Michigan Tech is a quality school in an amazing location. Academic opportunities here are numerous and beneficial if you are independently motivated. The opportunity to explore the Keweenaw Peninsula and its natural and archaeological beauty is also a major perk.
Do you have any tips for prospective students?
Be able to motivate yourself to work hard and be responsible for your own success. Professors here will not take it easy on you as a freshman, and many of them won't be able to communicate very well, so you need to be able to get things done yourself.
Do you find there’s enough academic rigor at your school?
Some classes, primarily gen. ed., are super easy at Tech, but many of the core classes in the engineering disciplines become incredibly intense. This understandably varies by instructor, but overall the subject matter covered in a majority of courses is difficult in nature. The hardest part of many classes is the lack of actual instruction that many professors do. You will have several classes in which you need to teach yourself all of the material from the book.
Describe the dorm life at your college.
Dorm life for me has been great. Most of the students at Tech are like-minded, and therefore you will probably get along well with several people, and will make a lot of friends. Being at a technical schools like Michigan Tech means that campus culture is less varied than at a liberal arts school. Everybody here is a geek, and so we mostly have similar interests and get along.
Describe the food and dining at your college.
At Tech you get unlimited meals if you live in the residence halls, but there's a price: the food isn't four-star. Most of the time the meals are good, they just tend to cycle quickly, meaning that you will probably have the same meals every three weeks or so. Occasional special dinners are incredible, and often feature steak and other nice food. The other downside to campus dining is location. While each dorm has its own dining hall, The dining hall in Douglas Houghton Hall only serves breakfast and lunch on weekdays, and on the weekends only the Wadsworth Hall dining hall is open for brunch and dinner (in the winter the walk to Wads can be uncomfortable). McNair Hall's dining hall offers late night food until 9 pm, which is great.
What’s there to do for fun at your college?
The Keweenaw Peninsula is an amazing place to play in and explore. Numerous mines and mining ruins, old growth forests, beaches, snow sports (including a campus ski hill across the lake), and other fun activities make Houghton a fun place to live. Lastly, access to the campus rec center and the ski hill across the lake is free to students (ski/board rental costs money)!
Do you feel you’re getting value for the money you’re spending on college?
Michigan Tech is very expensive for a state university (estimated 27k per year in-state in 2012/2013), and I do not feel that it is quite worth that much. While employers value a Michigan Tech education and will hire many high achieving students that graduate, leaving school with a ton of debt is not something that is easily remedied, even with a nice job. Tech is a great school, and you will be great at whatever you study when you graduate, but the cost may be prohibitive for some.
Share any unusual traditions or locations on campus
Winter Carnival is the big tradition at Michigan Tech. During late January or early February every year thousands of people trek up to Houghton for a festival that celebrates snow, ice, and hockey. Students build enormous statues of snow and ice (either one-night or month-long projects), the hockey team hosts a weekend series, and the campus is filled with music, free stuff, and hundreds of people for a week. Class gets out on Wed. of that week, and so there are five days off for students.
Another great tradition is broomball. Originating in Scandinavia, it is essentially hockey with brooms, just without skates and in a smaller rink. Also, instead of a puck there is a hard rubber ball. Broomball is a hardy sport that is physically intense and a ton of fun. Sliding all over the place and trying to smack a ball into a goal with a duck-taped broom is great fun.
Which types of students will excel at your college?
There are clubs for pretty much any interest and organization you could imagine, including fraternities, sororities, religious orgs, academic interest orgs, special interest orgs, technical orgs (sound and lighting, recording tech., etc.), and others.
Are you involved in any clubs or activities?
I am not involved in greek life, so I can't really speak on it.
How would you describe campus safety? Do you feel safe on campus?
Michigan Tech was, in 2011, rated the 2nd safest campus in the country. Enough said. The only thing that can be dangerous about Michigan Tech is the weather, if you're not a cautious driver.
Michigan Tech is a quality school in an amazing location. Academic opportunities here are numerous and beneficial if you are independently motivated. The opportunity to explore the Keweenaw Peninsula and its natural and archaeological beauty is also a major perk.
Be able to motivate yourself to work hard and be responsible for your own success. Professors here will not take it easy on you as a freshman, and many of them won't be able to communicate very well, so you need to be able to get things done yourself.
Some classes, primarily gen. ed., are super easy at Tech, but many of the core classes in the engineering disciplines become incredibly intense. This understandably varies by instructor, but overall the subject matter covered in a majority of courses is difficult in nature. The hardest part of many classes is the lack of actual instruction that many professors do. You will have several classes in which you need to teach yourself all of the material from the book.
Dorm life for me has been great. Most of the students at Tech are like-minded, and therefore you will probably get along well with several people, and will make a lot of friends. Being at a technical schools like Michigan Tech means that campus culture is less varied than at a liberal arts school. Everybody here is a geek, and so we mostly have similar interests and get along.
At Tech you get unlimited meals if you live in the residence halls, but there's a price: the food isn't four-star. Most of the time the meals are good, they just tend to cycle quickly, meaning that you will probably have the same meals every three weeks or so. Occasional special dinners are incredible, and often feature steak and other nice food. The other downside to campus dining is location. While each dorm has its own dining hall, The dining hall in Douglas Houghton Hall only serves breakfast and lunch on weekdays, and on the weekends only the Wadsworth Hall dining hall is open for brunch and dinner (in the winter the walk to Wads can be uncomfortable). McNair Hall's dining hall offers late night food until 9 pm, which is great.
The Keweenaw Peninsula is an amazing place to play in and explore. Numerous mines and mining ruins, old growth forests, beaches, snow sports (including a campus ski hill across the lake), and other fun activities make Houghton a fun place to live. Lastly, access to the campus rec center and the ski hill across the lake is free to students (ski/board rental costs money)!
Michigan Tech is very expensive for a state university (estimated 27k per year in-state in 2012/2013), and I do not feel that it is quite worth that much. While employers value a Michigan Tech education and will hire many high achieving students that graduate, leaving school with a ton of debt is not something that is easily remedied, even with a nice job. Tech is a great school, and you will be great at whatever you study when you graduate, but the cost may be prohibitive for some.
Winter Carnival is the big tradition at Michigan Tech. During late January or early February every year thousands of people trek up to Houghton for a festival that celebrates snow, ice, and hockey. Students build enormous statues of snow and ice (either one-night or month-long projects), the hockey team hosts a weekend series, and the campus is filled with music, free stuff, and hundreds of people for a week. Class gets out on Wed. of that week, and so there are five days off for students. Another great tradition is broomball. Originating in Scandinavia, it is essentially hockey with brooms, just without skates and in a smaller rink. Also, instead of a puck there is a hard rubber ball. Broomball is a hardy sport that is physically intense and a ton of fun. Sliding all over the place and trying to smack a ball into a goal with a duck-taped broom is great fun.
Smart people! Geeks (nerds, etc.) Curious individuals Adventurous types Motivated people
There are clubs for pretty much any interest and organization you could imagine, including fraternities, sororities, religious orgs, academic interest orgs, special interest orgs, technical orgs (sound and lighting, recording tech., etc.), and others.
I am not involved in greek life, so I can't really speak on it.
Michigan Tech was, in 2011, rated the 2nd safest campus in the country. Enough said. The only thing that can be dangerous about Michigan Tech is the weather, if you're not a cautious driver.