My son is deciding between his two top options for undergraduate Engineering: Rutgers Honors College vs Worcester Polytechnic. His intended major is Biomedical Engineering.
After merit scholarships, RPI will cost about $30K more than Rutgers in total… not pocket change but not insurmountable for us either.
I was hoping to get some opinions on this board on which of the two is the better choice. And how valuable (or not) is the honors college aspect?
Thanks in advance for your thoughtful perspective.
I think that Rutgers is a better opportunity, not only do they have a strong engineering program but being in the honors program is a nice bonus. It means more personalized learning and better opportunities and he will get to be with a group of smarter more hardworking students. Also as you mentioned it will e cheaper so it is a win-win on all sides. Rutgers is also a better university overall, it also has great school spirit and lovely people.
Two great choices. We LOVED WPI but honors college opportunities can be beneficial. They are different environments. WPI is notably hands-on and project-oriented. What is his preference in terms of location and hands-on, project-oriented program?
In my opinion, honors college is meant to compensate for school’s size and lack of individualized attention at larger institutions. The problem with honors and engineering, is that it adds an unnecessary layer to a very busy (read intense) schedule. Most kids pursuing engineering that I know, either opted for forgoing honors all together, or ended up dropping the program after freshman year to pursue other interests (like research) instead of doing busy work.
Let me just explain a little: we were very impressed by the WPI students, thought the campus vibe was great, and thought the campus a nice little New England LAC type place with a bit of a tech/steam punk look. It’s in a nice area of Worcester. Campus is very compact for a mid-size national university; I can’t believe it’s more than a 10-minute walk between any two points on the main campus proper (it’s expanded a little beyond the original campus). Like I said, the hands-on, project-oriented curriculum, with 3 classes at a time, on a quarter system is unique. That’s where it becomes a question of how does that work for your son. Also, Rutgers is bigger, with multiple campuses, much more sprawling. Does that appeal to him? Both are quality schools, so, to me, it’s not a matter of which one is “better” but which one is a better fit.
The Rutgers Honors Program and the the WPI Great Problems Projects Seminar (GPS) and Interdisciplinary Qualifying project (IQP) and Global Projects Program (GPP) are are also pressing the need to solve real world problems. Both programs identify the interdisciplinary nature of these problems. They use different approaches to reorient students toward common goals.
As a long established, more traditional engineering college in the 1960’s, WPI needed to create vehicles to awaken the interests of science/engineering students to the broader, interdisciplinary nature of real problem solutions. For years they had taken the usual smattering of social science and humanities courses in hopes that connections would be made if they read and discussed them enough. To me, the honors program at Rutgers is a high octane variation in the application of the traditional approach. Moving bright students together who have a wide range of different interests should raise the osmosis necessary to get the message through. It is a big improvement accomplished by a first class University.
WPI felt they needed more drastic changes and they did not have the multidisciplinary tools of faculty and students in the same scope as a large university. Engineering studies are very demanding and a four year time\expense frame is too short. The major tools they settled on were real problem solutions by way of real problems. This was the hypodermic solution. They could not wait for osmosis.
It was these same concerns which led Case Institute of Technology to merge with Western Reserve University. Case’s first attempt was a five year program so they could fit in more humanities and social science courses. Cost of a fifth year was prohibitive.
At this stage, the WPI project approach has evolved into an MQP, IQP, GPP and Humanities “sufficiency.” The Sufficiency pursues five courses selected by the student/faculty to produce a three credit hour capstone experience in the Humanities. This is all accomplished in four years. WPI feels a battery of project activity integrated with classroom and faculty guidance is the solution.
Two approaches to the same problem. What fits you?
Thanks so much for the thorough perspective retiredfarmer. I’ll have to share it with my son and see what fits him! I appreciate your view greatly thanks again.
In the fall of 2018, 38% of the undergraduate population were women. For the second consecutive year, about 42% of the entering class were women
The good news is the women overwhelmingly prefer the BME and the Biology and Biotechnology majors where they represent over 81% of the undergraduate students. In BME alone they represent 67% of the majors. This trend is in other medical fields. Women are taking over. Women seem to be avoiding ME and EE
I do not know the breakout for Rutgers at New Brunswick, but they do list the entire University is 55% women.