<p>I’m sure Middlebury would still have a place for you if you explain the situation to them. And the 3-2 engineering program with Columbia would offer the best of all worlds–a liberal arts education in an intimate, spectacular location, and an Ivy League degree in the country’s largest city.</p>
<p>For those of you unfamiliar with a 3-2 program, this explains it (from Middlebury’s website)
Another option is a dual-degree program. The one that the most students have pursued recently is with Dartmouth. In this program, one usually spends the junior year studying engineering at Dartmouth, returns to Middlebury for the senior year, graduating with a B.A., and then goes back to Dartmouth for a fifth year and a second degree, a bachelor of engineering (B.E.). Some students who do this also stay for one additional (sixth) year and get a master’s. This is an excellent program that numerous students have pursued. Interested students should take the pre-requisite courses for the Dartmouth program during their first two years and should apply to Dartmouth in the spring of their sophomore year. Although admission to the Dartmouth program is not guaranteed, Middlebury students have a near perfect record of being accepted.</p>
<p>The other dual-degree programs (known as “combined-plan” or “3-2” programs) are with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, New York, and Columbia University in New York City. In both of these programs, a student completes the first three years at Middlebury, and in the third year applies to transfer to either of these engineering schools for the final two years of study. Students who have completed all the pre-requisites with an average of B or better are guaranteed admission. At the end, the student receives two degrees: a B.A. from Middlebury, and a B.S. from the engineering school. Since students considering these programs will need to complete all the Middlebury distribution requirements and most of those for a major, plus pre-requisites for an engineering program, within three rather than four years, it is important to plan carefully starting from the first year at Middlebury.
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