It’s a great school and a great program. That said, it is essentially ME, albeit a highly tailored one, just as AE is essentially a highly tailored form of ME. A student could get close to replicating the experience in many ME departments. Still, very much worth a look. Love WPI.
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I agree with WPI AND suggesting Robotics as a field to explore. But the OP should realize that the Robotics specialty programs are essentially all the hard parts of ME married to the hard parts of CS. There’s no getting around the pretty significant amount of content you need to master.
I think that’s why construction technology, landscape architecture, urban planning might be a little less daunting content/analytics wise???
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Yes, I think an undergrad in engineering is a good stepping stone. It’s great combined with an MBA or other non-technical degree. Kudos to your daughter.
Without going into lots of detail, people in the art work can make a lot of money and be very successful. Google Art History salaries. 65K. It’s always been a societal idea that artists are starving. Today, more than ever, they are thriving. Think graphics, advertising, game design, fine art and so much more. People who combine art and CS are making bank. So are people who do product design. And most love their work. Like any field, research into paths is important and having the right background.
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Olin (DS just finished Candidates Week), Rose Hulman and Milwaukee School of Engineering are all good for hands on learning. Others like Cornell (DS just admitted) offer excellent hands on experience through extracurricular SA like Project Teams. Good luck.
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Also have him take a look at architectural and structural engineering. My D majored in architectural engineering which focuses on systems in buildings. There’s some electrical, mechanical, structural, even acoustics. She did a coterminal structural engineering masters and is working as a structural engineer for a firm that employs architects and engineers and does forensic work on buildings. She does a lot of site visits and has worked on everything from an historic wood building to condos, parking garages, skyscrapers, and water towers. Her firm also has a lab various kinds of testing of materials. She works closely with other engineers, architects, and construction firms. It’s interesting work.
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Where did she go to school? I’d like a school that has options if he wants to change. Art options are important, like RIT.
She attended Illinois Tech (IIT). Most majors there are science or tech. They also have architecture,business.
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User Experience Design is another career that benefits from artistic skill and pays well. It sounds like it’s not the kind of career the OP is looking for, but one to consider for others. For the OP, the Industrial Design path seems reasonable. Think of someone like Jony Ive (designer of the iPhone and many other Apple products) or Franz von Holzhausen (Tesla Designer). These are obviously extreme examples, but this type of work sounds like the kind of work a hands-on, artistic person would find fulfilling and rewarding.
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Design seems like a good fit! Engineering can also be vague, so definitely encourage him to explore that more. Most tech and STEM schools would be a good fit. Also, larger universities (U of M/U of I/your state school) would be great options. I go to UofM and the opportunities are endless. Def consider large universities to allow yourself flexibility to explore!
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If he wants to be an engineer, let him be an engineer. He might like robotics at WPI -
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Since you mentioned User Experience Design, could you recommend some undergraduate programs? I have a 2024 who might be interested.
I work with a lot of experience designers but I am not directly familiar with which programs are highly respected. I did look in my linkedin network for the folks that I work with and they come from several different backgrounds. Some have a BA or MFA, from a school like California College of Arts or Academy of Art University. Some of them have an MS or BS in information sciences with a concentration in UX (Cornell, CMU). There are also MS in Information Design or HCI (Human Computer Interaction). I hope this helps!
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This is a long thread, so I am not sure if it has already been suggested, but Union College in Schenectady could be worth considering. Union would be pretty local for you, offer small class sizes, mechanical engineering, and many other options to choose from, both stem and non. It is not an easy admit but probably not as competitive as WPI.
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Yes. That’s really helpful. Thank you so much!
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Cognitive Science programs (especially the more technically-robust ones like UCSD, CMU, RPI) also produce a lot of UX designers. For example, look at the Design & Interaction track of the CogSci major at UCSD: B.S. Spec. Design and Interaction
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Thank you for the suggestions! I will have to do some research into these programs.
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There was so much great information shared here, I’m grateful. We are no further along though!
My son is so overwhelmed with this process, he just shared how stressful this is and how he “feels like every time he goes down a path he thinks he wants, he doesn’t think it’s right. Then goes down another and another and his head is spinning”. He decided he definitely doesn’t want to do engineering, went to Architecture for a while but now is stuck on Art School. We suggested Industrial Design, Product Design… he says, I don’t want to design something on a computer and have other people make it. (He does a lot of art in Welding but doesn’t like Graphic Design and doesn’t really draw or paint - he’s creative and makes cool things.
It has been so hard to narrow down colleges bc these majors are specific - not in most liberal arts schools. We talked about a year off - gap year… that stresses him out. We talked about the North Bennett Street School for Carpentry or Welding bc he’ll be certified… he’s afraid if he doesn’t go to college he will regret it and he won’t be employable. We tell him he can change his major and it will all work out but it’s killing me to see this be such a difficult decision.
I really just want him to go to college and explore! I went off to college in 1990 without much of a plan. I feel like he feels his future is riding on this decision, despite me telling him to just do something he will enjoy! He really wants the social like of going away to college and I believe there is so much value in that… otherwise I’d push for the trades.
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Worcester Tech. They even offer a master’s in UX Design.
Has he looked at Alfred, in Upstate NY? Art - Sculpture/Dimensional Studies | Alfred University It’s a bit like RIT, in that it’s strong in both STEM and art; but it’s a relatively easy admit (but not too easy - the 62% acceptance rate is actually lower than RIT’s, but the 3.1 median GPA is a lot lower than RIT’s 3.7) and relatively affordable, so perhaps he’d feel less pressure and more freedom to explore his interests. They have some really interesting programs, like the major and minor in Glass Engineering Science. Their website advertises that students are encouraged to “mix and match” programs and pursuits. (And if he were to decide that he needed a more vocational off-ramp, Alfred State is right across the street, and offers a wide variety of both associate’s and bachelor’s programs ranging from welding to architectural technology to mechanical engineering technology to masonry.)
SUNY Purchase has a sculpture major as well: Sculpture • Purchase College
I still think RIT’s BFA programs have potential for him as well. The admissions stats vary by division https://www.rit.edu/marketing/sites/rit.edu.marketing/files/docs/pdfs/Academic_Profile.pdf The University Exploration Program could be an option if he doesn’t feel ready to commit to a specific path.
Sorry he’s feeling so stressed about all this. I think you’re exactly on target to encourage him just to find a program that he thinks he’d enjoy. If he can thrive in a program that he finds engaging, it could lead to possibilities he couldn’t possibly anticipate from where he sits today.
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