<p>Hi, I'm an international student currently attending a community college in california and I'm looking for a mid-size liberal arts college that has a decent engineering department. But first of all, I would like to know the differences of studying engineering at a liberal arts school or a regular university. What are the pros and cons of both?
Also, if any of you know about Bucknell College. I have heard that it has a well recognize engineering program among liberal arts colleges, I live in california so I don't really know anything about most school on the east side.
I have applied to some universities on the west coast, have applied to UCLA, UC Berkeley, UCSB and UCSD and I'm planning on applying to USC and some liberal arts colleges like the claremont colleges but have been interested in schools in other states. Please help me if you know anything about school in the east side. I really really appreciate it!</p>
<p>I would personally go with UC Berkeley. It is ranked as the best public school in America. It also has one of the top engineering departments, and all of their engineering disciplines are very well regarded.</p>
<p>If you go to a public research university with a good engineering department, you will be able to get the best of both worlds.</p>
<p>If you study engineering at a liberal arts college, your research possibilities will be fewer and the focus will not be on engineering, but I'm sure you can still get a good education.</p>
<p>Lehigh, Lafayette and Villanova all have fine engineering programs and are not HUGE universities.</p>
<p>Santa Clara University in California has a very good engineering program with a total undergrad enrollment of under 5000 students.</p>
<p>Fatpig....these schools HAVE engineering majors...lots of them, and those majors DO focus on engineering at these LACs. I'm not sure what you mean.</p>
<p>dont be hatin just cause i'm a fat pig.</p>
<p>What i mean is, the focus of the school is not on the engineering department. The brightest engineering students do not go to engineering departments in liberal arts colleges. The research there will not be as strong as in engineering-focused schools, your peers will not be as bright as those in top-engineering schools. They will more be people who didn't know what they wanted to do for college and later on in their sophomore year they said "hmm why not engineering?"</p>
<p>Well...I suggest you look at the engineering programs at Lehigh, Villanova, Lafayette, Santa Clara as examples. They have VERY strong and highly regarded engineering programs...that actually enroll a good number of students. These are not engineering programs "tucked away" as some LAC. These are engineering programs that are engineering programs in their own right and actually have students who apply for admission as freshmen TO the engineering programs. </p>
<p>Santa Clara just placed highly in a national competition for their engineering students. Lehigh, Villanova, and Lafayette turn out a large number of fine engineering students from their programs annually.</p>
<p>I would say...there are probably "some" engineering programs at LACs that don't get the funding or recognition but there are PLENTY that do.</p>
<p>But why would someone go to a liberal arts school to study engineering? Its like going to MIT and studying Art History..it makes no sense to me why this option would attract bright students.</p>
<p>Harvey Mudd has a very good engineering program</p>
<p>Look at the University of Rochester, maybe.</p>
<p>fatpig -some engineering students might prefer the more well-rounded educations they can get at LACs, especially if they're considering going to grad school. Also, some students might not be 100% sure they want to study engineering, so they want to make sure they'll have a wide range of options available if they change their minds.</p>
<p>I have an engineering major at one of the schools listed above. She didn't give one thought to applying to one of the "tech" universities. She wanted a great engineering program AND the ability to take classes in other fields AND meet folks who were not engineering majors. She got it all at her school. Reality check...some engineers do NOT graduate from the Tech schools (MIT, Rose, RIT, etc)...they get their degrees from universities where there are lots of programs BESIDE engineering...but the engineering programs are still great. Oh...and DD was VERY SURE she wanted to study engineering....just not at a completely engineering type of school.</p>
<p>Different strokes for different folks...and that's OK...</p>
<p>Just pointing out that just because the school doesn't have a primary focus on engineering (like MIT or RIT or Rose), it can still have a very very fine engineering department...and a strong well regarded one.</p>
<p>wow! thanx everybody for your responses...
I want to specify that I'm looking for a fine engineering education in an environment that is not so dreadfully competitive and where I can have a balance of a little social life in my academic education. I'm a girl and therefore usually get intimidated by some of my classmates because of the man engineering image and I find a lot of the guys not so friendly towards girls pursing engineering careers. Should I opt for a liberal arts school? Would they give me a better environment? I have heard that LACs have more girls than other universities.
Also, I am pretty sure that I want to be able to have a job after graduating for a while, before I get back to studying for a Ph.D. or so. This is why I'm not so comfortable about going to a LAC, because I don't know how the job opportunities are for LACs graduates, are they still as good as an engineering graduate from a university like UCLA or USC?
thanks to everybody for their opinion.</p>
<p>Harvey Mudd, Rose Hullman or however you spell it.</p>
<p>harvey mudd and rose hullman arent LAC's. they specialize in engineering.</p>
<p>I was just looking at some school in the east coast. I read very good comments about the academic of Bucknell but there were some comments saying that the students who go there are very conservative and preppy. Is this true? might I, being more of a shorts, top and sandals girl feel unsuitable in this environment?
What does everyone think?</p>
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I'm a girl and therefore usually get intimidated by some of my classmates because of the man engineering image and I find a lot of the guys not so friendly towards girls pursing engineering careers.
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<p>One of my Ds graduated from the school of engineering from UCSD (CS) and the other is in the school of engineering (also CS) at UCLA. I don't think either of them felt any hard time given to them by males in the classes because they're females in engineering. However, females are very much a minority in the CS major at both of these schools. Being in the minority intimidates some people but doesn't matter at all to others. It didn't matter at all to my Ds.</p>
<p>As long as the school has a decent engineering program I don't think it matters if you go to a large public U or a smaller LAC. One advantage to the larger more well-known colleges is that there may be more recruiting there by companies. Then there are schools like Santa Clara U that benefit from being located right in the middle of Silicon Valley. Harvey Mudd is a smaller private that's quite well-respected for engineering. </p>
<p>Before getting too set on the idea of going to a private school vs. the UCs, consider the cost. The standard cost will be much higher at a private but OTOH you might get some decent financial packages which could actually make the cost lower than the UCs.</p>
<p>ok so if you had to choose between a public or private university and a liberal arts college to study chemE... which one would you choose?
Specifically, something like choosing between a UC, USC and Bucknell.
What do you guys think?</p>
<p>"harvey mudd and rose hullman arent LAC's. they specialize in engineering."</p>
<p>HMC is technically a LAC. Rose is not.</p>
<p>My D is a first year at Bucknell. Its engineering school is very well regarded and highly ranked in USNews. My D is not preppy or conservative. The majority of Bucknell students voted for Obama.</p>
<p>One of her roommates is from California as are several other kids on her hall. Bucknell draws a lot of kids from California.</p>
<p>My D loves Bucknell. It has excellent academics and a beautiful campus. It is very rural however.</p>
<p>thanks for the info morismm... i would like to know how your D made her decision of choosing Bucknell... did she have any other schools in mind?
thank you for your help!</p>