<p>How good is the Computer Engineering department at Swarthmore? Does it have the necessary resources that most other top Computer Engineering schools have? Thanks.</p>
<p>There is no Computer Engineering department at Swarthmore. There is a Computer Science Department and a Department of Engineering. You can find web sites of both through the links from the Swarthmore College web site.</p>
<p>Step:</p>
<p>The Engineering dept. at Swarthmore has been around for 125 years and is a highly-regarded program.</p>
<p>However, it is not a typical engineering program. The typical college track for future engineers is to attend a tech school or a dedicated Engineering school in a university enviroment. In these programs, the student majors in a specific field of engineering. They graduate with a B.S. Engineering degree in a Chem E, or Mech E (or whatever) major.</p>
<p>Swarthmore's program is a department in a liberal arts context. So you have the same course requirements as any other student, but you major in Engineering. You get an ABET-acredited B.S. degree with a major in General Engineering.</p>
<p>If your career-path is already decided at age 17 -- to go to engineering school and get hired as a working engineer upon graduation -- the more tradtional path is probably the safer bet.</p>
<p>Swarthmore would be a good choice for students who are interested in engineering, but not totally decided on a traditional career path at age 18. Or, students who see themselves benefitting from a broad-based education with a concentration in engineering -- with an eye towards grad school if engineering becomes their "thing" or towards having a solid technical background for some other pursuit.</p>
<p>The Engineering program at Swarthmore is hard as nails. You must take 8 courses in math, chem, and phyics plus 12 courses in Engineering. The Engineering courses consist of required courses providing an intro to all of the major fields of engineering and then electives, concentrating in a specific field of engineering.</p>
<p>There is a concentration in Computer Engineering in which most of the electives relate to digital circuit design, etc. There is also a Computer Science major, so it would be pretty common to layout a major that draws from both Computer Science and Engineering courses.</p>
<p>BTW, Swarthmore has a very active Robotics design team that consistently places well in the national competitions they enter.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the information dad. I'm not entirely certain that I want to be an engineer, but I've heard that it's much more difficult and time-consuming to transfer into an engineering major than to transfer out of one. I think I'll declare Computer Engineering as my major and change it if I'm not entirely fond of it. Does attending a Liberal Arts school change my chances for co-ops, internships, and job placement?</p>
<p>At Swarthmore (as at many other schools) you don't need to declare your major till the end of your sophomore year, and even then you can change it later if you are not happy with it. When you are accepted, you are accepted into the college, not into any particular major. If there are majors you want to explore, you should check their requirements and build your schedule in a way that keeps all the possibilities open for you (some majors include sequence of classes that you have to begin in your freshman year in order to fulfill all the requirements).</p>