Collaborative Learning...

College Majors Engineering Majors
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<p>My son is interested in Mechanical Engineering. As you all know, the options are vast, large/medium/small, private/public, tech only/full offering of majors, engineering in a LAC environment and finally, location.</p>

<p>What I'm trying to figure out is which schools have nurturing, collaborative learning, mostly taught by professors where the knowledge gained is more important than simply the grade as opposed to sink or swim institutions where undergraduate teaching plays second fiddle to research and graduate students, regardless of the factors above.</p>

<p>Any thoughts? I'd like a list of ten or so to compare.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>M</p>

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<p>BTW, I didn’t mean each reply had to have 10. I just want to eventually have more than one or two so my S can compare.</p>

<p>M</p>

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<p>My observations on our search so far.</p>

<p>UCB, UCLA etc are more theoretical. Probably more of the ones you do not want. I’ve been to orientation thrown by the Engineering Honor society. The professor that spoke was freaking genius. Anyone that heard it would have wanted to become an engineer. They took us to a turned off nuclear reactor, showed us all the side projects they do etc. But lots of the research all Grad students, all the collaboration was done out of class in clubs. Don’t get me wrong but its not collaborative unless you see it out beyond the theory basis in class.</p>

<p>Then theres RHIT, CalPoly SLO, Trinity etc. Which the physical classes are hands on. Like the projects in class you literally build things. CalPoly visit told us final project for Aerospace engineering was bring your design to a wind tunnel trying a scale model, then presenting it to Boeing adn they would give you a its possible vs its dumb answer. How awesome is that!</p>

<p>It’s all very dependent on what you looking at. Costs is a big factor too. CalPoly is alot cheaper and easier to get into.</p>

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<p>Thanks santookie!</p>

<p>We haven’t scrutinized either of the Trinities, but we will.</p>

<p>SLO would be great were it not for one major flaw, California budget cuts. I can see graduating in 5 years with a BS/MS or having done several internships or coops, but not because you can’t get your required classes.</p>

<p>M</p>

5

<p>If he is top notch student and would not mind a teeny engineering-only campus. look at Franklin Olin College of Engineering. It’s the best little school you’ve never heard of ;)</p>

<p>FYI - Although only 10 years old, it does rank well.
<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/olin-college-39463#[/url]”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/olin-college-39463#&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>I’ve heard of it. I think I’m likely aware of most of them. I just don’t know which ones best meet the above criterion. </p>

<p>I just learned an interesting fact about Olin. I thought it would feel isolatedvand tiny, but it’s on the campus of Babson.</p>

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<p>Bump.</p>

<p>We’ve got RHIT, CalPoly SLO, Trinity, and Olin.</p>

<p>Any others the fit the bill?</p>

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<p>Sounds like Cal Poly Pomona/SLO or maybe a liberal arts school for a nurturing environment.</p>

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<p>There has to be other schools where it’s not all dog eat dog. Help me grow the list. Names please. :-)</p>

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<p>Olin is carved out of a corner of the Babson campus. It shares some facilities (gym, health center, etc). And Olin students can cross-register at Babson, Wellesley or Brandeis. But for the most part Olin students do tend to hang together on campus. It’s a niche-fit, for students who want that intensity.</p>

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<p>Graduating from SLO in four years shouldn’t be a problem if he puts his mind to it and doesn’t have to retake classes.</p>

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<p>That’s what I thought, particularly given the fact that he’ll be able to bring some AP hours in. I’ve heard from others however that class sizes might be limited enough due to budgetary constraints that it could be difficult.</p>