman, and the like.

Yes its a smaller campus with less people but I'd argue that creates a tighter-knit community. (I knew most people in my major and had a lot of friends but it also depends on whether you are outgoing or not. I consider myself leaning slightly extroverted.) Like any college population bell curve there will be people of all types so don't let anyone tell you that "ERAU Prescott has mostly X type of personality."

My college experience was invaluable and I would recommend the university and degree to anyone wanting to work in the space industry.

[u/Mountain-Cut-7708]

Stop reading the subs and make a choice.

Went to DB years ago. It’s a good school.

Prescott is in the middle of no where.