I want to into the Computer Engineering field. Is Dartmouth a good college to apply to? Is Dartmouth good for Computer Engineering or just Engineering in general?
I didn’t know Dartmouth had engineering until I saw this post. Its graduate engineering school is ranked #52.
Dartmouth has 4 year AB programs for those who want to go into traditional Ivy League jobs like consulting or Wall Street with some engineering background. It has 5 year ABET accredited BE programs for those who want to work in engineering.
^^ Above is spot on. If you want to be an engineer, you’ll probably find better programs elsewhere with better facilities and a 4-year degree. We toured Thayer last year - if you go the 5 year route and choose your classes carefully, you can certainly come out with a marketable degree. However I work in the northeast and have not encountered a Dartmouth graduate in the engineering field. My daughter was very close to choosing Dartmouth until the ivy spell was broken…
On the other hand, it may be an easier route to get into Dartmouth, and then transfer to A&S to get a legitimate degree (I know that’s harsh).
It’s good, but has a lousy acceptance rate. With computers, it really makes no difference what school you graduate from. If you’re not sure which engineering specialty to do, then make sure the school is ABET accredited and you’ll be fine. Your match/safety list should all be schools you know you can afford, otherwise you could end up spending your college fall semester at community college.
Does anyone know if Dartmouth engineering is harder to get into than Dartmouth arts and sciences (like at many school) or are admissions criteria the same? Thanks
@oldfort, Dartmouth does not admit by major. There is not transferring to A&S.
I just browsed through Dartmouth’s admission requirements. There is a separate admission process for the BE program and it is through Thayer School, but the AB program is through Dartmouth regular admission process.
Note that the BE “program” is just a short supplement to the AB program, typically taking one year.
If you are applying to Dartmouth as a new undergraduate engineering student, your only option is to apply to the AB program through the regular admissions process. This is no different from applying for an AB in French or Economics.
You would finish in 4 years with a non-ABET AB degree in “Engineering Sciences”. This is not a professional engineering degree, but it might be fine for a career in technical management or consulting.
But suppose you want a professional engineering degree. OK, at that point you have the option of applying for the BE program at Thayer, which will add a fifth year to your studies. If you have a Dartmouth AB, admission is automatic:
You could also apply to the BE program if you had a non-ABET BA degree in engineering from another school, like maybe Harvard or Johns Hopkins, which offer them:
In addition, you could apply to the BE program if you already had an ABET degree in engineering, though I’m not sure why you would want to do this:
https://engineering.dartmouth.edu/academics/admissions/undergraduate/be
If you want to be an engineer, go to a four year engineering school. You gain very little by spending an extra year to obtain an “AB” degree in addition to the engineering degree. Prospective engineering employers are not going to regard the AB as having any advantage over candidates having a single BS or BE degree. All ABET accredited engineering programs require a significant liberal arts component. You do not have to get a seperate liberal arts degree in addition to your engineering degree to have had a sufficient liberal arts background. Engineering programs contain many general and background courses, both fundamental science as well as humanities and liberal arts. You do not take only engineering courses as an engineering undergraduate.
The unaccredited AB in engineering in general does not meet the requirements for the professional practice of engineering, since it does not adhere to the course and content requirements that ABET mandates for accredited programs. Most engineering employers, particularly state and federal agencies, require engineering candidates to hold an ABET accredited degree. If your goal is to sit for the Professional Engineer exam in your state, you must in general hold an ABET accredited engineering degree. I hope Dartmouth explains these caveats to prospective students.
The “AB in Engineering Science” program must already contain most of the courses that are ordinarily required in a regular ABET accredited program if one can graduate with an accredited BE degree after only a year of additional work.
Why would one apply to Dartmouth for another engineering degree if one already has an ABET accredited degree?
@Corbett - thank-you for that clarification.
I don’t know why people would go to Dartmouth for engineering.
Dartmouth alum here (late 80s/early 90s so obviously some things may have changed), but Corbett’s description above fits my recollection. I did study some engineering at Dartmouth. I got what was, at the time, called a modified major - Engineering modified by Studio Arts (I had a goal, at the time, of becoming an architect).
I had chosen not to go to an engineering school nor a school with an architecture undergrad degree because I wasn’t totally decided and wanted more of a liberal arts and sciences education in which I could get exposure to and do work that was relevant to my potential plans while also exploring other things.
(Okay, possibly the facts that my father had gone to an engineering school and was then working for M.I.T. and the fact that my sister was at Lehigh may have contributed to my need to set a different course and allow for other possibilities). 
My modified major consisted of 6 engineering courses (in addition to all the prerequisites to them) and 4 studio arts classes. We basically took a class in mechanical engineering, a class in electrical, a class in thermodynamics, and so on…it was more about getting exposure to the subject as a part of a liberal arts education and not about becoming an engineer. (If we wanted to do that we could continue with the 5th year for the engineering degree).
I did not want to become an engineer so this worked out for me. I know it worked out for others who wanted to get the engineering degree in 5 years while taking a selection of courses in the social sciences, humanities, etc. as part of their liberal arts experience. (they valued the overall education and experience more than the more efficient 4 year engineering degree they could have gotten elsewhere). But, clearly, for those who are certain they want engineering and want that degree in 4 years, it would not be the most efficient choice and likely not a fit.
In my case, I ended up starting a Masters in Architecture but found within a semester that it really wasn’t for me after all. Ended up with an MBA several years later instead. The engineering focus in undergrad still served me well as I worked for several years in strategy management consulting where the ability to reason logically and make use of quant skills was still an asset, and the engineering major on my resume, while not an engineering degree, was appealing both to that management consulting firm during the hiring process (as it brought with it a certain amount of credibility for being a challenging and logical/quant course of study) and also to Stanford as a part of my application for their MBA program.
Just wanted to provide that (somewhat dated) experience/context in case it helps.
I wanted to add that I only did the 6 engineering courses because I had a modified major (which required 10 major courses - 6 in the main component and 4 in the other component). A regular engineering major (at the time) would have required 8 engineering courses (plus the prerequisites).
It is quite feasible to do the AB and BE program in 4 years total, but you have to plan for it, that is, know that you are going to be doing engineering, not decide on it at the end of sophomore year. The engineering curriculum and program are excellent, and most undergrad programs require all of the same base courses. The key difference is that Dartmouth is not a standalone engineering school - you MUST get an AB (a liberal arts degree) with your ABET degree. Again, 30% do this combined degree in 4 years; the rest take 1 to 3 additional quarters in a 5th year.
They all get good jobs or grad programs. Dartmouth is excellent with fantastic teaching; fewer TA-driven classes than other schools.