<p>Any current students, any thoughts? Do engineering alumni from Princeton go on to work in finance more-so than actual engineering?</p>
<p>My local alumni said very few of his engineering colleagues ended up directly “in the field”. Most either went to law/med/business school, and those who ended up in engineering, didn’t stay in a purely “engineering” discipline. they became supervisors or analysts.</p>
<p>Princeton is much more theory than applications based engineering. Is you’re looking for hands-on work, you won’t find much of that in princeton.</p>
<p>The way I was told by my interviewer, is that Princeton engineers are worse prepared for the job market immediately post graduation than traditional engineering students. Fast forward a couple years and numerous technological innovations, and the Princeton guy with his focus on fundamentals excels in wherever he’s thrown into.</p>
<p>Princeton is considered by many to be the best Ivy for engineering. Rankings confirm this. Why?
From their website (which I would encourage you to explore on your own):
There are several outstanding characteristics of Princeton’s engineering program:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>The faculty and students are among the best in the country. Not only would you be taught by faculty members who are among the most accomplished in their fields, but you would also learn through interaction with fellow students as talented as you.</p></li>
<li><p>The scale of Engineering within Princeton University is very important. Our school comprises about one-sixth of the entire University, and Princeton’s exceptional strengths in the liberal arts play a large role in the B.S.E. curriculum. The School of Engineering and Applied Science also embraces six departments to create a community of students and faculty with shared interests.</p></li>
<li><p>Third, the program of study emphasizes engineerings scientific principles. With a solid command of fundamental principles, practice and application become natural extensions of engineering thought, enabling graduates to adapt to a wide variety of professional situations. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>How many courses are required for the B.S.E. degree?
Thirty-six courses are required for the B.S.E. degree. Among these are SEAS general requirements, departmental core and elective courses, departmental independent work, at least seven social science and humanities courses, the University writing requirement, and free electives. Independent work in the School of Engineering and Applied Science carries course numbers and is counted among the 36.</p>
<p>Who will teach my courses?
All Princeton courses are taught by professorial-rank faculty. Graduate students play a supporting role by assisting in labs and grading, and sometimes by leading precepts in the larger lecture courses.</p>
<p>How large are classes?
Princeton’s classes are quite small when compared with classes at many other research universities. The departmental courses that you take in your junior and senior years will probably have about 10-20 students – sometimes fewer, rarely more. Independent work is, of course, done individually or as part of a team of 2 to 4 students. In your sophomore year, the foundation courses in your engineering department will have about 30 to 60 students. The largest required courses that you will encounter will probably occur in your first year. The general chemistry lecture may have about 200 students meeting three times a week. Your weekly general physics lecture may have about 150, but this course is taught primarily in smaller classes of about 15 to 20 students three times a week.</p>
<p>What is a typical first-year schedule?
A typical first-year engineering schedule includes four courses in the fall and five in the spring. In the fall, engineering students usually take physics, math, chemistry, and either a writing seminar or elective. In the spring, they continue physics and math and add computer programming and two electives (or one elective and a writing seminar). Students take the University writing requirement during either the fall or spring of freshman year.</p>
<p>What about advanced placement credit?
Princeton students may receive advanced placement in a variety of subjects. Calculus, chemistry, computer science, and physics are directly relevant to the B.S.E. curriculum and advanced placement credit in these areas may be used to satisfy the SEAS general requirements.</p>
<p>What is independent work?
“Independent work” is our name for undergraduate research projects. In independent work, the student defines the question to be investigated and the data required to address the problem, devises the approach to solving the problem, and presents the results in a professional manner. Independent work is normally done in the junior or senior year. Civil and Environmental Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Operations Research and Financial Engineering require a full-year senior thesis project. In Electrical Engineering, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and Computer Science (B.S.E.), independent work is done in semester-long projects (senior thesis options also exist in these departments).</p>
<p>Will I have room for electives?
Engineering programs includes technical electives, humanities and social science electives, and free electives. Although there are a number of school-wide requirements and core departmental courses, there is also a lot of room for choice and breadth. Most engineering students have room for at least three and usually more free electives, not counting the required seven social science and humanities electives and whatever technical electives are part of the student’s program.</p>
<p>What are Freshman Seminars?
Freshman Seminars are small classes in which a group of students and a professor work together on a topic of special interest to them. Each year, over 70 Freshman Seminars will be offered. Students apply to enroll in the seminars, which are regular University classes that count as one of the 36 required for the B.S.E. degree. Most also fulfill University distribution requirements. A number of engineering students take Freshman Seminars each year, and the engineering school encourages their participation in the program.</p>
<p>Will I be able to participate in extracurricular activities?
Most engineering students participate in a variety of extracurricular activities. They can be found on the rosters of Princeton’s intercollegiate and intramural teams, playing in the University orchestra, on the mastheads of campus publications, and taking part in community service activities. </p>
<p>What do B.S.E. students do after graduation?
There is no single career path for a Princeton B.S.E. graduate. Many go to work in business or industry upon graduation, some intending to return to graduate study eventually. Others go directly on to graduate study with the goal of pursuing careers in research or education. Some become teachers, doctors, lawyers or astronauts. The B.S.E. degree from Princeton provides a solid technical education and the breadth of serious study in the liberal arts, so the wide variety of post-graduate plans among our students comes as no surprise.</p>
<p>Check out the website for more.</p>
<p>[Princeton</a> University | N. Lowery ?06 & S. Douville ?06](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/admission/whatsdistinctive/alumniprofiles/lowery_douville_06/]Princeton”>http://www.princeton.edu/admission/whatsdistinctive/alumniprofiles/lowery_douville_06/)</p>
<p>This tells the story of the founding of Engineers Without Borders, which happened at Princeton.
I was at Woodrow Wilson during my time at the University, but I think the article shows what sets Princeton Engineering apart from the competition (and, in many ways, what sets Princeton apart from HYP, MIT, and Stanford).</p>
<p>[VIDEO:</a> Engineers Without Borders completes Ghana library ? Princeton Engineering](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/engineering/video/player/?id=5899]VIDEO:”>http://www.princeton.edu/engineering/video/player/?id=5899)
This video is also compelling.
Also, I can’t comment specifically on the teachers in Princeton’s undergraduate civil engineering program. Overall, Princeton, unlike Harvard and Yale, puts more of an emphasis on undergraduate teaching. There are no law, business, or medical schools of Princeton, so undergraduates come first.
[Best</a> Undergraduate Teaching | Rankings | Top National Universities | US News](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/undergraduate-teaching]Best”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/undergraduate-teaching)</p>