Kettering University

It is critical that you work the system. Several of the core cores are very cribbable. (Econ-201 and IME-100 come to mind.) Most professors provides the old tests, called "cribs", to students in the Library, and the school provides a tutor lab which are other students who are paid to be available and help you understand the material. I didn't need it, but several friends found Calc 2 to be easier if they skipped the lecture and spent the hour in the tutor lab.

If you don't make friends, you will not have a good time. Parties are out there, and easy to get access to, but you have to talk to people. There are a lot of student-run sports and activities, which are all paid for by tuition and essentially "free" to participate in. Abuse them. If you like Pizza, you don't really need a meal plan with all of the clubs and events.

The faculty is great. My lab professor took time out of his Saturday to meet me in the lab for some casting and advanced machining for a car part. An EE professor that I don't even have for any classes, spent the better part of two weeks free time with me debugging an embedded car program, along with allowing me access to CANoe, a $17,000, industry standard networking tool. I've been given contacts for sample parts and engineering expertise along with very valuable time and tools. (I'm something of a do-it-yourselfer, and don't mind designing an mp3 player, coding for it, and building it myself if it saves me $150.)

If you want to learn, Kettering is a great place to be. The classes can be bothersome, but there is plenty of time to work on extra projects, play some great games of Halo, or even join the various racing teams (we have three).

About the co-op. I had a relatively easy time finding a job out of high school. I interviewed with three different companies before the September following my graduation, including two job offers. I took a job at an electronics firm and have had a great time at it. The key to the co-op is to make it happen yourself. Go to the job fairs and the seminars. Drink the kook-aid if you think it helps, but the people at the co-op office know what they are talking about.

A few last pieces of advice: there is a set of washing/drying machines hidden in the CC that are pseudo-free to use. Buy/bring some spray paint and duc(k/t) tape because the former is all around fun (Burn the Bulldog _first_.) and the later is infinitely useful. Bell for chem is at all possible, and "use the cribs, luke (or insert your name here)".Kettering is what you make of it. Sure, the area sucks, but anywhere you go, the people will define your experience. Plus, Flint may suck in general, but it has some of the best concerts anywhere. If you are into indie/punk/metal/rock/etc, you'll definitely find a nightlife outside of the frats.