My son saw the presence of a 3/2 or similar program at a liberal arts college as validation that their math and science programs were solid. He knew he wanted to attend an LAC but being a pragmatic sort, he wanted to keep his options open in terms of career paths. So he followed the recommended 3/2 course sequence during his first two years at his LAC in case he decided to go the engineering route. He’s a math major with an interest in physics and CS, so he really wasn’t going too far out of his way to do so.
Smith College has has partnered with Princeton University to establish an exchange program for junior-year engineering students that gives students from both schools the chance to study in very different learning environments (Smith students can attend the larger Princeton program, and Princeton students can take advantage of the smaller classes and the program’s strengths in biomedical engineering and engineering for sustainability.)