<p>Please, guys. Most kids who would like to go to Smith would hate Cornell, and vice versa. The OP didn't ask whether she should go to a large university or a LAC. She's already decided she'd rather go to a LAC or a small university. Leave Cornell out of it.</p>
<p>The point is: whether there is adequate breadth and depth of courses and programs of study at each of these institutions to reasonably support one's goals and aspirations within engineering, as interests may develop over the course of one's educational program.</p>
<p>I suggest that this should be carefully evaluated at each prospective school.</p>
<p>Engineering is a huge field, in and of itself.</p>
<p>A college's degree of depth and breadth of coverage of that broad field can literally dictate, or contract, what you are able to learn, what sub-areas you can pursue, and what kind of engineer you are able to become.</p>
<p>Every school that has a program called "engineering" is not the same. </p>
<p>There is no free lunch.</p>
<p>When you go to grad school you're supposed to basically already know what you want to study, based on your undergraduate work and, often, work experience. Not be first trying to figure it out due to inadequate exposure at undergrad. These people are probably funneled into specializing in the (comparatively few) areas their undergrad school actually has. Which may not be bad in and of itself, but the roads not traveled may stay that way.</p>
<p>At least that's what I would be concerned about.</p>
<p>the general engineering degree awarded at harvey mudd is very similar to a chemical engineering degree at, say, MIT in terms of its breadth:
required:
E4-basic design
E8- tools (shop, essentially)
E59- baby systems and signals
E80- experimental engineering
E82- chemical engineering
E83- continuum mechanics
E84- analog electrical eng
E85- digital electronics
E101-big systems and signals
E102-big stems/control theory
E1??- materials
E121-seminar for 4 semesters
E1??- clinic for 3 semesters
plus 3 upper division engineering electives
plus math, chem, physics, bio, comp sci.
plus 11 hum/soc sci classes</p>
<p>= 1 hmc general engineering degree.</p>
<p>Monydad,</p>
<p>Maybe things have changed; however, my husband majored in mathematics in a liberal arts curriculum (not strictly an LAC) and was accepted into an Ivy EE program. He has hardly been worse off for his undergraduate education (a B.A., not a B.S) and found that it benefited him from the start. In fact, he sometimes complains that, if more engineers had a background in liberal arts, they would be more versatile on the job. Granted, that's just his opinion, and he does indeed respect his non-LAC colleagues. But it shows that an engineering school is not the ONLY way to get to the top of one's field.</p>
<p>Your husband may have a great career, but there are gaps in his engineering training. He is fortunate if this has not caused him some difficulties, or influenced his path. </p>
<p>If he had started as an engineering student he would have exposed to many other sub-areas, other than what he is now practicing, and his career may have been far different. It is this "road not traveled" aspect that is the biggest issue; lack of exposure to the broad field of what's out there, in time to do something about it. That doesn't mean you can't have a great career based on the narrower path that you in fact were exposed to.</p>
<p>I am not completely talking out of my behind, my own undergrad was in physics, liberal arts. I then received a Master of Engineering degree, and worked as an electrical engineer. During the time I practiced there were indeed things that came up that exposed the limitations of my prior training. Unfortunately.</p>
<p>Rice is not an LAC, but is a small university with good departments in sociology, history, music, economics, math and the sciences.</p>
<p>Swarthmore college offers an amazing engineering program in a top LAC. Be ready to work........but it is a trip worth taking.</p>
<p>I guess that the general consensus here is: that there is no general consensus, in fact. I really hope that if I pursue a 3/2 program I am not doomed. I do understand the cons now a little bitter I suppose.</p>
<p>Swarthmore has a general engineering program and as good an LAC education as you can get. Its engineering grad probably has no trouble going on to grad eng degree programs anywhere.</p>
<p>I second U of Rochester as another possibility.</p>
<p>Duplicated what sda3 wrote about Swarthmore. Didn't read to the end of the list fo postings.</p>