<p>Guys, I am confused on which institution to choose between Liberal Arts College and big University.
I want to study either Computer Science or do engineering in computer but i also want to learn other stuffs like screenplay, cinematography, philosophy and other minors.
Which college should i opt for ?</p>
<p>Hmm…well, my first inkling would to say go for a University since you want engineering, BUT, you also want to be able to explore…so, that leads to an LAC. so, here’s my 2 cents.</p>
<p>I’d go to an LAC with engineering and also a fairly open curriculum. The only two I can think of are Union College in NY and Smith College in MA…</p>
<p>Go to Harvey Mudd, so you can take courses at other schools like Pomona and Claremont McKenna</p>
<p>go to Lehigh, which is a small university, only 4,800 undergraduates, has a great engineering school, and a good school of Arts and Sciences the size of a Liberal Arts College where you can take those “other” courses.</p>
<p>At the engineering colleges I’m familiar with, students have free electives and access to courses in non-technical areas as well. Those situated within multi-college universities that also have Arts & Sciences colleges can be expected to have a broad selection of non-technical courses available, though actual minors may not be possible between different colleges.</p>
<p>You can start by finding schools in your approximate stats/ SAT range and then looking at a source like Rugg’s Recommendations on the Colleges to see which of them have programs in your areas of interest that students there consider to be strong. Then investigate further to determine which of them will enable you to spread out to your satisfaction.</p>
<p>If one of my kids thought they might be interested in engineering, but weren’t sure, I’d encourage them not to start of majoring in engineering and take a liberal arts curriculum for at least 2 years. Some LACs give you the ability to go to an engineering school after graduation for an extra year for an engineering degree. Other universities provide that opportunity as well. I know someone who might be interested in engineering but planning on going to UNC (no engineering program other than bio-medical) and will take a 5th year at NC state if he decides on engineering. But, if they were sure they wanted to be an engineer, I would encourage them to go to an engineering school. Engineering programs are intense and the classes will require most of your focus.</p>
<p>I don’t see why you need to decide now. If you don’t know, then apply to a spectrum of schools. It’s that simple.</p>
<p>I was far from certain when I applied, so I applied to LACs (Davidson), small universities (Wake), medium universities (Hopkins, Chicago), and large universities (UNC, NC State). Afterwards, I visited the ones I got into and made my decisions based on that.</p>