<p>How good is Harvard's new Engineering school? Is it on par with Stanford, UC Berkeley, MIT? If I am interested in Mechanical Engineering and can get into Harvard's Engineering School and also UT Austin and Rice, which would you recommend I select? Many thanks!</p>
<p>I don’t go to Harvard, but I am somewhat familiar with engineering rankings. MIT, Stanford, and Cal Tech are in a league of their own in this field. Some public flagships like UC Berkeley, Georgia Tech, UIUC and, to a lesser extent, U Michigan and UT Austin, are also very good. After these schools, however, there are maybe 30 or 40 engineering programs (one of which is Harvard) that are all quite good, and that are essentially equal in quality. </p>
<p>I believe that engineering is typically seen as one of Harvard’s few weaknesses, although this is only by comparison to Harvard’s other programs – all of which are tremendously strong. Given Harvard’s resources, it is likely that its engineering program will soon improve and distinguish itself from its current company. </p>
<p>Of Rice, Harvard, and UT Austin, engineering will be the strongest at UT Austin. Rice is also often lauded for its engineering program, although I believe it is strong in specific disciplines, such as BME, and less notable in others. Harvard engineering is certainly as good as Rice’s, and truthfully, with the stronger peer group that would be available at Harvard, I would expect that its undergraduate program would exceed UT Austin’s in many ways. Recruiting at Harvard in general is also terrific, so being an engineering student at Harvard would probably offer better opportunities than the other two programs.</p>
<p>From what I understand, Harvard is in the middle of a big push to significantly increase the quality of their engineering programs, and to expand their offerings. Could be a fun time to go there for engineering; lots of positive change is promised.</p>
<p>But the original poster should ask the question, what is it that I want to do when I finish school? There are schools that turn out large numbers of engineers who go off and get engineering jobs with engineering companies or companies with a significant focus on engineering. From the little I’ve gathered, that’s not really what Harvard does. There are folks that graduate and go off and become engineers at such companies, but many engineering graduates from Harvard go into fields other than engineering, or go directly to graduate school.</p>
<p>Apparently mediocre enough that my Harvard interviewer spent half the time explaining why I shouldn’t be looking to go to Harvard engineering and should go across the river for MIT’s.</p>
<p>Engineering is not their forte…if thats your goal, you are better off at one of the StateU’s listed above. Even if it is for Grad School, I am sure you can do better at one of the dozens of universities elsewhere</p>
<p>^^ Wong Tong Tong: Did your interviewer actually say that MIT is “across the river” from Harvard??? I can’t believe that a Harvard alumn can make a mistake like that.</p>
<p>what is harvard known to be strong in?</p>
<p>Financial Aid, Biology, Economics, Physics, Sociology, English, Consulting and Finance OCR, PhD Placement, Law School Placement, Medical School Placement, Fellowship Production, School Newspaper, A Capella Groups, etc…what specifically did you want to know more about?:)</p>
<p>How are it’s pre-med programs? I am looking to take biochemistry in college but haven’t been able to find out if Harvard is strong in that.</p>
<p>I honestly think that you would be hard-pressed to find a field other than Engineering in which Harvard does not excel. I’m certain that Harvard’s biochem department at the graduate level is extremely strong – probably the best in the world along with the programs at MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, The Scripps Research Institute, and Oxbridge.
The condition of its undergraduate program would depend more on the quality of Harvard’s undergraduate teaching in the department. However, you shouldn’t worry about such minutia before you are admitted. If you are admitted and are still interested in attending Harvard, reach out to current students who are familiar with the biochem department, and ask them for details.
Edit: Also, Harvard offers the best pre-med “track” in the country. This is predicated on factors other than specific program strength, however. It is an excellent choice for pre-med because, for a number of reasons, its graduates have more success than those of any other university at gaining admission to medical school.</p>
<p>How many undergraduate engineering majors are there by class at Harvard? Do students graduate with a BS in a specific area (Mech E., etc.) or a general degree in engineering? What are the plans to get ABET approval?</p>
<p>LakeClouds,</p>
<p>There are about 580 undegrads and 87 faculty (about 70 FTE [full-time equivalent]) in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. I don’t know the breakdown by class, but I’ve read that engineering enrollment has been on the rise.</p>
<p>The program grants an AB or SB (the same as a BA or BS) in Engineering Sciences, with different concentrations, such as in computer science, mechanical engineering or electrical engineering. The engineering sciences program is ABET-certified. But the program doesn’t provide degrees in specific fields of engineering.</p>
<p>Starting this fall, 2012, there will be two new SB (BS) programs. One will be in electrical engineering, the other in mechanical engineering. These are not “engineering sciences” degrees, but degrees in their respective fields of engineering. Harvard is seeking ABET certification for them, and believes that it is possible that certification may be achieved by the time this fall’s incoming freshmen graduate.</p>
<p>Hope that helps.</p>
<p>Thanks - good info.</p>
<p>How many graduate each year - assuming it’s about 200/class? What is the split between CS and Eng. Sciences?</p>
<p>LakeClouds,</p>
<p>Here is a link that will answer some of your specific questions:</p>
<p>[Facts</a> & History ? Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences](<a href=“http://www.seas.harvard.edu/about-seas/facts-history]Facts”>http://www.seas.harvard.edu/about-seas/facts-history)</p>
<p>As to how many folks graduate, well, generally, folks who attend Harvard graduate from Harvard. Harvard College (the part of Harvard to which undergraduates matriculate) graduates about 97% of its students. I don’t know whether that varies much with engineering undergraduates, but I doubt it.</p>
<p>However, I’ve read generally that college students in the “hard sciences” and technology fields sometimes migrate to somewhat less rigorous disciplines, and it wouldn’t be a shock to find that this occurred at some level at Harvard, too.</p>