Haven’t read all responses. I grew up in So Cal. I then moved overseas for twenty years. Fast forward to college time for kid 1. I literally had never heard of the college my D now attends until I got a Fiske guide. We went on vacation in Maine the year before she visited her now-college in Maine (Bates), and I STILL had never heard of it. The point is, it doesn’t matter. People who need to know, know. Grad schools know, many employers know, and so on.
I knew of Pomona growing up. Why? I lived in So Cal. I also knew of Whittier, Occidental, all the local CSU’s, UCLA, Harvard, Oxford, and Northwestern, because I dated a guy who attended. I then moved to NY, and had literally never heard of Binghamton, or Hamilton, or Vassar. The huge, vast majority of people hardly know any colleges at all. If your child ends up working at the mall, that’s perfectly fine and it doesn’t matter which college they attend. Later, it might matter. But really, I know extremely successful people who graduated from colleges that no one has ever heard of because those people made the most of whatever was available to them.
Yes, I’ve heard the same thing. We actually had two NESCAC Deans of Admission tell us that fewer than five kids (and sometimes zero kids) choose that route each year. Most kids who become interested in engineering while in undergrad at their schools tend to major in Physics and then maybe end up getting an engineering grad degree.
I will say that this gives me a slight pause because S19 thinks he’s interested in Physics. He just took AP Physics this year, though, and he wasn’t ready to apply to engineering programs. He is a strong math student in Mulivariable this year so math is an option for a major too, but he wants to be able to explore and take art and history and political science classes. Very little exploring going on at Duke in the engineering school. And lots of those kids get weeded out of the program. I was an engineering major at Northwestern for my first year. I really thought it was the thing for me but I found it way too difficult and, even when I reached out for support, there was very little. If S19 wants to be a science major, I would like for him to be somewhere with less of a weed out, competitive culture and we think many of the NESCAC schools fit that bill.
We didn’t really budget for grad school so we will just have to see how it all works out. Now, watch, he’ll be a studio art major…
Not an engineer here. But I’ve seen numerous posts from engineering experts that an undergrad degree in engineering from an abet accredited university is of paramount importance in that field. And the grad school route doesn’t work as in other disciplines. It certainly is good ,coupled with the UG engineering but not in lieu of it.
@privatebanker Don’t want to derail the thread but I think it depends on the job you’re looking for in the end. We have a nephew who was a Env Science major at Wash U and is now a Civil Engineering grad student at Wisconsin. He did have to take a few additional courses to make up for what he was missing in his undergrad degree but all is good with his plan. He’s sees no downside. I have a friend whose son was a Physics major and she gave us a lot of advice on which engineering grad school degrees prep students for certain jobs. S19 is so undecided that we really don’t have a choice at this point. Undergrad engineering would not be the right move for him.
This thread is already leaning off the tracks with the recent focus on engineering.
When parents or kids are looking, CC usually says start with the basics: large or small; urban, suburban, or rural; do they have your major and do it well; what cores or gen eds will you tolerate, granola or more traditional; how far from home, etc.
If you want something that a Nescac can’t offer: Don’t apply to that one.
Bingo!
@eb23282 - I agree. I have met lots of young people with solid accomplishments in the arts (often music) and science (often physics) who have a hard time committing themselves to an engineering program when they know that as soon as they set foot on campus they will have to begin satisfying a myriad of prerequisites. These are the people 3+2 programs were originally designed for. More often than not, they decide to stick with a non-engineering major, but, that extra flexibility plays an important role in their decision-making. A 4+1 option (with a lot of thinking regarding what comprises the “4”) could be another answer for people who don’t want to give up the exploratory aspect of college.
@circuitrider, I was just looking at Drew University’s combined degree program. They offer a 3+2 with Columbia (BA + BS or BE) or a 3+2, 3+3, or 4+2 with WUSL which would also include a Masters.
My brother took advantage of Dartmouth’s program and graduated with a Physics degree and an Electrical Engineering degree in 5 years. He has since completed his MBA at Standord on his company’s dime. He’s now the Vice President of an Electrical Engineering firm. I would highly recommend this program if you can swing it.
