<p>Interested in civil engineering. I know Wash U has a great rep in Engineering but don't have civil as a major. Some schools embed civil into mechanical major. Is this the case at Wash U or do they just not have it?</p>
<p>Correct. There is no civil engineering major; mechanical engineering acts as a sort of umbrella that includes civil.</p>
<p>If you’re interested in civil, don’t come to WashU.<br>
Disagreeing with RaVNz- mechE is not a civil umbrella at all. If you want to call mechE an umbrella for anything, it’s an umbrella for aerospace.</p>
<p>There are lots of people at WashU who came in as civils (juniors and seniors only), and are incredibly unhappy with the school for cutting the major (especially the juniors. It was cut our year, so essentially they came in just to find out they still could technically be grandfathered into the civil program, it would be near impossible because of professors leaving/ being cut).</p>
<p>Thanks Johnson 181. What medium sized schools do you recommend for Civil Engineering, where it really is part of the engineering program? Also, I want to be able to take some humanities course - I like history and lit. I’m ok with a rural setting as long as there is a real social life on campus. Any recos?</p>
<p>Rice, Tufts, Rose Hulman, Bucknell, Case Western…I think they all have civil engineering</p>
<p>if you want to do engineering go to Georgia Tech, UM Rolla, Colorado School of Mines or places where you will get some hands on training. </p>
<p>Here is a challenge: Compare the Mechanical Engineering curriculum at Wash U with University of Missouri Rolla. Hands down Rolla produces much better engineers.</p>
<p><a href=“http://mae.mst.edu/documents/ME_Curriculum_1_08.pdf[/url]”>http://mae.mst.edu/documents/ME_Curriculum_1_08.pdf</a></p>
<p>versus</p>
<p><a href=“http://mems.wustl.edu/ContentFiles/ME_Curriculum0722104.pdf[/url]”>http://mems.wustl.edu/ContentFiles/ME_Curriculum0722104.pdf</a></p>
<p>Caolila- I’m failing to see what point you’re trying to make, or how you can determine which “produces better engineers.”</p>
<p>The point I am making is that if you look at the Mech Eng program at Rolla it is far more demanding and rigorous than the one at Wash U. Rolla is an engineering school with tremendous depth and that is evident in the curriculum. The undergrad Mech Eng curriculum at Wash U isn’t as rich.</p>
<p>At Rolla, you don’t get partial credit in some of the engineering courses. I know of a Wash U student who transferred to Rolla to study petroleum engineering. He was a smart guy but just wasn’t prepared for the numerical accuracy required in the courses. He got a D in dynamics and failed mechanics of materials. </p>
<p>There is also a tremendous emphasis on learning how to actually do something with your hands in engineering school (not just put numbers in equations). They are completing a new building to house the 21 design teams.</p>
<p>My point is that of all the programs at Wash U, I think engineering is the weakest and you’d be far better off going somewhere else to study just about any area of engineering. I point the comparison to Rolla because I’m familiar with it (my mom teaches there).</p>
<p>caolila - comparing Wash U and Rolla is like comparing apples and oranges. UM Rolla isn’t even known by that name anymore… it’s the Missouri University of Science and Technology. It’s a college focused almost entirely on engineering and science. Naturally, it’s approach to teaching Engineering will be slightly different than Wash U’s approach. Wash U is a private, liberal arts University with 5 constituent colleges and has different emphasis in the Engineering program. Sure, Wash U and Missouri S&T might each offer Mechanical Engineering, but saying one is more “rigorous” by looking at curricula is, at worst, inaccurate, and, at best, just tells me that each school emphasizes different things in their curricula. </p>
<p>The two attract completely different audiences. You’re rarely going to see someone considering both Wash U and Missouri S&T. You’ll more commonly see people decide between Wash U and Northwestern and Penn, or between Missouri S&T and Rose Hulman and Colorado Mines. </p>
<p>I have nothing bad to say about Missouri S&T (I’ve never been there, know no one who goes there, am not from missouri, and don’t even study Engineering), but I don’t understand the relevance or appropriateness of coming on to the Wash U discussion board to claim that the EN program here is weak and recommend a college that is nothing at all like Wash U.</p>
<p>vbball90</p>
<p>Definitely I agree that Wash U and Missouri S&T attract different students, have different focus, etc. But I know from personal experience that Wash U’s engineering program has struggles. Many faculty left a few years ago. The head of Chemical Engineering in Rolla (sorry it’s easier just to say that rather than the new name) came from Wash U’s Chem Eng program. </p>
<p>Given that my mom teaches there, my dad’s at Wash U med school and my sister’s a student at Wash U I think I have a pretty sound basis for comparison. Some of my friends from high school are at Wash U too.</p>
<p>Engineering is an applied science. The more design and hands on experience the better. Places with design teams give you that exposure. It you want a bigger university name that is still ‘applied’ I’d say go to Georgia Tech, Caltech or MIT (depending on your ability to be accepted). Wash U is far stronger in liberal arts, as you say.</p>
<p>I’m with Johnson 181 and boomie-
WashU is one of my favorite schools in the country, but it really hurt its engineering school by abandoning civil a couple of years ago. (Its BME, however, has an excellent reputation.)
If you want a fine, medium-sized school that will give you access to great humanities courses, I would recommend Tufts (which my son chose), Bucknell or Rice. They are all great, although they offer very different atmospheres.
Personally, I love Boston and New England, but to each his own.</p>