After visiting Tufts in the early summer I was intrigued by it being a small university and being somewhat strong in the sciences. Harvey Mudd seems similar to this, except more extreme in terms of the small student body and its strength in STEM.
What are other small scale universities or LACs that are like this?
Lots of LACs have pretty good sciences. Is there a specific discipline you are looking for?
I’m considering majoring in chemical engineering and might apply to med-school after I wrap up my undergraduate degree. If I change my mind and want to go to med-school for sure then I would consider changing my major.
My D looked at Lafayette, Lehigh, Bucknell, and Union – they all have engineering and are strong in the STEM fields. (For full disclosure she went to Lafayette and loved the school.)
Engineering limits your choices among LACs.
Swarthmore is another great LAC for engineering. If you’re female, consider Smith as well.
For small universities, check out Case Western and U Rochester.
RPI - technically not an LAC but small research university. Very strong engineering focus. Tough academics, good industry reputation, very nerdy. My D is a ChemE student there and likes it.
For a sampling of schools, you could read through here:
http://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/lists/list/the-experts-choice-colleges-with-great-pre-med-programs/199/
If engineering would be a requirement for you, URochester would appear to meet all your criteria.
Rice = strong STEM, with an undergraduate student body numbering around 3,900.
The following tables on STEM at LACs might be helpful. I made these last year:
LACs sorted by per capita number of alums who go on to get PhD in hard sciences
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19805310/#Comment_19805310
Same but with info on % need met, % merit aid and average size of merit aid
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19801988/#Comment_19801988
Similar but broken out by subfield and sorted by total number not per capita
includes engineering, but you’d have to check if they actually offer a undergrad degree in engineering. Many LACs do not, though alums may go on to graduate school in engineering. That said, if the # in the engineering column is big, they probably DO have an engineering department.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19572642/#Comment_19572642
LACs sorted by number of prestigious awards for graduate study in hard sciences
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19802123/#Comment_19802123
Smaller schools with an engineering focus include:
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
New Mexico Institute of Mines and Technology
Colorado School of Mines
Stevens Institute of Technology
Illinois Institute of Technology
Milwaukee School of Engineering
Rose Hulman Institute of Technology
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Harvey Mudd College
California Institute of Technology
Rice is probably your best small Research Institute for engineering.
I’d also suggest checking out Harvey Mudd.
+1 for Rice