Outlook for prospective engineering students ?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Washington University in St. Louis
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<p>I know WashU is well thought of for BME (probably any engineering related to medicine and the health sciences). However it seems the other core engineering programs are suspect after the gutting/reorganization that has occurred within the engineering school. </p>

<p>I am looking into Chemical Engineering and would like to get excited about the prospects of studying at WashU but I have to wonder now if WashU engineering offers anything better than the many large state university programs that are so well regarded and highly ranked. (Examples would include Wisconsin, Minn., Illinois, Texas, Michigan, etc. ) It seems most of the regional privates might be a better choice too (Northwestern, Rice, Vandy, Tulsa, Duke - even Tulane seem to be doing a better job in maintaining what remains of their engineering programs)</p>

<p>When searching on this forum one doesn't find much discussion about the engineering school.<br>
Is there any reason to choose WashU especially if it is going to cost thousands more? I have read the alumni publications and keep looking but find next to nothing to get exited about - - I wish this wasn't the case. </p>

<p>If WashU engineering still has something to be proud of I believe they need to make a major effort in getting the word out. Maybe the new dean should spend some time with the head of the MBA program discussing marketing and public perception?</p>

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<p>I believe they have got new leadership in engineering as of this year, so things may be improving.</p>

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<p>Duke doesn't have chemical engineering (and I personally think Duke's engineering department is lacking beyond BME).
Also, from inside information (and living in NOLA), I would strongly advise against engineering at Tulane outside of BME (and somewhat a bit of ChemE).</p>

<p>And ditto on the new dean this year- things will probably start looking up.</p>

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<p>Jben, you might want to check out the College Majors Forum and post this question under the Engineering Major site here at CC.</p>

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<p>WUSTL's department is called Energy, Environmental, and Chemical Engineering. Department</a> of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering - Home - Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering - Washington University . Part of the re-structuring of the engineering school included a big focus on the environment and sustainable ways to engineer buildings, chemicals, etc (Their I-CARES Washington</a> University in St. Louis :: I-CARES center is a leading research center for renewable energy, and lots of undergrads research there). It seems like a really unique collaborative venture, and all companies now have sustainability and the environment at the back (or forefront) of their minds. </p>

<p>WUSTLs engineering school (and all their divisions, for that matter) are really well known for undergraduate research, and the accomplishments and neat things undergrads do in the lab and in the field. It's really rare to find a leading research university make so many of their opportunities available to undergrads... and you don't do simple things like washing beakers like you would at most other colleges. </p>

<p>Another unique thing about WUSTL's engineering program is studying abroad. This is something you really won't find at many other engineering schools. At WUSTL, you can go abroad for a semester, year, or summer in engineering because they have parternships with a dozen other Universities all over the world where they collaborated their curriculums so you won't come back and be behind with your graduation plans. This summer a group of undergraduates, graduates, and a professor are in Beijing doing air pollution and quality research at the Olympics site. International experience is so valuable nowadays. Washington</a> University Engineering - Study Abroad</p>

<p>You can look at the engineering school's strategic plan here: Washington</a> University Engineering ? Vision & Plans , where they describe the new buildings being constructed, hiring of new faculty, etc. Seems like a lot of good things are happening. Even a decade ago, engineering firms and grad schools wanted the best problem-solvers and math wizes... nowadays, the big focus is on sustainability and international experience.</p>

<p>If you explore around the engineering school's website (and wash u's undergraduate research page), you can look at all the cool research endeavors going on. A lot of the engineering school's research seems to have either Energy/Environment or Humans/Medical Applications as a common denominator. I think if you want to apply your engineering to either of those two areas, and/or do research and study abroad, this would be the perfect fit.</p>

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<p>The Engineering website is fabulous, isn't it jcool155? The reality is different, everything close to BMI is well funded, they have many opportunities, but the rest of engineering is getting worse year after year. There are less than a dozens EI, ME are transferring or they are left out of summer internships and after graduation jobs. I hope the new dean would make a difference and he brings back the Engineering School as it used to be.</p>

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<p>Trapper, you have been a good troll for the past couple months...but you really need to shut your mouth. </p>

<p>I have friends in CS, ME, EE and they all got good offers/and or internships from the following companies: Google, Yahoo, Boeing, Microsoft, McKinsey etc.<br>
I really don't understand where you are seeing all the problems. Are you just bitter for some reason?</p>

<p>Also, bump I-Cares</p>

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<p>My S is a ME, he sent applications to many places but he only was lucky in the St. Louis area. I don't know any ME with that kind of internships this year, purpleBoople, the market isn't looking good and most kids have to take any available job during summer and most of them don't have anything to do with engineering. For next year, my S is already sending applications in the US and abroad, just in case.</p>

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<p>EE and ME are the hardest majors for internships outside St. Louis. My company hired two ME majors going to graduate school this summer (temporary positions). Alumni work hard to find opportunities for the engineers outside the medical field.</p>

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<p>Engineering as an undergraduate program is unique in many ways... there are many schools KNOWN for their engineering (MIT, CalTech, some large publics), and they are continually rated as the "best" undergrad engineering programs in the country. 1, because those rankings by US News are comprised ENTIRELY by other university peer assessment. 2, because those schools focus on engineering.</p>

<p>Many liberal arts universities (dartmouth, harvard, yale, wash u, notre dame, vanderbilt) are all in the top 30 or top 40 programs in the country according to those rankings. yeah, imagine that... the ivies being in the top 40! blasphemy, no?! it doesn't mean that these schools don't have good engineering programs, don't have research, don't have career placement, etc. it just means that these schools offer Engineering in a larger Liberal Arts setting, where you take advantage of classes, advising, resources, and students outside of engineering. </p>

<p>There are many people who attend those schools who also apply to MIT, CalTech, etc, and probably are admitted... but a deciding factor really needs to be do you only want to do engineering, only want to be bogged down with engineering classes, and only want to hang out with engineering kids? Students are no less intelligent and no less capable for going to WUSTL/Dartmouth/Yale/etc for engineering... these schools have a completely different set of missions and goals than Georgia TECH, Mass Institue of TECH, Cal TECH that appeal to different people.</p>

<p>I'm sure WUSTL would be happy to provide starting salary information and a list of the most common employers for engineering grads who don't go immediately on to graduate school. One or two posters on College Confidential are hardly a representative sample. WUSTL has one of the best biomedical programs in the country, and it's part of a national trend that this is the most popular type of engineering, and they obviously take advantage of the outstanding med school. I'm sure the other departments are just fine, with their own unique advantages and programs that nowhere else offers (example: the Chemical/Environmental/Energy department, I-CARES, Materials Sciences). Sure, WUSTL had a major restructuring lately in engineering that upset a lot of traditionalists at the school who had been there for years and were fine with the way things had been done for years, but it really is poised to be at the forefront of lots of new and exciting engineering fields. Can't blame a school for trying to do new things, especially in engineering - a field that relies on new developments and new thinking. My two cents :)</p>

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<p>There are some non-tech private schools in the top 20. (Cornell, USC, Northwestern, Princeton) Here are the USNR rankings.
1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA </p>

<p>2 Stanford University Stanford, CA</p>

<p>3 University of California--Berkeley Berkeley, CA</p>

<p>4 Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA</p>

<p>5 University of Illinois--Urbana-Champaign Urbana, IL</p>

<p>6 California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA</p>

<p>7 Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA</p>

<p>8 University of Southern California (Viterbi) Los Angeles, CA</p>

<p>9 Cornell University Ithaca, NY</p>

<p>9 University of Michigan--Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI</p>

<p>11 University of California--San Diego (Jacobs) La Jolla, CA</p>

<p>11 University of Texas--Austin (Cockrell) Austin, TX</p>

<p>13 University of California--Los Angeles (Samueli) Los Angeles, CA</p>

<p>14 Texas A&M University--College Station (Look) College Station, TX</p>

<p>15 Purdue University--West Lafayette West Lafayette, IN</p>

<p>15 University of Wisconsin--Madison Madison, WI</p>

<p>17 University of Maryland--College Park (Clark) College Park, MD</p>

<p>18 Princeton University Princeton, NJ</p>

<p>19 Northwestern University (McCormick) Evanston, IL</p>

<p>19 University of California--Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA</p>

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<p>The "overall" grad ranking is kinda bogus. Almost nobody uses it as a guide for applying to grad schools. Perspective grad students look at deparment rankings instead. USC has no department in the top-10 and has relatively low peer assessment scores from both the recruiters and academic peers. Yet it's ranked 8th "overall" here. This is a strong sign that something is wrong with the ranking.</p>

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<p>"Trapper, you have been a good troll for the past couple months...but you really need to shut your mouth. "</p>

<p>Trouble in Paradise??? Where are the moms???</p>

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<p>The Engineering school is focused in BMI and now the I-Cares program, end of the story. ME and mainly EE had been left out for the last years and no one can't tell a different situation, but we all hope it would change.</p>