<p>She should definitely look at Smith College and the Picker Engineering program. The first accredited engineering program at a women’s college, highly regarded, and best of all, extremely well-funded so merit aid can be generous for students who want to major in engineering. Also, she’ll have plenty of scope to explore art as well as engineering, since she’ll be studying what she wants to do, but doing it at a liberal arts college where everyone has to talk half of their classes outside of their major area. We have an amazing art department and the second best collegiate art museum in the country (after Oberlin College, which I don’t think offers art and engineering)</p>
<p>Smith is a great place for someone looking for good training but without the hyper-intense competition of other schools. The women I studied with were definitely competitors when it came to the working world, but when it came to each other, the ethos at Smith is focused on collaboration and moving forward as one. No one is going to sabotage your experiments or try to drag you down so they can climb up, at Smith we all climb up together. </p>
<p>Also, the Ford Motors just built a brand new engineering building for the Picker program (with their $9 million donation to encourage more quality female engineers), so it’s beautiful and state of the art. </p>
<p>There are so few women in engineering that being at a women’s college really does give you a supportive, unique environment to grow, and because it’s Smith it gives you the tools to compete in the larger world as well.</p>
<p>Olin in Needham MA. Free tuition for anyone who gets in. (The school is supported by a foundation)</p>
<p>Olin is small and collaborative, and everyone is doing engineering and similar fields. It is as competitive as MIT, I have heard. </p>
<p>Also big emphasis on “passions” like art and theater, which students continue at Olin.</p>
<p>When we visited 5-6 years ago, some of the buildings were just going up. Very new school, very bright, friendly and cooperative student body, exciting place.</p>
<p>Consider Northeastern University in Boston. The engineering is top notch, and the school is across the street from the Museum of Fine Arts and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. And next to the New England Conservatory. Students have free admission to the Art museum with their ID’s. The museum is absolutely marvelous. Art students take some of their classes there. Merit aid is available to top students. Dorms are nice. Campus is landscaped yet urban. S2 is happy freshman there now. We found the school by similar query to CC - thanks parents!</p>
<p>Another cautionary note–check how easy or common it is to cross register for art or music classes at the places with separate schools of engineering. We looked into this at CMU, and it was not easy to do for visual arts. Also look at the number of required courses for the engineering degree. Some schools have such extensive requirements that it would be difficult to take much in humanities areas.</p>
<p>I second Alfred University in NY. You also might want to take a look at Cooper Union in NY City. U of I champaign is more well know for engineering, the art products I see from the school are very avant garde. Ill State is better at art than UIUC. IIT Illinois Institute of Technology on the south side of Chicago is often overlooked for engineering and architecture and its pretty good with art as well. the students help designed a knock out subway platform at the school.</p>
<p>Also be thankful you have a good public flagship to fall back on. The large U’s often have many courses nonmajors can take - check the courses at UIUC to see if there are some your would like.</p>
<p>Agree with anxiousmom (no surprise there!). Your dau should check out the Rice Band (MOB) and the theater oppties. And Rice can be generous with aid. Good luck!</p>