<p>I want to major in enigineering, but i also really want to go to a smaller liberal arts-type college, like brown, dartmouth, swarthmore, lafayette, and union. would majoring in engineering at these kinds of colleges be a stupid idea?</p>
<p>Not at all, many smaller, LAC-type colleges are excellent in Engineering and will give you excellent results. Check out:</p>
<p>Brown University
California Institute of Technology
Harvey Mudd College
Lehigh University
Rice University
Rose Hulman Institute of Technology
Swarthmore College</p>
<p>With the exception of CalTech, you are not going to have the same type of research opportunities, but other than that, you are sure to have a good education at any of those schools.</p>
<p>Try looking at Columbia as well--they have a "real" School of Engineering while having a heavy focus on humanities and the liberal arts. Columbia's undergraduate division is pretty small. Way smaller and much more liberal arts content than the hardcore engineering places like MIT and such. At the same time, the engineering curriculum is a bit sturdier than LACs which have very small engineering departments.
Lehigh is also very good.</p>
<p>Good point about Columbia Engineering. I heard students take about half the normal core curriculum to make room for the Engineering courses. Probably a good trade-off.</p>
<p>The big disadvantage those schools have is that the number of undergraduate research opportunities is much smaller. That could be important for admission to graduate school. Also, some small departments like Darthmouth and Swarthmore only offer a general engineering degree rather EE, MechE, ChemE, etc.</p>
<p>Btw, I don't think HMC, Rose and especially Caltech are like LAC's.</p>
<p>if you graduate in engineering from a LAC your life is practically over. Just take your diploma and jump off a bridge....hey, beats living under one for the rest of your life</p>
<p>Well, I wouldn'ta put it that way...</p>
<p>But yeah. </p>
<p>I agree.</p>
<p>An employer would look at that "General Engineering" on your resume and say "what the hell?"</p>
<p>I was just kidding hehe...engineering anywhere is fine...harvard or your local state college...the stuff you learn is identical.</p>
<p>also...why are you picking just engineering? you should pick a specific field.</p>
<p>the specific field im interested in is mechanical engineering, or even more specifically, aerospace eng, but few schools have that major, and im divided between going to a hardcore engineering school that has aero. or going lib. arts that has a more general eng. degree</p>
<p>also, dartmouth has a general enginering degree, but u still specialize in a certain field if you're going for the B.E. degree</p>
<p>i know that UCSD has a mechanical and aerospace major combined</p>
<p>ME and EE are the broadest programs. Unless you really, really know you want to specialize in aero, I would stay more general. As an EE or ME you can still be in demand at aerospace companies.</p>
<p>Dartmouth would be fine, I think, if you go for the BE, but doesn't that take an extra year?</p>
<p>Civil is also very broad...</p>
<p>joemama: its possible to finish the BE at dartmouth in 4 yrs, but u have to take a heavier course load.</p>
<p>Tufts has an engineering school with excellent research opportunities: most students (around 80% or so) end up doing research with a professor at some time or another, and most of them get paid for it as well. Their programme is ABET accredited and they have a lot of interaction with the school of liberal arts. </p>
<p>Avoid the "general engineering" degree - you will HAVE to get a masters if you want to be in a respectable engineering firm. Go for an ABET accredited degree.</p>
<p>are general degrees not ABET accredited??</p>
<p>if you want a job right after college, don't goto Liberal arts colleges. if you plan on going to graduate school, i think its a great idea.</p>
<p>What about a 3-2 engineering program as preparation for law or business school? Would the more liberal arts slant be beneficial? Do you think law or business school would consider the lack of humanities and social sciences in a typical engineering program a disadvantage? What kind of success do engineers have in gaining admittance to law or business schools?</p>
<p>"What about a 3-2 engineering program as preparation for law or business school?" In my opinion, 3-2 programs look good on paper only. Typically you spend 3 years at the LAC and 2 years at the Engineering university, but Engineering is tough enough to finish in 4 years, let alone just 2.</p>
<p>"Would the more liberal arts slant be beneficial? Do you think law or business school would consider the lack of humanities and social sciences in a typical engineering program a disadvantage? What kind of success do engineers have in gaining admittance to law or business schools?" That's up to you if it's beneficial or not, but to a large extent, law schools only care about your GPA and LSAT and little else, while business schools are primarily concerned with your work experience. In fact, engineering majors are typically among the most represented among MBA students.</p>
<p>im_blue: it sounds like 3-2 engineering students might be unsuccessful when going into the final two years, if they are less prepared than their four year counterparts. May I ask what type of program(s) you are/were in?</p>