University vs. Institute

Having attended both an institute and a few colleges (I had to keep busy in my youth or the voices in my head would make me do awful things). I tend to agree with your experiences.

Sure, I learned a lot of things at college and a lot of it was stuff I'd never have deliberately chosen to learn. The most prominent in memory being to never eat the coleslaw in the dining hall. So now I'm well rounded (and getting rounder every day, sadly).

But the institute kept me hopping eagerly from one thing to another. Making this, figuring out that, tying a tournequet around a nearly-severed thumb. Solid things that you can show to someone else and say "I did that!". And probably have them stare at you in wide-eyed astonishment that you're so odd. But that's a small price to pay for genius!

Don't know whether there's a difference between universities on the two sides of the pond - and I can't talk about engineering courses - but I studied applied physics in a UK university, and practical work in the lab was a major part of the course. No-one came out with a degree who hadn't done the labwork, and made a pretty good go of it.

From my experience I have seen that institutes, college and universities can be good or bad. For example some institutes are founded by great professionals truly interested in the advancement of the fields they teach. On the other hand I have heard from former students of some institutes that as long as you pay your tuition on time you pass.

One story went along the lines of alcoholic instructor never showed up for class and instead of failing the entire year based on the teach and the institutions actions everyone got the equivalent of a B.

In the end I think you made the only judgement you can when it comes to selecting where you go for your education. Look at what the different options have to offer and select the one that seems best.

For myself personally had I known better I think I would have spent my money on books and tools and taught myself.

I think this is a very difficult desicion to make. Some university can educate excllent engineer with good practical experiences, but some can not instead with research on theoretical. The institute is the same.

I think the only thing you should think is chosing a great field with expecrienced master guide.

Like you, I had a similar choice to make when I was completing high school in Brooklyn in the middle of the last century. I had taken pattern-making, foundry, machine-shop, and 4 years of drafting at Brooklyn Technical High School, which gave me a "leg up" on what engineers did. My choices of college were limited to commuting schools in Brooklyn, both of which had the word "Institute" in their names, "Pratt" and "Brooklyn Polytechnic". I chose the latter because I wanted to study metallurgy. In addition to a thorough grounding in math, physics, and chemistry, with lots of labs in the last two subject-area, I got an excellent education in "solid-state science" which stood me in good stead when I spent 52 years in industry, earning 2 master's degrees on a part-time basis while working full-time. I also found that the grounding in math and the sciences that I received at "Poly" prepared me well when I returned to full-time graduate study in my 30's and earned a doctorate in materials and welding engineering. Doing an experimental dissertation that involved designing and building lab equipment and making it work caused me to call on of many of the "hands on" courses that I had taken at the "Institute" that I attended.

I keep busy in retirement runnning a one-person consulting practice, which is a logical continuation of my working years. I will continue to do so as long as my health holds up. Watching one of my college alma maters whip up on the University of Michigan once in a while is the extent to which I indulge in television. There is too much going on in the world for me to become a couch potato.

The difference between the 2 can be found in their educational emphasis. Universities tend to excel in the arts (law, teaching, business, etc.) while Institutes are strong in the sciences (math, engineering, technologies).

If from a child you've always been fond of breaking things up to see how they work (without necessarily having successfully put them back again ), the institute is the best place for you to achieve your technical potential.

That sorts out my speculation in #2 - there must definitely be a difference. Over here, in fact, Institutes are often a part of a University - as in UMIST (University of Manchester Institute of Science & Technology), or UWIST (equivalent for Wales).