<p>Hi
I'm an engineering major, and I applied to smith for one reason: I LOVE THE ENVIRONMENT!
The friendliness & inclusive nature of smith & the close-knit community, the fact that a wide alumnae network across the globe will go to excessive measures to help out a "Smithie" are all reasons I absolutely love the school.
I am an international student so I can't visit smith. But I did an interview with a smith alumna & I have been reading a lot about smith online.
I was really elated when I got in, and I still feel honored "smith likes me"
But here is my concern;
I am a mechanical engineering major. I applied to several other polytechnic & research universities & I got in a few. But I'm not sure about environments in those schools..
Smith only offers a major in engineering science, which is quite broad, and of what I read online, unheard of.
Can a current engineering major Smithie chip in?
I want to know how challenging the program is & how likely I am to go to mechE grad school at some top notch university..
Also please tell me what you feel is lacking and what u specially like about smith's engineering program.
Thanks.</p>
<p>Not a student, but I presume you’ve seen this:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.science.smith.edu/departments/Engin/who.php[/url]”>http://www.science.smith.edu/departments/Engin/who.php</a></p>
<p>and this:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.science.smith.edu/departments/Engin/who_grads.php[/url]”>http://www.science.smith.edu/departments/Engin/who_grads.php</a></p>
<p>and this:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.science.smith.edu/departments/Engin/who_other.php[/url]”>http://www.science.smith.edu/departments/Engin/who_other.php</a></p>
<p>Well, yeah, of course, I have read through the entire picker program website.
I wanted to hear things from a more real perspective, tho…
I want to know for sure what the advantages are, and what I’d be missing on studying engineering in a liberal arts environment…</p>
<p>So there were 60 current and former students commenting directly on the program, talking about what it meant to study engineering in a liberal arts environments, specifically including the advantages, with listing of where each of the graduates ended up, including their graduate schools. That’s not real?</p>
<p>I do hope a current student will comment for you.</p>
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<p>There are actually a number of schools that offer similar programs. Harvard offers degrees in engineering science. The bachelor of science in engineering degrees at Swarthmore and Harvey Mudd are pretty similar. MIT offers a bachelor of science in engineering degree through the mechanical engineering dept (course 2A) which is fairly similar (though more mech eng centric).</p>
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<p>As long as you go to a decent school, it’s more of a function of how well you do at the school than which school you go to. Smith has a nice engineering program so it’s certainly not going to limit you in this regard.</p>
<p>I’m a current Smith student and I’m so glad you love Smith’s environment! That was one of the main reasons I picked Smith over other similar schools, the other main reason being the great science programs. I’m not personally an engineering major, but my roommate and “big sib” in my house both are. I’ll have my roommate chime in below. What I do know about the engineering program is that people really seem to love it. My big sib is always talking about how awesome her engineering professors are. She seems to know a lot of them personally. The newest building on campus is the Ford science and engineering building (finished in 2010). It’s a gorgeous building! As a biochemistry major, I spend a lot of time in there! The building has great facilities for engineering, molecular biology, proteomics, chemistry, and computer science. One fun fact is that Smith’s engineering program was the first engineering program started at a women’s college. </p>
<p>Hey, this is Smithie55’s roommate! I’m a first year in engineering at smith 
Smith only offers a major in engineering science, but you focus your classes toward one particular part of engineering e.g. chemical, civil, mechanical, biological (to name a few).
In terms of grad school, I don’t know that much, but I don’t think it really depends on the name of the college, just your grades while at that college.
The intro engineering classes are really great - the classes are pretty small (<30 people) and you get a lot of individual attention as compared to other large universities. Even though it’s pretty small, Smith has a lot of resources, like a machine shop, lazer cutter, wind tunnel, and other stuff I haven’t gotten to use yet. Also since the engineering program is fairly new, there is a new shiny building for it. You’re able to get a lot of hands-on experience at Smith. In intro engineering, everyone is required to do a design project that they present at the end of the semester, and you need to build a hammer-screwdriver using the machine shop (They are very kind and helpful). For seniors, there’s a “design clinic” class where you kind of work for a company to solve a problem they have identified (I’m not too sure on the details).
Overall, I’m really happy that I chose smith engineering over other tech schools. I also got into Drexel, Northeastern, UMD, and stuff, but Smith’s engineering program gives you a lot of attention and has a lot of opportunities that other colleges don’t have. The environment is really great and there are many resources to go to if you need help with something.
Another thing about engineering at Smith is that if you decide to do the BS (major in engineering), you’re required to minor in something not a science or do Latin honors (take 1 class in all 7 areas of knowledge). It’s not hard to do, and it helps you connect engineering to the real world and allows for you to take classes in other departments you’re interested in besides engineering.
I can’t really think of anything major that’s lacking in the engineering program. Smith doesn’t have many civil or aerospace engineering classes, but UMass has a lot so it isn’t really a problem, and Smith’s engineering faculty is slowly getting bigger too.
It’s definitely rigorous and many students that have graduated have gone on to do really cool stuff. I’d definitely recommend Smith for engineering :D</p>
<p>@smithie55: thanks, smithies!!
That post is exactly what I love about smith!! :)</p>
<p>Also, @smithie55’s roommate: I am struggling to make a decision between Smith & WPI. But you see, WPI has my major: mechE. I also want to minor in aeronautics…
But HASS courses+campus at WPI are just really humble next the beautiful and mighty Smith…</p>
<p>I guess I would recommend you think about how important it is to you to major in mechE. If you attend Smith, you would have a general major in engineering, and you can have a focus on a particular type of engineering. You can always specialize in grad school. Do you want to be able to do engineering in a liberal arts environment and in a program aimed at women? You will just have to weigh how important these factors are to you personally. Again, I highly recommend Smith :)</p>
<p>What if i don’t want to go to grad school? Would i be lacking, if that’s the case? ie, maybe i won’t be able to get a better position, or my pay won’t be as good, etc. i know that many engineers who graduated from Smith did really interesting stuff and got good jobs, but i’m just wondering if people treat people with Smith’s general engineering degree differently than they do someone with a more specialised (in name) engineering degree from, for example, Georgia Tech.</p>
<p>In all likelihood i will still be majoring in engineering, but these are just some concerns i have had.</p>
<p>lilredboxes-- I happen to live in a neighborhood loaded with engineers who are employed by NASA, Boeing, Lockheed and the Air Force (in other words the military industrial complex). Women engineers are in high, high, high demand. They are hired right out of school at fine wages and are fast tracked upstairs in government as well as private sector jobs. I know guys who are PO’ed about some of this ^^^ advancement. But, it is what it is - - mostly good as far as I’m concerned. </p>
<p>Sure, it would be nice to achieve a masters in engineering or a related field at some point. The employers I list ^^ will pay for you to achieve your masters in my experience. True!</p>
<p>Just one old guy’s anecdotal experience down in Florida.</p>
<p>David</p>
<p>Smith claims to be trying to train women engineering managers, which is the value-added in the liberal arts degree. There fewer female engineers, but even fewer female engineers in management.</p>
<p>All of the things that the posters said above are absolutely true; you really get a lot of personal attention as an engineer at smith and all of the graduates go on to do great things. However, Smith engineering is vastly different than what you’d get if you went somewhere else. Smith’s program is pretty small, and while it’s really great sometimes, that also means that it’s not as efficiently run as at a big school.</p>
<p>The assignments feel like afterthoughts from a high school class and I can’t count the number of times that my professors didn’t seem to know what was going on.</p>