Looking for a college with a strong engineering department and...

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi everyone,</p>

<p>I'm a rising senior and looking to get a start on the college admissions process this summer. I posted a similar thread earlier this past school year but after noticing that the GPAs for my school (which is a large international school and I'm also a non-U.S. citizen, I'm actually Korean and female) and the ones for U.S. schools were drastically different in terms of how they were calculated, I recalculated my GPA. In addition, I also have a different idea of what I would like to do in life after high school. I'm interested in the field of appropriate technology, which is creating technology suited for a certain type of community, usually for rural communities or developing countries. This combines my interest in current events and the sciences pretty well. I'm not sure about which type of engineering would suit me best, though.</p>

<p>I'm looking for a school with:
1. A good engineering department.
2. Hopefully an equally good humanities department.
3. A collaborative, rather than competitive, atmosphere.
4. Not too urban, not too rural. I'd like a city to be reasonably accessible, though.</p>

<p>Personality-wise, I'm a bit of a nerd. Passionate about what I do. Shy, but I'm loud and sarcastic with my friends.</p>

<p>Stats:
SAT I: 2340 single sitting, R 760, M 800, W 780 (MC 80 E 8).
SAT II: 760 for World History, Math II, and Physics (strange that I got the same score for all three...)
UW GPA: 4.03 (4.33 = A+)
W GPA: 4.27
I have an upward trend in GPA, starting with 1 A+ and 6 A's, 2 honors my freshman year to 3 A+'s and 4 A's last semester of junior year. So weighted, I was a 4.05 then went to a 4.71. UW I went from 4.05 to 4.14. I will be graduating with what my school calls "most demanding" workload and will have taken a total of 10 AP's.</p>

<p>As for EC's, I do a lot of MUN, art (I've also taken 1 AP class and will take the 2D class next year), community service, and do an intramural sport once a week. I have quite a few leadership positions, 4 next year. I've been consistent with what I do in terms of EC's.</p>

<p>Any feedback would be great.
And just for reference, so far I've considered for REACHES:
Swarthmore, Stanford, Johns Hopkins</p>

2

<p>Probably Civil Engineering</p>

<p>Look into Cornell University
<a href=“http://www.cee.cornell.edu/[/url]”>http://www.cee.cornell.edu/&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://www.human.cornell.edu/che/DEA/index.cfm[/url]”>http://www.human.cornell.edu/che/DEA/index.cfm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>rankings undergrad civil eng from Gourman Report
Berkeley
MIT
Illinois UC
Stanford
Texas Austin
Cornell
Northwestern
Purdue
Michigan AA
Colorado St
U Washington
Princeton
U Wisconsin Mad
Stevens Inst Tech
Columbia
Brown
Lehigh
UCLA
Georgia Tech
Carnegie Mellon
Texas A&M
UC Davis
Colorado Boulder
Ohio St
NC St
U Minnesota
Iowa St
U Iowa
U Mass Amherst
Virginia Tech
U Florida
Washington U St Louis
Rice
RPI
U Kansas
Duke
USC
Penn St
Oregon St
Michigan St
Vanderbilt
Maryland CP
Missouri Rolla
U Penn
Notre Dame
Missouri Columbia
SUNY Buffalo
U Pittsburgh
U Oklahoma
Utah St
Tennessee Knoxville
Oklahoma St
u Arizaona
CUNY City Coll
US Air Force Acad</p>

3

<p>Collegehelp, there are newer rankings for Engineering, and the OP did not specify what type of Engineering she wants.</p>

<p>This said, I definitely agree with Cornell, although she should know that it is quasi-rural. Ithaca is larger than a town but less than a city and there isn’t much of an urban area nearby.</p>

<p>Given her stats, I would look at the following schools:
Cal (Berkeley)
Columbia
Cornell
Johns Hopkins
Michigan-Ann Arbor
Northwstern
Princeton
Rice
Stanford
Texas-Austin
Wisconsin-Madison</p>

<p>Since the OP said she wants a school that is strong the Humanities, I automatically cancelled out Caltech, CMU, Georgia Teach, MIT, Purdue and UIUC.</p>

4

<p>Catholic U has the collaborative atmosphere, social responsibility, and liberal arts, but it is urban- nice, but urban. Worchester Polytechnic has the collaborative atmosphere, global vision, and hands-on practical outlook, but it is not known for liberal arts. (It might have cross registration with other Worchester schools, though).</p>

5

<p>

</p>

<p>Check out Lehigh - and specifically its IDEAS program.</p>

<p>[Lehigh</a> University - Academics: IDEAS Program - Home](<a href=“http://www.lehigh.edu/~inideas/index.html]Lehigh”>Integrated Engineering, Arts, Sciences Program at Lehigh University)</p>

6

<p>ahem UVa cough cough</p>

<p>Has all of the following:

  1. A good engineering department.
  2. Hopefully an equally good humanities department.
  3. A collaborative, rather than competitive, atmosphere.
  4. Not too urban, not too rural. I’d like a city to be reasonably accessible, though.</p>
7

<p>US News</p>

<p>Best Colleges Specialty Rankings: Undergraduate Engineering Specialties: Civil
Ranked in 2009
1 University of California–Berkeley Berkeley, CA
2 University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL
3 Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA
4 University of Texas–Austin Austin, TX
5 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA
Purdue University–West Lafayette West Lafayette, IN
7 Stanford University Stanford, CA
8 Cornell University Ithaca, NY
9 University of Michigan–Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI
10 Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA
11 Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA
12 Texas A&M University–College Station College Station, TX
13 University of Wisconsin–Madison Madison, WI
14 Northwestern University Evanston, IL
15 North Carolina State University–Raleigh Raleigh, NC
16 Pennsylvania State University–University Park University Park, PA
17 Princeton University Princeton, NJ
18 Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA
University of Florida Gainesville, FL</p>

8

<p>@collegehelp: Is civil engineering Cornell’s strongest engineering program? How would you describe the school’s academic atmosphere?</p>

<p>@susgeek: Thank you for the link! I’m definitely adding Lehigh to my list now. How’s the area around Lehigh?</p>

<p>@onemom and skillz, thank you for the suggestions. I’ll definitely look those up some time.</p>

<p>@Alexandre: thank you for the great list. Any targets/safety suggestions?</p>

<p>And just throwing another question out there:
What do you guys think of the Swarthmore general engineering degree? I feel that it’s good for me since I have not had much exposure to what different types of engineers do. Also, how good is the engineering department compared to those at Rice, Stanford, etc? I am a bit concerned about the research opportunities though, because it’s a very small LAC. Are there usually not a lot of research being conducted at LAC’s?</p>

9

<p>I would suggest:</p>

<p>University of Michigan - I hesitate to call it a safety, but with your academic stats, you’ll probably get in.
Northwestern - match
Rice - match
UCLA - match if in-state, not sure if out-of-state
Cal - match if in-state, not sure if out-of-state
Cornell - low reach
Columbia - reach
Princeton - reach
Stanford - reach</p>

10

<p>You sound like a perfect candidate for Olin College of Engineering (and it’s free, I think).</p>

11

<p>Duke, Northwestern</p>

12

<p>^^Olin is no longer free. Every accepted student now pays 1/2 tuition – due to the economy.</p>

13

<p><a href=“Login - www.usna.com”>US Naval Academy Alumni Association & Foundation - www.usna.com;

<p>**BEST PROGRAMS AT ENGINEERING SCHOOLS WHOSE HIGHEST DEGREE IS A BACHELOR’S OR MASTER’S **</p>

<p>Rank School (*Public) Peer assessment score (5.0=highest)</p>

<ol>
<li> Harvey Mudd College (CA) 4.5 </li>
<li> Rose-Hulman Inst. of Tech. (IN) 4.5 </li>
<li> Cooper Union (NY) 4.3 </li>
<li> United States Military Academy (NY)* 4.1 </li>
<li> United States Naval Academy (MD)* 4.0 </li>
<li> Calif. Polytech. St. U.–San Luis Obispo* 3.9 </li>
<li> United States Air Force Acad. (CO)* 3.9 </li>
<li> Bucknell University ¶ 3.8 </li>
<li> Franklin W. Olin Col. of Eng. (MA) 3.8 </li>
<li> Milwaukee School of Engineering 3.6 </li>
<li> Villanova University ¶ 3.6 </li>
<li> Baylor University (TX) 3.5 </li>
<li> Embry-Riddle Aeronautical U. (FL) 3.5 </li>
<li> Swarthmore College ¶ 3.5 </li>
<li> Calif. State Poly. Univ.–Pomona* 3.4 </li>
<li> Rowan University (NJ)* 3.4 </li>
<li> Union College (NY) 3.4 </li>
<li> United States Coast Guard Acad. (CT)* 3.4 </li>
<li> Kettering University (MI) 3.3 </li>
<li> Lafayette College ¶ 3.3 </li>
<li> San Jose State University (CA)* 3.3 </li>
<li> Santa Clara University (CA) 3.3 </li>
<li> Smith College (MA) 3.3 </li>
<li> Trinity University (TX) 3.3 </li>
<li> Virginia Military Institute* 3.3

<ol>
<li> The Citadel (SC)* 3.2 </li>
<li> Gonzaga University (WA) 3.2 </li>
<li> Loyola Marymount University (CA) 3.2 </li>
<li> Miami University–Oxford (OH)* 3.2 </li>
<li> U.S. Merchant Marine Acad. (NY)* 3.2 </li>
<li> Univ. of Colo.–Colorado Springs* 3.2 </li>
<li> University of San Diego 3.2 </li>
<li> Valparaiso University (IN) 3.2 </li>
<li> Bradley University (IL) 3.1 </li>
<li> Embry-Riddle Aero. U.–Prescott (AZ) 3.1 </li>
<li> University of Portland (OR) 3.1 </li>
<li> Webb Institute (NY) 3.1 </li>
<li> Ohio Northern University 3.0 </li>
<li> St. Louis University 3.0 </li>
<li> Texas Christian University 3.0 </li>
<li> University of Michigan–Dearborn* 3.0 </li>
<li> Boise State University (ID)* 2.9 </li>
<li> California State U.–Long Beach* 2.9 </li>
<li> Manhattan College (NY) 2.9 </li>
<li> Mercer University (GA) 2.9 </li>
<li> Oregon Inst. of Technology* 2.9 </li>
<li> Seattle University 2.9 </li>
<li> Univ. of Massachusetts–Dartmouth* 2.9 </li>
</ol></li>
</ol>

<p>=====================</p>

<p>**BEST PROGRAMS AT ENGINEERING SCHOOLS WHOSE HIGHEST DEGREE IS A DOCTORATE **</p>

<p>Rank School (*Public) Peer assessment score (5.0=highest)</p>

<ol>
<li> Massachusetts Inst. of Technology 4.9 </li>
<li> Stanford University (CA) 4.7 </li>
<li> University of California–Berkeley* 4.7 </li>
<li> California Institute of Technology 4.6 </li>
<li> Georgia Institute of Technology* 4.5 </li>
<li> U. of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign* 4.5 </li>
<li> Carnegie Mellon University ¶ 4.3 </li>
<li> University of Michigan–Ann Arbor* 4.3 </li>
<li> Cornell University (NY) 4.2 </li>
<li> Purdue Univ.–West Lafayette (IN)* 4.2 </li>
<li> University of Texas–Austin* 4.2 </li>
<li> Princeton University (NJ) 4.0 </li>
<li> Univ. of Wisconsin–Madison* 4.0 </li>
<li> Johns Hopkins University (MD) 3.9 </li>
<li> Northwestern University (IL) 3.9 </li>
<li> Virginia Tech* 3.9 </li>
<li> Pennsylvania State U.–Univ. Park* 3.8 </li>
<li> Texas A&M Univ.–College Station* 3.8 </li>
<li> Rice University (TX) 3.7 </li>
<li> Univ. of California–Los Angeles* 3.7 </li>
<li> Univ. of California–San Diego* 3.7 </li>
<li> Univ. of Minnesota–Twin Cities* 3.7

<ol>
<li> Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst. (NY) 3.6 </li>
<li> Univ. of Maryland–College Park* 3.6 </li>
<li> University of Washington* 3.6 </li>
<li> Columbia University (NY) 3.5 </li>
<li> Duke University (NC) 3.5 </li>
<li> Harvard University (MA) 3.5 </li>
<li> North Carolina State U.–Raleigh* 3.5 </li>
<li> Ohio State University–Columbus* 3.5 </li>
<li> University of Florida* 3.5 </li>
<li> University of Pennsylvania 3.5 </li>
<li> Univ. of Southern California 3.5 </li>
<li> University of California–Davis* 3.4 </li>
<li> Univ. of California–Santa Barbara* 3.4 </li>
<li> University of Colorado–Boulder* 3.4 </li>
</ol></li>
<li> Brown University (RI) 3.3 </li>
<li> Iowa State University* 3.3 </li>
<li> University of Virginia* 3.3

<ol>
<li> Arizona State University* 3.2 </li>
<li> Lehigh University ¶ 3.2 </li>
<li> Vanderbilt University (TN) 3.2 </li>
<li> Washington University in St. Louis 3.2 </li>
<li> Yale University (CT) 3.2 </li>
<li> Case Western Reserve Univ. (OH) 3.1 </li>
<li> Michigan State University* 3.1 </li>
<li> Rutgers, St. U. of N. J.–New Brunswick* 3.1 </li>
<li> University of Arizona* 3.1 </li>
<li> University of California–Irvine* 3.1 </li>
<li> University of Notre Dame (IN) 3.1 </li>
</ol></li>
<li> Colorado School of Mines* 3.0 </li>
<li> Dartmouth College (NH) 3.0 </li>
<li> Drexel University ¶ 3.0 </li>
<li> University of Delaware* 3.0 </li>
<li> Univ. of Massachusetts–Amherst* 3.0 </li>
<li> University of Pittsburgh* 3.0 </li>
<li> Boston University 2.9 </li>
<li> Clemson University (SC)* 2.9 </li>
<li> Illinois Institute of Technology 2.9 </li>
<li> Northeastern University (MA) 2.9 </li>
<li> Tufts University (MA) 2.9 </li>
<li> University of Illinois–Chicago* 2.9 </li>
<li> University of Iowa* 2.9

<ol>
<li> Auburn University (AL)* 2.8 </li>
<li> Colorado State University* 2.8 </li>
<li> Kansas State University* 2.8 </li>
<li> Michigan Technological University* 2.8 </li>
<li> Polytechnic Inst. of New York U. (NY) 2.8 </li>
<li> Rochester Inst. of Technology (NY) 2.8 </li>
<li> SUNY–Stony Brook* 2.8 </li>
<li> University at Buffalo–SUNY* 2.8 </li>
<li> University of Tennessee* 2.8 </li>
<li> University of Utah* 2.8 </li>
<li> Washington State University* 2.8 </li>
<li> Worcester Polytechnic Inst. (MA) 2.8</li>
</ol></li>
</ol>

14

<p>Ahem. UVA is not a top engineering school and neither is Duke. Sorry, cough, cough.</p>

15

<p>rjk, oops!</p>

16

<p>Princeton is of course.</p>

17

<p>"Looking for a college with a strong engineering department and… "</p>

<p>"I’m looking for a school with:

  1. A good engineering department."</p>

<p>If a top 25 school with a top 50 engineering program, along with everything else she mentioned is not good enough then that’s sad. Getting a degree in engineering is impressive no matter the strength of the school.</p>

18

<p>UW Madison. Strong Big10 bias here. You’ve got great stats and would think that the UW would be an easy OOS admit for you. Madison is a great engineering / humanities school and, IMHO, Madison is about as good of a college town as you can get.</p>

<p>Other thoughts would be U Michigan (also a great college town), Penn St., Wash U. St. Louis, Villanova and maybe U of I Champana.</p>

<p>Good Luck.</p>

19

<p>The OP’s scores should put him/her in contention for a TOP engineering department.</p>

20

<p>Michigan-Ann Arbor would fit your needs very nicely. Top engineering and humanities departments and a great college town that is close to a major airport.</p>