I’m interested in studying engineering at Dartmouth, what programs do they offer? I only see engineering sciences, biomedical engineering sciences, engineering physics, human-centred design, and materials science on the majors section on their website. Do they have computer engineering or EECS? Why is “bachelor of engineering” a separate category?
Also I heard Dartmouth undergrad doesn’t separate between disciplines, so is it easy to switch to either computer science or physics if you start at engineering? And do they have any engineering-business programs?
The AB program is not an ABET-accredited program and is probably intended for those who want some engineering background to go with a traditional Ivy League career path (e.g. management consulting, Wall Street).
The BE program that takes a fifth year is an ABET-accredited program for those who want to work in engineering. However, Dartmouth’s engineering offerings are more limited than at many other schools that offer ABET-accredited engineering majors.
Dartmouth has an unusual structure for engineering degrees.
At most universities, you study engineering intensively for four years, then graduate with an ABET-accredited BS. This is a professional degree.
Dartmouth is more liberal arts-oriented. They don’t want you to study engineering intensively for four years, because they feel that this sort of education is too narrow. So the four-year engineering degree at Dartmouth is an AB (= BA) instead of a BS. The AB degree has fewer requirements, and provides lots of freedom to explore other disciplines or double major. So it would be very easy to switch to CS or physics, or even French or music. It would also be easy to double-major in engineering and economics (Dartmouth doesn’t offer “business” except at the graduate level).
The AB approach to engineering offers a lot of flexibility, but there is a big downside: an AB degree is commonly regarded as “engineering lite”. It’s not a full, ABET-accredited engineering degree, and it does not have the same value to engineering employers (though it could be fine for a career in technical management or consulting).
If you want a full ABET engineering degree, then you have the option of studying engineering intensively for one extra year after the AB. The fifth year of study leads to the BE (= BS), which is a professional degree. It has the same professional value as any other ABET engineering degree, but it takes five years to earn. At most schools, you can get an ABET engineering degree in only four years, which obviously means less time and expense.
Yes, they have both Computer Engineering and Electrical Engineering concentrations, which can be combined with double majors in CS or physics at the AB level.
https://engineering.dartmouth.edu/academics/undergraduate/be/samples