<p>I have appreciated ClassicRockerDAd’s interviewer perspective. For him and any others with knowledge: of the top tier schools, which would you recommend as having smaller classes with advisors and professors who get to know the students? Son is applying–800 critical reading; 710 Math; 720 writing. Interested in Environmental / Hydrological engineering, but not sure, thus the schools that allow/require you to choose a major later are preferred. BTW older son is going to Cal State Fresno–a typical mediocre state school, but one with an excellent Geomatics engineering program–school = 20,000+ students Geomatics program = c. 60.</p>
<p>I’m a little surprised that Northwestern didn’t at least get mentioned.</p>
<p>If small (freshman and sophomore) class sizes are a criterion, go to each school’s web site and put “schedule of classes” in the search box. Often, the capacity and enrollment in each class will be listed.</p>
<p>Don’t forget to check whether the desired engineering degree program is [url=<a href=“http://www.abet.org%5DABET%5B/url”>http://www.abet.org]ABET[/url</a>] accredited – this is particularly important for civil and environmental engineering.</p>
<p>Case Western</p>
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<p>If you want to actually work as an engineer (or software engineer), I generally agree that big state schools are better choices than elite private schools.</p>
<p>I realize I’m way too late, but … UC-Davis used to be a great place for this, also Colorado State. I work in this field. I went the small school / private school route. Ultimately you have to make your own way anyhow. And in the Env field, I don’t nearly as much recruiting takes place as for the industrial / big company positions.</p>
<p>If you are looking for a small school with great engineering: Clarkson University in New York should be on the short list. </p>
<p>[Clarkson</a> University: U.S. News: Clarkson University Ranked in Tier One of National Universities & A Best Value](<a href=“http://www.clarkson.edu/news/2012/news-release_2012-09-12-1.html]Clarkson”>http://www.clarkson.edu/news/2012/news-release_2012-09-12-1.html)</p>
<p>Undergraduate enrollment: 3,000
Percentage of students accepted: 7%
Undergraduate Engineering, National Ranking: 85th
US News Education for the Value, National Ranking: 34th
PayScale.com Highest Starting Salaries for Recent Graduates: 17th ($57,900)
one in five alumni is already a CEO or senior executive</p>
<p>It all depends on whether the student is looking for a “small” engineering school within a LAC type college (Bucknell, Lafayette, Union) or a small/medium university with an engineering college (U. Rochester, Tufts, GWU etc.) or a small engineering/science college (RPI, WPI, RIT, Clarkson). There are advantages/disadvantages to each type. At the first two types if you change your mind about engineering you have tons of excellent choices right where you are. But, the third type often has a better range of engineering/science majors, tailored study abroad options and might appeal more to a “nerdier” student due to the geekier vibe (student activities and clubs, fellow nerds etc.)
My son applied and was accepted to good schools of all three types and ultimately chose a small engineering school (WPI). **You really ought to visit all three types **to get a feel for them. We visited a ton of them (in the northeast and mid-Atlantic mostly), so if you want opinions on those, let me know. The smaller engineering schools we looked at have great academic support programs, internships and a friendly non-competitive student atmosphere. My son really loved the “happy nerds” atmosphere at WPI ;-)</p>
<p>I would recommend the following programs (not including Caltech and Harvey Mudd, since they were listed in the OP), assuming by “small”, your son prefers schools with fewer than 5,000 undergrads:</p>
<p>Bucknell University
Rice University
Rose Hulman Institute of Technology
Worcester Polytechnic Institute</p>
<p>If he is willing to consider programs at larger schools (5,000-10,000 undergrads), I would add the following schools:</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon University
Johns Hopkins University
Northwestern University
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute</p>
<p>Re: Clarkson - the acceptance rate is 77% not 7%!
Their acceptance rate is artificially high because the applicants are a “self-selecting” pool since it is a engineering/science school that is small and relatively remote.
We visited and really liked everything about the school except the location. It is 2 hours away from Ottawa ;-)</p>
<p>The hard copy of USNews’ Best Colleges ranks engineering schools by specialty.</p>
<p>Do you still agree with your post 3 years ago? My daughter is a junior. We live in Massachusetts and she wants to go to a small engineering school. Right now WPI, RPI, and Union are her top—possibly RIT. She doesn’t want to go to Tufts, MIT, or U Mass. I think she’d get lost and they might be academically too challenging although U Mass wouldn’t be. She might consider Northeastern even though it’s big but in the end she seems to be gravitating to small schools. After college she’d probably stay in the northeast, but I could be wrong! Would love to hear why you picked WPI…what were also your son’s options and if after several years you still feel same way! Thank you! Best to you and your son!!</p>
<p>Some great choices include: Lafayette College ¶, Union College (NY). Trinity College (CT). These are all very good LACs so even if you do opt out of engineering you will be at a very fine school.</p>
<p>My post was from December, so it is just a few months old! So my opinions haven’t changed. He picked WPI over RPI, Tufts, Lafayette, Bucknell, Case Western, UMass Amherst, UMass Lowell. He didn’t apply to Union, RIT or Northeastern.
His final decision came down to Tufts and WPI where he was trying to decide between the liberal arts atmosphere of the Tufts campus and the decidedly geekier environment of a small STEM-focused school. It was a tough decision since there are pros and cons to each school and school environment. I think he would have been happy at either one. But he decided he preferred the nerdier kids, and the project focused curriculum at WPI. He loves it there! Looks like all his sophomore friends have found summer internships through the WPI Career center 
Hopefully your daughter will have the chance to visit these schools since they are so different. You can send me private message if you want to…</p>
<p>Here’s a new suggestion:</p>
<p>University of Tulsa</p>
<p>Excellent computer science, chemical, electrical and petroleum engineering</p>
<p>Small classes, 3500 undergrads, also has excellent selection of other majors (arts &science, business, etc). D1 Sports. Tulsa is a nice, small city.</p>
<p>Good merit aid</p>
<p>Harvey Mudd! </p>
<h1>1 on Payscale.</h1>
<p>Small liberal arts school known for engineering in SoCal
(You can never go wrong with SoCal).</p>
<p>I 've heard good things about Clarkson, Rose Hulman and kettering from a friend who does a lot of hiring and keeps an eye on these things. I did not know Catholic had an engineering department. Manhattan College churns out a lot of engineers it seems.</p>
Does anyone have any opinions on NYU Tandon School of Engineering program. It is small and seems to have a good selection of CE classes for my son who is currently a junior looking for a smaller school. Thanks
NYU engineering used to be a small separate school called the Polytechnic Institute or Polytechnic University. But NYU overall is large.
So NYU’s Engineering is now part of NYU? If so, then it’s no longer a “smaller school” at all. It’s also crazy expensive with lousy aid.
I’m not sure if “looking for a small school” is really the answer. Universities have separate colleges, so the College of Engineering at a large flagship, may still have that small school feel. A College of Engineering with 3000-4000 students may have a more intimate “feel” (know your profs, etc), but because it’s part of a large university, it may have all the other pluses, including fabulous facilities.
What are your son’s stats? And what is your budget?