Colleges & Unis with a "hands on" approach

Parent Cafe
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<p>My daughter and I attended an info session for University of Miami last night.</p>

<p>I like what I would describe as their hands on approach. They emphasized the availability of internships. They encouraged kids to apply to specific schools (ie, the business school) if they thought they were interested in business, even if they were undecided on a major. They described opportunities to do research projects (for example, in psych or marine science) as freshmen or sophmores, so students could learn early on whether these types of professions were truly what they thought they were -- and, if not -- have time to switch gears.</p>

<p>What other schools have a similar emphasis?</p>

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<p>I like the "hands-on" approach, too. Have you looked at the Dickinson College website? A different type of place, but you might want also to look at Drexel.</p>

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<p>Northeastern University (Boston)</p>

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<p>If you are technically oriented RPI and WPI.</p>

5

<p>I second Northeastern and would add many of the more technically oriented schools (RPI, RIT, WPI). The only caveat on the "tech" schools - there's plenty of nose-to-the-grindstone work to be done too.</p>

<p>Crossposted with mathmom. Add Wentworth Institute too.</p>

6

<p>Rollins College, Winter Park, Fla. has that approach.</p>

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<p>My daughter is liberal arts oriented, so RPI, WPI, etc. would be out.</p>

<p>I think of Northeastern and Drexel, with their co-op programs, as being more "trade school"-ish than University of Miami.... Am I being unfair?</p>

<p>I also see being in a big city as a major plus for this type of approach.</p>

8

<p>Winter Park, where Rollins College is, is a lovely city that's a 5 minute drive from Orlando, which is a big city with lots of opportunities.</p>

9

<p>fendrock,</p>

<p>I don't know that much specifically about Northeastern's program. However, I have worked with engineering interns from there. According to their website, they offer co-op programs for liberal arts majors as well.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.cascoop.neu.edu/coopspecificsbymajor/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.cascoop.neu.edu/coopspecificsbymajor/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>fendrock,
My D attends Northeastern, and it's the right place for her. But if I had a child interested in the humanities I wouldn't recommend it, even though Northeastern apparently does offer co-ops in the humanities. From what I've seen, and from what D says, most of the students at Northeastern are professionally-oriented: pre-med, health sciences, business, engineering, computer science etc. I think your D would find more in common with students in a more traditional university/LAC -- and most of those will offer internships as well .</p>

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<p>Thanks katliamom, that was my sense -- we live near Boston, so I am somewhat familiar with Northeastern, at least by reputation.</p>

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<p>I think you will find many schools that offer very good experiential learning opportunities through internships/co-ops, research opportunities, opportunities to do creative projects, service learning, etc. The schools listed by US News (Honor Rolls – Academic Programs To Look For) include a wide variety of schools that you might look at: </p>

<p>Academic Programs: Internships / co-ops
· Alverno College (WI)
· Berea College (KY)
· Boise State University (ID)*
· Butler University (IN)
· Drexel University (PA)
· Elon University (NC)
· Georgia Institute of Technology *
· Harvey Mudd College (CA)
· Kalamazoo College (MI)
· Kettering University (MI)
· Massachusetts Inst. of Technology
· North Carolina State U.–Raleigh *
· Northeastern University (MA)
· Purdue Univ.–West Lafayette (IN)*
· Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst. (NY)
· Rochester Inst. of Technology (NY)
· University of Cincinnati *
· Virginia Tech *
* denotes a public school. </p>

<p>Academic Programs: Undergraduate research / creative projects
· Brown University (RI)
· Bryn Mawr College (PA)
· Butler University (IN)
· California Institute of Technology
· Carleton College (MN)
· Carnegie Mellon University (PA)
· College of Charleston (SC)*
· College of William and Mary (VA)*
· College of Wooster (OH)
· Cornell University (NY)
· Dartmouth College (NH)
· Davidson College (NC)
· DePauw University (IN)
· Duke University (NC)
· Elon University (NC)
· Emory University (GA)
· Evergreen State College (WA)*
· Furman University (SC)
· Georgia Institute of Technology *
· Grinnell College (IA)
· Harvard University (MA)
· Harvey Mudd College (CA)
· Hendrix College (AR)
· Hope College (MI)
· Indiana U.-Purdue U.–Indianapolis *
· Johns Hopkins University (MD)
· Louisiana State U.–Baton Rouge *
· Massachusetts Inst. of Technology
· Michigan State University *
· Middlebury College (VT)
· North Carolina State U.–Raleigh *
· Oberlin College (OH)
· Ohio State University–Columbus *
· Pomona College (CA)
· Princeton University (NJ)
· Purdue Univ.–West Lafayette (IN)*
· Reed College (OR)
· Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst. (NY)
· Stanford University (CA)
· St. Olaf College (MN)
· SUNY–Stony Brook *
· Swarthmore College (PA)
· Trinity University (TX)
· Truman State University (MO)*
· University of California–Berkeley *
· University of California–Irvine *
· Univ. of California–Los Angeles *
· University of Chicago
· University of Delaware *
· University of Georgia *
· Univ. of Maryland–College Park *
· University of Michigan–Ann Arbor *
· University of Montana *
· U. of North Carolina–Asheville *
· U. of North Carolina–Chapel Hill *
· University of Richmond (VA)
· University of Texas–Austin *
· University of Utah *
· University of Washington *
· Univ. of Wisconsin–Eau Claire *
· Univ. of Wisconsin–La Crosse *
· Univ. of Wisconsin–Madison *
· Ursinus College (PA)
· Washington and Lee University (VA)
· Williams College (MA)
· Worcester Polytechnic Inst. (MA)
· Yale University (CT)
* denotes a public school.</p>

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<p>Northeastern is definitely NOT trade school at all! :)</p>

<p>And, I think the advantage of a humanities-oriented student going there is maybe they'd be able to find a job when they get out.</p>

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<p>Interesting that University of Miami doesn't make either of the lists provided by scansmom.</p>

<p>Also, I know that Kettering University is the erstwhile General Motors Institute, in Flint, Michigan.</p>

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<p>Another plug for Cal State Monterey Bay. They have been recognized for their "hands-on" integrated approach to learning. </p>

<p>You have to add Cal-Poly SLO to the list as well. Experiential learning is one of their main selling points.</p>

<p>University of Portland is, like most Us located in large cities, very connected w/ internship opportunities as well.</p>

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<p>I second Cal-Poly San Luis Obispo. Their motto is "Learn by doing" and the students really do. It's by far the most popular and hardest to get admitted to California publiic universities. Harder to get into than some of the UC's. based on admittance rates.</p>

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<p>The College</a> of the Atlantic is about as hands on as it gets!</p>