<p>My DS has been admitted to Penn, Duke, UVA and CMU. He wants to study engineering. Any recommendations on which one has the best engineering program?</p>
<p>They will all be very good.</p>
<p>My son chose UVA engineering because he wanted the opportunity to take good liberal arts classes as electives. He plans to work as an engineer for a couple of years and then get an MBA. He loved the rigor of his core pre-engineering courses (calculus, physics, etc.) and found outstanding support. Some of the other engineering schools (thinking Virginia Tech) seem to take more of a wash-out approach whereas I would describe UVA's program as nurturing. In sum, I think UVA is a good option for an engineering major who wants a broad education in a highly supportive atmosphere that includes lots of nonengineering type options for electives. Socially, the Greek scene is strong and kids tend to be preppy. I can't comment on your other choices.</p>
<p>Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs (At schools whose highest degree is a doctorate)</p>
<p>( 5.0 = highest)(* = Public)</p>
<ol>
<li> Massachusetts Inst. of Technology 4.9 </li>
<li> Stanford University (CA) 4.7 </li>
<li> University of CaliforniaBerkeley * 4.7 </li>
<li> California Institute of Technology 4.6 </li>
<li> Georgia Institute of Technology * 4.5 </li>
<li> U. of IllinoisUrbana-Champaign * 4.5 </li>
<li> Cornell University (NY) 4.4 </li>
<li> University of MichiganAnn Arbor * 4.4
9. Carnegie Mellon University (PA) 4.2 </li>
<li> Purdue Univ.West Lafayette (IN)* 4.2 </li>
<li> University of TexasAustin * 4.2 </li>
<li> Princeton University (NJ) 4.1 </li>
<li> Univ. of WisconsinMadison * 4.0 </li>
<li> Johns Hopkins University (MD) 3.9 </li>
<li> Northwestern University (IL) 3.9 </li>
<li> Virginia Tech * 3.9
...
25. Duke University (NC) 3.6
...
29. University of Pennsylvania 3.5
...
33. University of Virginia * 3.4<br></li>
</ol>
<p>Go with CMU - Happy to hear there's so many future engineers on CC!</p>
<p>Visit them all and go with his gut feelings. Let him pick based on the cost, weather, location, size, dorms, food, frats, parking, gym, girls, ... anything. </p>
<p>Congratulations--there are no wrong answers!</p>
<p>CMU is a totally different type of location from Penn, Duke, UVA. </p>
<p>It is my understanding (but not first hand knowledge) that CMU Engineering students feel less integrated into the overall campus than at some other Universities with both A&S and Engineering.</p>
<p>Those are just two elements to be considered. I'm not sure if JiffsMom's point is to simply look up the USN&WR rankings and choose the highest ranked. I don't recommend that.</p>
<p>If your S has not visited, and can do so, that is what I would recommend. Check the classroom atmosphere and talk with Engineering students - some are much higher pressure feel than others. Find one that suits him.</p>
<p>I would choose along those dimensions and the kinds of things mentioned by Dad'o'2. That approach is much more likely to have good results in terms of his choosing the right place than letting the USN&WR marketing people choose for him.</p>
<p>Finally, the best Engineering program can vary based on which subfield interests him.</p>
<p>My $.02.</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon has plenty of arts and science, but I do think that kids who choose CMU are more pre-professionally oriented than at other colleges. Drama, arts, music and architecture students are kept pretty busy with their required courses. My son is at SCS and has plenty of distributional requirements, but he's still apt to hang around kids like him. His roommate was in engineering and spent a lot of time in labs.</p>
<p>My son is in engineering at UVa. Has had a great experience, good recruiting on campus and will probably have 3 good choices for an internship this summer. He is instate . His dad and grandfather are both CMU grads in engineering. He did not consider CMU (as someone else said-rankings are not everything)as UVa was a better fit for him.</p>
<p>The US News list is only one point of reference. All of jmmom's advice is good :).</p>
<p>Out of the OP's choices, I would choose CMU because it matches a good Engineering school with a similarly high quality academic breadth in other areas of study.</p>
<p>Those schools are close enough to just pick the one you like the best and has the best financial aid imho</p>
<p>I agree with drizzit. They are all pretty close so should just go with what he likes the best and fits in with the budget. When my son went to Northern Virginia for an interview last month for an internship, he said the other people interviewing were from Duke,Cornell and CMU. So, recruiting is probably good at all of these schools.</p>
<p>Duke's bioengineering program was ranked second in the country (Hopkins number one) so also judge each school on specializations. Many Duke engineers are double majoring in economics and quite employable.
Class size and teacher/student ratio..does it matter to you? If so, weigh that in consideration as well as mental health factors and urban or campus settings. Go where you will be strong and happiest as courses are tough everywhere.
I live in Hokie country and am a daughter of a Ramblin Wreck</p>
<p>Thank you all for so much input. DS wants to combine engineering with physics somehow. That's about as concrete as he is at this point. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>CMU.
If you need to get there, it is easier do so than the other schools.
Technical majors cannot formally declare majors until the end of freshman year.
CMU has a very strong Arts College. Students are strongly encouraged to explore the otherside. My S roommate was a ME was the concert master for a couple of years. S took many design classes for his second major.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Thank you all for so much input. DS wants to combine engineering with physics somehow. That's about as concrete as he is at this point. Any suggestions?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I majored in Materials Science & Engineering with a minor in Physics at CMU a few years ago. Most of the people in the physics department seemed to be double majors or minors of some sort, so it gives you a nice cross-section of students in your classes.</p>
<p>What sort of engineering is he interested in? Be aware CMU only offers Electrical/Computer, Chemical, Materials, Civil, and Mechanical as primary majors, though you can double into Biomedical and Engineering and Public Policy.</p>
<p>I think CMU was really one of those schools you had to feel a "fit" to enjoy it there. The people I knew in undergrad that weren't happy there tended to not fit into the "I like to work really hard all the time" and wanted to be able to go out drinking on Wednesday nights.</p>