Hi! I have narrowed down my search to Bowdoin, the School of Engineering at Tufts, and Case Western. I have a wide variety of interests like engineering, physics, language, and history. I love Bowdoin, especially Maine, and am considering doing the Dartmouth 3-2 (currently waitlisted at Dartmouth), but was wondering what employers think of that program/how reputable it is? Also, I love how Tufts engineering embraces the liberal arts, but their rankings seem low in comparison to the overall school. How do employers see a tufts engineering education? Case has a very good BME program and gave me a 25,000 a year scholarship, but I know little about the school and their reputation to employers. Money is not a major factor in my decision.
For engineering, Case Western Reserve is the easy–and most affordable–choice.
The number of LAC students who do the 3+2 engineering programs is typically low…for a few reasons including many students don’t want to leave their campus after 3 years, and the fact that you pay for 5 years of school to basically get a 4 yr degree (even though you get two bachelors that doesn’t make an extra year of college cost effective).
Ask Bowdoin how many students do this program each year.
If you want engineering, I would also go to a school known for engineering, one that is ABET accredited.
It seems that a Bowdoin degree can be combined with one from Dartmouth in a 2-1-1-1 engineering program.
https://engineering.dartmouth.edu/academics/undergraduate/dual/
Seconding @Mwfan1921 just be aware that less than five kids per year do a 3-2 engineering program from Bowdoin. Someone asked that question at an admissions event last year. Sometimes I wonder why any LACs even offer that program when kids really don’t do it.
For a description of a successful transition from an LAC into Dartmouth through a 2-1-1-1 engineering program, see reply #12:
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/21945325#Comment_21945325
I can only speak for Tufts, which has a fairly reputable engineering program. Nearly all of the majors are ABET accredited, and the research is very strong and well-funded (and good opportunities for undergrads). This is especially true for BME, though I know the program is challenging. If you’re wondering, about 1/6th of the freshman class is engineering.
@apple23 I’m sure that program is terrific but it’s a big decision to be jumping around to different colleges like that. Not a traditional way to “do” college and I would think some of the benefits of having a residential college experience is quite watered down them. Friendships, extracurricular activities, etc. wouldn’t be the same. You’d spend two years making friends and fitting into campus only to leave and then go back and then leave. Again, very few kids choose to do this kind of program and there’s a reason
@homerdog the appeal of the 2-1-1-1 program (in contrast to a 3-2 version) rests on how well it aligns with traditional junior year abroad or away programs that many others would be embarking on — first year and sophomore year at Bowdoin, junior year at Dartmouth, senior year back at Bowdoin to graduate with classmates, then back to Dartmouth to complete the engineering degree in the fifth year.
@apple23 except that most Bowdoin kids, if they do study abroad, do so for only a semester. And I don’t know the exact percentage who go but I think it’s not more than 50 percent at the most. It does seem better than the 3-2 model.
If you want engineering, I would eliminate Bowdoin since Tufts or Case engineering > Dartmouth engineering. If unsure of engineering, go with what school you liked best, in which case Bowdoin would be a great option. Case is a great school from what I have heard, but I have not seen it in person.
Why pay for 5 years of college? You will not get a higher paying and/or better job with two bachelors degree compared to one ug engineering degree. Plus the 5th year at Dartmouth is a highly competitive application process, program is limited to 25 students…so definite uncertainty there. If not admitted, you would then graduate with a Bowdoin physics degree…which is great, but does that get you the type of job you want?
And I agree with the point made above about Dartmouth engineering…it’s not as highly ranked as Tufts or CWRU.
Tufts Is generally regarded as one of the top engineering schools for women in the country. They are not only highly ranked for the percentage of women in their undergrad and masters programs, but also for percentage of tenured faculty who are women. Tufts previous dean of engineering was a woman (she is now heading up the Institute for the Environment at Tufts) and the dean of graduate engineering is a woman. The current provost (who heads up both engineering and liberal arts) is also an engineering professor. (The faculty and administration set the culture). Tufts pioneered curriculum reform to make engineering more interesting to women back in the 1980’s.
Percentage of Bachelor’s
Degrees Awarded to Women
by School*
- SUNY, Coll. of Environ. Sci. and For. 56.6%
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology46.6%
- Tulane University 46.6%
- Olin College of Engineering 44.2%
- Columbia University 41.0%
- Cornell University 40.7%
- Howard University 40.4%
- The George Washington University 40.0%
- California Institute of Technology 39.6%
- Dartmouth College 39.2%
- Harvey Mudd College 39.1%
- Brown University 38.6%
- Carnegie Mellon University 37.3%
- University of Southern California 37.0%
- Princeton University 36.0%
- Tufts University 35.2%
- Stanford University 34.9%
- Worcester Polytechnic Institute 34.8%
- Northwestern University 34.6%
- Southern Methodist University 34.2%
Percentage of Master’s
Degrees Awarded to Women
by School*
- North Carolina A&T State University 43.6%
- The Catholic University of America 43.2%
- Harvard University 43.1%
- Santa Clara University 42.2%
- Tufts University 41.1%
- Brown University 39.8%
- Carnegie Mellon University 38.6%
- Dartmouth College 36.8%
- Northeastern University 35.2%
- University of Saint Thomas 35.0%
- University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee 34.7%
- University of California, Berkeley 34.7%
- Cornell University 34.4%
- Columbia University 34.2%
- University of Connecticut 33.8%
- Northwestern University 33.7%
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 33.6%
- Mass. Institute of Technology 33.0%
- Univ. of Maryland, Baltimore County 32.9%
- San Jose State University 32.8%
Percentage of Women Tenured/
Tenure-Track Faculty by
School*
- Smith College 70.0%
- Humboldt State University 66.7%
- Sweet Briar College 66.7%
- Saint Ambrose University 50.0%
- University of Hartford 40.0%
- University of Bridgeport 38.9%
- Olin College of Engineering 38.1%
- Seattle University 35.7%
- Harvey Mudd College 35.0%
- University of Portland 34.6%
- Santa Clara University 34.0%
- Middle Tennessee State University 33.3%
- Swarthmore College 33.3%
- Mercer University 31.4%
- University of Saint Thomas 31.4%
- San Jose State University 29.9%
- Roger Williams University 29.4%
- Texas Christian University 28.6%
- Howard University 28.3%
- Lafayette College 28.2%
- Saint Louis University 28.1%
- University of Wisconsin Platteville 28.1%
- University of the District of Columbia 28.0%
- Fairfield University 27.3%
- University of New Haven 27.3%
- Boise State University 27.1%
- University of the Pacific 27.0%
- Gannon University 26.9%
- University of San Diego 26.9%
- Bucknell University 26.6%
- University of Massachusetts Lowell 26.5%
- University of Massachusetts Dartmouth26.4%
- University of Washington-Tacoma 26.3%
- Montana State University 26.3%
- Tufts University 26.1%
- Carnegie Mellon University 25.7%
- New York Institute of Technology 25.6%
- Drexel University 25.5%
- University of Washington in Seattle 25.5%
- California State University Long Beach25.3%
- Hofstra University 25.0%
- Loyola Marymount University 25.0%
- Morgan State University 25.0%
- Tulane University 25.0%
- Univ. of Maryland, Baltimore County 25.0%
- Valparaiso University 25.0%
- Western Washington University 25.0%
- Stevens Institute of Technology 24.7%
- Kettering University 24.5%
- Oregon State University 24.1%
- Minimum 25 faculty 251 schools fit this criterion
Tufts is generally recognized as one of the top engineering schools for teaching in the country. They may be the only school who has had a dean of engineering whose research expertise was engineering education (in the '90s). Engineering education at that time was their biggest area of research, and it remains as a major area of research today.
Tufts is also highly ranked for the ratio of Batchelor degree recipients to faculty despite not having a large Phd program (which consumes significant faculty resources)
Lowest Ratio of Bachelor’s
Degree Recipients to Faculty
by School*
- California Institute of Technology 1.3
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2.0
- Olin College of Engineering 2.0
- United States Military Academy 2.1
- Northwestern University 2.2
- University of the District of Columbia 2.2
- Yale School of Eng. & Applied Science 2.3
- Brown University 2.3
- Duke University 2.3
- The Johns Hopkins University 2.4
- University of California, Santa Barbara 2.4
- Howard University 2.5
- Princeton University 2.5
- U. of Alaska Anchorage, College of Eng. 2.6
- Bucknell University 2.6
- West Virginia Univ. Institute of Tech. 2.6
- U. of Alaska Fairbanks, Coll. of Eng. and Mines2.6
- Tuskegee University 2.7
- Tufts University 2.7
- Columbia University 2.7
Curious to hear what you decided. My son is in a similar situation. He is interested in engineering, but he is also really interested in the coastal studies environmental programs and a range of other opportunities offered at Bowdoin. It sounds like students usually don’t end up following through with the 3-2 program at most of the small LAC.
With some of the 3-2 programs you can only get a general engineering degree rather than a ABET accredited Electrical, Mechnical, Chemical, Civil … degree.
In 5 years one can often do a 4+1 batchelors plus masters engineering program which is more valuable.