Hello!
I was recently accepted into both Lehigh University and Boston University for the Class of 2022, and I’m really struggling with what school to attend!
I am going to study Electrical Engineering, but I know I also want to either double major/minor in business (haven’t determined a specific discipline yet). I was admitted into the IBE (Integrated Business and Engineering) Honors program at Lehigh as well, so if anyone could provide some insight into that program that would be awesome!
Things to consider:
I am from Maine.
Cost is not an issue.
Thanks, and any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated!
The Lehigh IBE program is considered one of the best in the country for combined business and engineering, along with Penn M&T and Berkeley MET. Lehigh is a relatively small university, and it is noted for cooperation between the business and engineering schools.
The only downside to the IBE program is that it usually takes five years to graduate with fully accredited engineering and business degrees. You can graduate in four years with the IBE degree, which is fully accredited (by AACSB) for business, but it is not a full traditional engineering degree. If you stay for a fifth year, you can finish the engineering coursework, and add a fully accredited (by ABET) engineering degree as well.
Alternatively, you could major in EE and graduate in four years with a full engineering degree and a minor in business.
BU is a much larger and more bureaucratic institution. Their EE and business programs, on their own, are probably great – but the engineering and business schools don’t appear to cooperate to the extent that they do at Lehigh. They don’t seem to have any combined program for business and engineering degrees, for example, while this is a well-established track at Lehigh. It would likely be more difficult to earn a dual degree at BU, because the class schedules and course requirements of the business school are probably not coordinated in any way with those of the engineering school.
The quality of academics is probably about even overall. Engineering is more of a focal point at Lehigh than it is at BU, but the quality will be adequate at both places.
So what are your preferences?
- Urban (BU) or small city/suburban (Lehigh)?
- Hills (Lehigh) or flat (BU)?
- Traditional campus (Lehigh) or almost no campus (BU)?
- Relatively larger Greek/party rep (Lehigh) or relatively smaller (BU). Note: there are parties at both schools… but that scene might be a little more pronounced at Lehigh.
It also sounds like the Lehigh joint program would suit you well. Scour the BU website, and email them if necessary, to find out if you could carry out your major/minor or double-major plans.
At most universities, a full course of study in both engineering and business would be considered a “dual degree” program, rather than a “double major”. A double major typically means two majors in the same college, like physics/math (both in the College of Arts & Sciences) or marketing/accounting (both in the College of Business). In this case, you have to take courses for two majors, but you only have to meet one set of general education requirements (because both majors are in the same College).
If you want to major in both engineering and business, then it gets significantly harder, because now you have to take courses for two majors, plus meet two sets of general education requirements (because engineering and business are in two different colleges). To make it even more complicated, traditional engineering degree programs require more coursework than most undergraduate degrees. So it’s hard to squeeze in enough courses for a second, non-engineering degree, unless you are prepared to study for more than four years.
If you are serious about earning fully accredited degrees in both engineering and business, then I would lean Lehigh. This is not because Lehigh’s business or engineering programs are necessarily better; it’s because the administrative support for inter-college study is better. In practice, combining these two fields is difficult. Lehigh is one of the few schools where it is relatively common for engineering or computer science students to simultaneously pursue a degree in business. The engineering and business schools work together to support such students.
If you are prepared to major in engineering and only minor in business, then either school would likely be fine. However, I would review the EE curriculum to make sure that it has sufficient room for non-engineering electives to squeeze in the business minor curriculum.
If you’re serious about Engineering+business, I’d lean toward IBE.