<p>I'm a Mechanical Engineering major that is starting college this fall at the University of Louisville. However, I've got my eyes open for schools that I could transfer to in the future. I know there is the US</a> News ranking to look at. MIT is at the top (no surprise there) and Purdue, U of Illinois at Urbana-Champaigne, and U of Michigan all are ranked highly. I'm going to keep an eye on those schools. </p>
<p>However, what else can I use to evaluate the mechanical engineering programs at these schools? I have looked at admissions selectivity and I know that's another thing to consider but it doesn't tell me everything and I'm not sure what it is for the individual engineering schools at each university (they just give general university admission statistics). So what else should I consider when evaluating a mechanical engineering program (or an engineering program in general)?</p>
<p>selectivity
graduation rate FROM ENGINEERING (i.e. start in eng and grad from eng)
facilities/labs
research activity of faculty
internships
undergrad involvement in research
size of program (related to course offerings)
offers degree specifically in ME
faculty acessibility
focus on undergraduates but solid grad program too
ABET accredited minimally
availability of grad student TAs for consulting on problem sets and projects</p>
<p>What are your plans for the future? If your goal is to actually be an engineer then look at a school's co-op programs, internships, job placement upon graduation, etc. It is not totally necessary to attend a highly prestigious university if that is your goal. Even if you want to attend law or med school afterwords, it is still not that important because if you can blow your test scores out the water (mcat, lsat, gmat, gre) and maintain a strong GPA you will be fine. If research is your goal, then as mentioned above, you should look into schools that allow undergrads to do research. If you want to pursue something else, say public policy or an international career or investment banking then it might be helpful to attend a prestigious schools with the powerful networking and relationships with those type of companies.</p>
<p>@collegehelp: I can find selectivity and general information on princetonreview but I am having trouble tracking down some of that other information. I can't sem to find the selectivity for the engineering departments and the graduation rate from those departments. Where could I find that info? Should I just call them up?</p>
<p>@uaprophet: I'm not really sure what I want to do. :)</p>
<p>If you are female, Smith College’s Picker Engineering Program is superb and has a wonderful approach to teaching engineering. Smith is known for academic excellence and small classes. Students are provided with terrific advising and mentoring and available, committed professors. No TAs.</p>
<p>Smith is also part of the 5-college consortium (with Amherst, Hampshire, Mt. Holyoke and Univ Mass). You can take classes at any.</p>