Any top Engineering/CS programs with positive, non-cutthroat atmosphere?

College Search & Selection
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As someone mentioned up-thread, Northwestern is great for engineering & cooperation, starting with the Engineering First Program, where all Freshman engineering students are assigned to a group that works with real-life problem solving for people and/or companies that deal with disabilities.

Having been fortunate to have 2 kids go through this, and even more fortunate to view their group presentations, left me extremely impressed with the depth of quality of the NU program. The spirit of cooperation extends throughout the later stages, as both my kids have talked positively about their study groups.

22

TooOldforSchool said: “I think you are going to find most engineering programs encourage collaboration because that is what engineers do.”

That is a very important point which an applicant should keep in mind when deciding whether or not to enroll in an engineering major. As for gender considerations, yes, many schools are expending extra efforts to attract additional female applicants for STEM. There is a thread in the Engineering forum about “weeder” or cutthroat departments. Take a look at it. The hysteria about so-called “weeder” programs can be overblown, given that all traditional engineering departments are tough. Nevertheless, some kids have a more enjoyable experience at smaller and more intimate engineering schools. I would recommend…

U of Rochester
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Illinois Institute of Technology
Rose Hulman Institute
U of Dayton
South Dakota School of Mines & Technology
U of Portland
Colorado School of Mines

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@mortmain I cannot recommend Clemson highly enough! The campus is very inclusive and engaged. The academics are strong and career services has a #1 rating. Our son choose it over Purdue.

They call it Clemson Family for a reason. We live out of state. I’ve been hugged by strangers for wearing a Clemson Mom t-shirt.

My Clemson son was interrupted over dinner a month ago, while home, by an elderly gentleman who told him all about his Clemson family members. (Son had on his Clemson jacket) He then shook my son’s hand and told him that “the nicest people in the world” go there.

They have a 50/50 male/female ratio within engineering and 30-40% are OOS.

My husband and I graduated from another school but, we couldn’t be happier with our son’s experience.

24

If your D cannot get in the MIT program, Catapult at Rose-Hulman (for males and females) is also very good. Rose has an extremely collaborative environment, described as “challenge with support.” My older D is thriving in ChemE there, but a small engineering school and life in Terre Haute is not for everyone. My younger D would never consider it - she is in engineering at UMich.

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@PokeyJoe - I am a Clemson engineering grad from many moons ago and received a great education there (and met the man who is now my husband). I agree with your comments on inclusivity, however Clemson is still less than 25% female in engineering. See their 2015 fact book at http://www.clemson.edu/oirweb1/FB/factbook/minifb.cgi?college=COES.

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@MomOf2TeenGirls
Sorry about that! I wonder if that is the figure for the RiSE program? (Residents in Science and Engineeting Living Learning Community) Even if it is, that number would include women from outside engineering anyway. My mistake.

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I think RPI is one school you may want to check out - have a son that’s sophmore there but have met many of the girls he’s friends with - they are all just lovely, bright, nice girls. Son says there is no drama at all with the girls unlike HS. And that is what they are - friends… Boys seem to be very protective of the females there as they are outnumbered - at least in his social circle. Trying to convince my junior daughter to apply there as well.Very safe campus too- well lit, open spaces… Good luck

28

Be sure to check out Harvey Mudd College, in Claremont, CA. It it a top engineering/CS/STEM school, and has been very successful in attracting more women into engineering and CS. It is a tough school, but fosters cooperation with a strong honor code.

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Smith also has a summer engineering program: http://www.smith.edu/summer/programs_ssep.php

You’ve gotten some good suggestions. To pile onto Mastodon’s recommendation - the one young woman I know who went to Tufts for engineering loved it and got a job she’s very happy with.

My older son went to Carnegie Mellon for computer science which is housed in it’s own stand alone program separate from engineering. My observations were that groups of kids (both male and female) hung out together at the computer labs. Alumni keep in touch with each other and recommend jobs all the time. When an internship fell through at the height of the recession, my son was able to find something else at the last minute thanks to that alumni network. That said CMU is very hard to get into, it’s very pre-professional and the M/F ratio sucks.

30

Engineering is not pre-med, I think the “weedout” is often due to the difficulty of the program and also people deciding they just don’t want to work that hard for all 4 years of college. My advice would be to really work hard the last year of HS, including taking as much calculus and physics (especially Physics C, the calc-based version) and learning to study hard and effectively, to work with friends in study groups, to find people to help (tutors, etc) …

I am not sure I would recommend a women’s college for engineering, since out in the real world, you will have to work with 50,60,70,80, even 90% men depending on the field and the company and the age group. It is good to practice working with men in college, forming good partnerships with men for studying, getting used to their ways, etc. Also to get used to their style of friendships and even some of the male posturing and aggression … better at college than at work.

Engineers can be somewhat shy or even anti-social … again get used to it in college and learn to work with it. There is a lot of team work involved. With the recession and job uncertainties, I think people are a bit less collaborative due to career fears and competition, but engineering is still a team sport … which is fun. I think women can bring a lot of social skills and people skills to the field … in addition to their awesome technical skills … which can make it better and more productive.

Personally, I like a closer to 50/50 M/F ratio at the university, but very few engineering programs will even come close to that (so having non-STEM women students helps normalize the experience, I think). I think talking to current students as to how they are treated by fellow students and staff is useful (schools should have women-focused events or at least a list of friendly students available via email or for your visit) … and I think at many schools male students are very supportive of their female colleagues.

I think engineering is a good field for women, your rating is based on real criteria rather than all on personality, most men are supportive, the pay is good, the opportunities are there (not sure I see a lot of affirmative action, but at least it is a level playing field), you could potentially do consulting part-time if you want to stay home with your kids, and if you are a techie at heart, you may spend a lot of years doing exactly what you like to do … and get paid for it.

More women would be better …

31

By shy and anti-social, I mean mostly that they will not seek out people to chat with or be particularly social … there is some real truth to the stereotypes … I do not mean they are not capable or interested in being social if giving some prodding (or friendly people to bring them out of their shell) or at all anti-social in a hostile way. I think the majority of people I have met at work that are engineers are actually much nicer and better people than the average person … kind, thoughtful, easy to work with, family oriented, etc.

There are jerks in all work places, but we keep them to a minimum in engineering (smiley)

32

When we toured engineering schools the ones with the most collaborative vibes were U of Rochester and Cooper Union. Guides there talked about students having friendly and helpful study groups.