<p>My sister, now a junior in hs, just told me that she wants to go into engineering and that she's looking at Kettering University in Michigan. How is this school reputation-wise? </p>
<p>I go to a liberal arts college and my hope is that she'd attend one of those (because I love mine so much) but I'm not sure if there are any liberal arts schools that have good engineering programs. Kettering is about the size of a liberal arts school, as my understanding is that she wants to attend a smaller school. Idk, I'm pretty wary about STEM schools....because I attend a liberal arts one.</p>
<p>My guess is that she'd rather stay in the Midwest. She said her GPA is around a 3.7.</p>
<p>Kettering has had a long association with the automotive industry; it was known as the General Motors Institute for many years. After separating from General Motors in 1982, it was known as the GMI Engineering and Management Institute for a while, then renamed Kettering University in 1998.</p>
<p>any ABET-acredited program is going to be decent. The engineering field is a lot flatter in terms of quality/reputation than the liberal arts because it is a demonstrable skill and because the classes you take are similar everywhere due to the acreditation standards. So you have some broad tiers rather than sharp distinctions. BTW there is a decent serving of liberal-arts classes in the required curriculum, so you take that no matter where you go. Bottom line I’d say to tell her to look for schools with engineering that satisfy her more general preferences (size, location, etc) and she’ll be fine. I don’t know about Kettering in particular.</p>
<p>One thing I’d warn against are the 3:2 programs many LACs offer. The idea is you get a more liberal-arts education the 1st 3 years at a LAC while taking some science/math classes, then you transfer to an affiliated STEM university for the engineering degree. And they work if you do it. The problem is that few students actually end up completing the program. After 3 years with all your friends at the LAC environment it seems hard to walk away when with just 1 more year you could graduate with your friends, but to leave means to start as the new kid in an unfamiliar setting and also it will take 2 more years to finish college.</p>
<p>Lastly, be sure your sister has spoken with a few engineers so she has a good understanding of what the working life and career path of an engineer will be like. The schooling and career are 2 different animals.</p>
<p>On the east coast there are some LACs with engineering – Lafayette, Bucknell, Union, Trinity as well as some mid size colleges with engineering – Villanova, Lehigh.</p>
<p>University of Michigan is relatively good with financial aid for in-state students.</p>
<p>What you, she, and your parents need to do is run net price calculators on various colleges to get net price estimates. Also do it for your current college to estimate what financial aid for you will be like after she starts college. The net price information needs to be considered to make a suitable application list and avoid getting shut out financially.</p>
<p>Kettering’s pretty well respected in certain engineering fields, but I don’t think it even offers civil engineering. I’d be wary of an exclusively STEM-oriented school, too. Most college students change their intended major at least once, and the attrition rate from engineering tends to be quite high. What if she decides she doesn’t want to be an engineer after all?</p>
<p>Best engineering schools in Michigan are the University of Michigan, Michgan State, and Michigan Tech.</p>
<p>For LACs with good engineering but also strong offerings in liberal arts, I’d look at Bucknell and Lafayette (both in Pennsylvania) and Smith (only women’s college with engineering, and they’re working hard to build it up).</p>
<p>It sounds like my mom would rather her go somewhere where she can get a more well-rounded education. Somewhere where she will have to read and write. My mom wants her to check out Kzoo. There, she could come home on the weekends if she had to. They have a 3:2 program with WUSTLE and UMich.</p>
<p>Almost university has a writing requirement (actually, I think that might be an ABET requirement as well) and a student can always take writing intensive courses as electives.</p>
<p>All ABET-accredited engineering bachelor’s degree programs have humanities and social studies requirements, although some (e.g. at MIT) are heavier than others (e.g. at Brown).</p>
<p>If she wants a LAC-feel, look at the smaller [Association</a> of Independent Technological Universities: AITU](<a href=“http://theaitu.org%5DAssociation”>http://theaitu.org) schools (Kettering is one as is Case Western). For Civil Engineering, being in an urban school might be a significant advantage for getting internships and building a network of contacts with alumni. From my experience observing Civil Engineers at my university, Illinois Institute of Technology, graduates often stay in the Chicago area for their first jobs and there is very strong alumni community in the city.</p>
<p>You may want to point out to your Mom that your sister may have an admissions and merit aid advantage at STEM focused schools because those schools are trying to attract more female students. And there is no shortage of reading and writing at those schools. She could double major in English if she wanted to!</p>
<p>It’s quite a stretch (for everyone, but less of a stretch for girls), but Harvey Mudd classifies itself as a LAC, has a VERY well respected engineering program (although undifferentiated by flavor), offers need-based aid, requires at least two writing classes, and requires about 10 other humanities/social science classes.</p>