University of Pittsburgh might be a school to look into, students take first year engineering curriculum and then are exposed to different specialties from which they can choose.
Having the UPMC healthcare system nearby is a plus.
https://www.engineering.pitt.edu/News/2017/Chun-Organ-Transplant-Stent/
A good engineering program needs to be challenging, which may result in stresses for many, but not all, students. A no-stress program may not be very good.
Being stressful isn’t the same as being non-collaborative. Some of the best programs are collaborative but stressful for some, and perhaps many, students.
My daughter is a freshman at Rice studying Mechanical Engineering. She loves it - it seems to be very collaborative (they foster a culture of caring - https://admission.blogs.rice.edu/2018/03/31/rices-culture-of-care/). She is really thriving and found her people (as cliche as that sounds!).
Rice doesn’t require degree declaration until second semester sophomore year - sharp contrast to some of the programs (UIUC and Wisconsin) that she applied to that do admission by major in the engineering school. What if the student changes their mind? She chose to declare ME at the end of her freshman first semester specifically so she could take an ME required Industrial Processes class before the well regarded instructor retires. She is also considering dual major with either Computer Science or Electrical Engineering.
For freshman, formal mid-term grades are given so they can make an informed decision about dropping a class - and have up until the day before finals to drop a class. Even the so-called typical engineering weed-out classes at Rice aren’t huge which is nice. And there is coordination amongst the professors for the same class - you can attend Prof B’s physics 101 lecture even if you are enrolled in Prof A’s - and the exams and finals are at the same time.
MIT was on her radar but DH (grad degree from MIT) and I strongly discouraged it - she puts a lot of pressure on herself and we didn’t think MIT would be a good environment for her.
She also really liked Wash U (would have done ED2 had she not gotten in to Rice via ED) - gave the impression of a collaborative environment. Northwestern as well.
I think most of the comments above are spot on - engineering is a tough program anywhere (Michigan engineering grad here!) and the supports available - and that the students take advantage of - can make all the difference.
The other thing I will add is that you do have some control over some stressors … thinking carefully about which courses to take when (like taking two really tough courses in the same semester!) and how much of a load to carry. It is not unusual for engineering students to take 9 or 10 semesters to finish their degree requirements.
My DD and many of her friends signed up for 17 credit hours first semester (12 is considered full-time) - and many dropped a course after they realized how much work they had put on their plate.
@HPuck35 summed it up nicely. I find it interesting that you don’t want stress but most of your schools seem to be stress schools in general. You also need to learn what reach, match, safety schools are. WashU is a reach for most kids and intense on campus in general. We weren’t thrilled with their engineering offering. Others love it and find it chill… This is why you visit campuses when you can. Fit is key to her general overall experience.
Any program for engineering is tough. Lots of kids go down a full grade first semester /year. Then the engineering classes start… Lol…
My kid is at Michigan for engineering and really doesn’t find it stressful from others. It’s just hard. No question about it. How you manage that is student driven. His major is about 50 % women or something like that (industrial engineering).
On your list Case Western is a great school. Know a recent female graduate that loved the school. She was also a stellar tournament chess player so used to being in a male dominant environment.
I am going to give you some recommendations that won’t be close to your list but will be really good schools, might be safeties and should check your boxes with perceived less stress then the schools mentioned.
NC State. This gets overlooked and joint program with UNC for Biomedical if I remember correctly.
RIT a female graduate I know loved the school and her first job is working for Tesla. It was her first internship and her dream job. Because of working at Tesla she gets weekly offers from other companies and she is considering some of them.
Iowa State University. It’s campus is huge spirit and fun with a really good placement for engineering. One of the largest engineering fairs anywhere. They get good jobs… More chill school. But… We did mention engineering is tough just about anywhere.
Michigan State University. Very relaxed campus . Engineering is all together there and collaboration is a huge focus from day one. Another school that gets overlooked compared to Michigan. MSU has a great honors program. Could be one of the best in the country. Instate tuition, guaranteed mentorship with major research component, money for study abroad, true honors classes and privileges. Very collaborative. Chill campus. Major university. Great job placement.
Miami of Ohio… Kids love this school. Great merit.
So… All will garner merit OOS, I am just assuming she will have grades and stats for Duke etc on your list.
Missouri S&T. Agree with the suggestion of Pitt-- a program much loved by employers but flies under the radar sometimes with parents and students.
I will comment (not that you asked) that for some kids, any campus is going to be stress inducing. There are kids who sail through Cornell, Mudd, Caltech, MIT (not sailing as in “don’t work hard”, but sail emotionally) and kids who have breakdowns at Southern CT State while majoring in early childhood (not typically considered a competitive major).
So while it’s good to have this issue on your radar now, it’s more about the student than about the program in my experience.
Kids who retain their equanimity when they get a B or a C on a test vs. kids who stay up all night to “prove” something if they get anything less than an A-- you’ll figure out how much your D wants to push her limits…
If a student is receiving merit scholarships, one factor to consider would be the GPA requirements for keeping scholarships. It will probably be apple/oranges trying to compare at different schools, but still a factor to consider.
(In 2009 visited RPI - an intense school, but now it seems much more collaborative than when DH took some classes there in 1970s. It’s the only school we ran into that said - "We don’t have a GPA minimum for retaining scholarships. Students struggling in class are already stressed enough without having to worry about the financial impact of losing a scholarship.)
Just my opinion , but my guess is not many engineering programs are “cut-throat”. In the sense of what you hear about pre-meds, like stealing your lab notes or things like that. Engineers are less likely to do that than pre-meds because most do not need 3.8 GPAs to achieve their career objectives like pre-meds do.
I went to a school where this is sometimes alleged, and it was not my experience.
Lots of engineering students studied together for exams in the large lecture classes.
I saw no “cut-throat” activity.
But it was stressful, for many students. Because a) they were all trying to do well, towards future goals; b) courses were curved, particularly the intro courses; c) the material was challenging; and d) the student body as a whole was smart and academically high-achieving.
I don’t have personal experience with finding “less stressful” environments, but IMO the best chance of finding them is to find schools that relax inputs a) thru d) above. eg: Fewer students aiming for grad school/higher proportion heading directly to employment; student body is less academically capable and high-achieving; courses not taught at the highest possible level of difficulty (which likely relates to the prior IMO); fewer curved classes (IDK but maybe if they are all small?) .
ME as an undergraduate major and a minor in BME sounds like a great fit. Most medical device companies hire ME, EE and CS majors. Yes, some universities are better for graduate school if the undergraduate culture does not match the way you like to spend your free time. MIT comes to mind as healthier place for graduate students. The universities’ teaching style, amount of lab and project time and the curriculum flexibility all contribute to the way your student learns best.
Our oldest asked for a hospital on campus to do research (undergrad CBE), city setting and a diverse community. Our second student (ME, CS with robotics) wanted to learn tangible skills while taking ME and CS classes, sub-matriculate for a masters and have flexibly with more technical electives. My only advice is to keep asking what they enjoyed at each school and point out the differences in curriculum, outside activities and living environment. It can be overwhelming for a 17 year old and the tour guide match or mis-match can skew the overall observation.
Add Penn if her way to reduce stress is to socialize and just get away from their studies once projects and exams are complete, not known for students having much down time. There are a dozen dance groups, and Philadelphia offers a cultural experience affordable for students.
Im an engineer at UCLA and in Greek life. I think for most schools engineering is as stressful as you make it. There is gonna be a mix of students in every school, some strive and will do anything for the A while others are content just passing classes. Usually the curve is pretty nice for upper division classes. I’ve had high workload weeks and others with lots of free time. Alot of it comes down to time management. I know many engineers that are involved in loads of outside activities and still have time for homework. One thing I highly recommend to all engineers is join orgs outside of engineering; its a great way to take a break from it.
“Non-stress culture engineering programs” makes a great oxymoron!
I’d look at a range of programs and approaches. Consider Olin, Tufts, Union, RPI, WPI, Rice, your state flagship. If the learning environment feels right, it may feel more enjoyable.
If you are concerned about difficult or competitive secondary admission to major after enrolling (a potential source of additional “stress culture”), take a look at http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/engineering-majors/2174743-first-year-engineering-programs-secondary-admission-to-major-criteria.html for pointers to information on that subject.
“Consider Olin” - Olin is a small, friendly, collaborative engineering school. But wow… those students work really hard. Lots of group projects, and I don’t think our Oliner slept much. I think it was self-imposed stress though, different from the stories I hear about places like MIT and Cal Tech.
From what I’ve read, I wouldn’t consider RPI low stress either. I can’t speak for the rest except WPI. I think that would be a good description.
If you are a resident of Washington, you should look at Wazzu a.k.a. WSU. A bit laid back in the Palaouse Country and overall as a university WSU is underrated. If private schools (and out-of-state schools) are an affordable option for you, then there are great programs where students report that they are very comfortable and happy;
South Dakota School of Mines & Technology
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Northeastern University
U of Rochester
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rochester Institute of Technology
Mississippi State University
U of Tennessee-Knoxville
I know students who were offered decent financial packages from WPI and Northeastern. SDSM&T tuition is reasonably priced. SDSM&T attracts students from the Pacific Northwest. MSU is located in Starkville, a very student oriented and cultural town often called “Stark-Vegas.” Don’t know much about the other departments at MSU but Chemical Engineering is great. Lake Jr. is a ChemE major (not at MSU) who had a great Bio-Materials Engineering internship after his Freshman year.
Also, as I understand it, BME education is still evolving, so your daughter may want to consider strong ME programs that allow for the appropriate biological sciences coursework. One such school is U of Maryland-Baltimore County, which has fabulous financial aid. Also, a friend of mine is on the Board of Trustees at State University of New York-New Paltz, 80 miles north of Midtown Manhattan. The Engineering Department at NP is fairly new and relatively small. NP is located in the beautiful Hudson Valley. No BME major but again, you could supplement an ME major with relevant Biological Sciences coursework. Non-resident tuition at NP is about $23,000 a year. Dorm rooms start at about $9200, so NP is a good deal for out-of-staters.
Bye the way, a kid I know very well is a recent RPI graduate. While I will agree with Eyemgh that RPI is no cakewalk, this particular fellow was not the hardest working RPI student, as his dad conceded. Still, the kid thoroughly enjoyed the place and got a great job a few months following graduation.
I’m only a few years older than ur daughter and also a girl into engineering. I’ve heard A&M isn’t horrible but it’s not great. If anyone here finds any other non-pressure cooker engi colleges in Texas lmk. The main reason I want to go to A&M is the opportunities for careers in radio frequency. The military here loves aggies, so I might have an easier time finding an RF related internship.
Texas A&M can be a pressure cooker in chasing the 3.75 college GPA for automatic secondary admission to major. Below that, admission is competitive based on grades and essays.
However, if your target is electrical engineering, that is one of the less competitive majors. The competitive ones are computer engineering, computer science, biomedical engineering, and mechanical engineering. See TAMU ETAM statistics - #172 by pbleigh and following posts.
I think those schools you list are very high stress, except perhaps UWashington. How about Northwestern or Tufts?