<p>How does HMC get so highly ranked for specific engineering programs (Civil, EE, etc.) when HMC does not offer degree programs in any of these fields. According to the web site HMC offers exactly one engineering program and that's "General Engineering". </p>
<p>Even if it's just a beauty contest, shouldn't there be some prerequisites?</p>
<p>My guess is by the quality of education they provide in those subject areas? They might not give you a degree with the specific program's name, but you can still specialize your courses and choose what kind of engineering you want to learn about. I'm not sure how the rankings are assembled, but if it's by peer review, that may the case. Any other ideas?</p>
<p>Department rankings in USNWR are done by peer assessment. And yes, HMC does offer courses in each of the ranked subject areas, even though it does not offer specific majors.</p>
<p>At HMC you learn a lot of fundamentals and the mathematical basis for many different fields. It is very hard to explain... but you really learn enough so that extension to fields that you may have not explicitly studied comes easily.</p>
<p>When it comes down to it, many of the same concepts can be applied across many different fields. It boils down to the same stuff... diff eqs that can be solved in the Laplace domain.... whether it be structural dynamics, heat transfer, electrical systems, fluid system... etc...</p>
<p>I would not have made it to where I am had I not been able to take my BS in General Engineering from HMC and match it against say, MS in Aerospace from schools like Purdue. I wish I could tell you more about this but at this time I am not allowed to.</p>
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That sentence binds the whole of your statement as being just plain ludicrous.
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<p>Yeah, the cloak and dagger thing is a bit much, but he's more or less right about Harvey Mudd engineering. I took a pretty critical look at it when my brother went through the program, but you can specialize in several different fields, and the professors there are really well-known within their subfields of engineering. It would've surprised me before I sat in on several classes, looked over the exams and labs, and grilled my brother and his friends, but now, it doesn't surprise me at all that they're ranked well in various subfields.</p>
<p>"Such a justification renders your argument ludicrous."</p>
<p>I'm a senior at HMC. I have an offer sitting here from a highly competitive aerospace company that only accepts 2-3 young people a year. The final cut (after a 6-7 hour technical interview) had me pinned up against all (4) masters students with at least one from Purdue Aerospace.</p>
<p>This company is currently in stealth mode and thus I cannot divulge any more information. I suggest contentment in that.</p>