<p>I'm gonna study STEM, and I see myself as an engineer in the future.
Besides the price difference, the decision gets down to the oft-debated topic--are LACs good for STEM education? </p>
<p>If I go to COW I'd be a physics/astronomy/applied math major then go to grad school, cuz it seems that nowadays pure science majors have hard time getting jobs with just a BS...
At UTD I can pretty much do whatever engineering I want..</p>
<p>Again, is the liberal arts education worth it? especially its core idea of "cultivating a person, not just training you as a young professional", when the practical concern of $$$ comes into play?</p>
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<p>Depends on the LAC and the specific major. Harvey Mudd is good for most STEM subjects (and does have engineering natively). Reed and Oberlin are good for physics.</p>
<p>But College of Wooster has very limited offerings for physics, astronomy, and math (check the catalog – no advanced physics lab, most advanced physics and astronomy courses offered only once every two or three years, limited advanced math courses), as well as having no engineering. So it is a poor academic fit for your stated academic interests.</p>
<p>So take the free ride at UT Dallas and get a better education in your areas of interest. However, it has only computer, electrical, mechanical, software, and telecommunications engineering, not chemical, civil, or materials engineering, and advanced math offerings are not as extensive as at some larger universities.</p>
<p>Physics, astronomy, and math are liberal arts, and you can also take other liberal arts (humanities and social studies) courses at UT Dallas.</p>
<p>Thanks for your insight ucbalumnus! I know very little about College of Wooster besides reading about how awesome it is on Lauren Pope’s book…indeed it seems UTD is the choice since I’m interested in electrical and computer engineering. I wonder if you’re a current UTD student or UTD alumni, and I’d like to know how you would rate UTD’s education and quality of academics–you see I’m a little bit concerned about it since UTD has a student-faculty ratio of like 22.5:1, but I’d really enjoy a small classroom setting and close interaction with professors (that’s one of the main things LACs appeal to me)…</p>
<p>No association with UT Dallas.</p>
<p><a href=“https://coursebook.utdallas.edu/”>UT Dallas CourseBook Guided Search :: UT Dallas Class, Syllabus, Course Evaluation, and Textbook Database; can tell you capacities for each class at UT Dallas (“View Class Detail” in entry for each class in the listings).</p>
<p>Lauren Pope’s book and other books may give you ideas when searching for colleges, but you still need to do your own evaluation in terms of how suitable each school is for your academic goals and cost constraints. If you wanted a LAC or small school, there were plenty of other choices of such schools that offer electrical and/or computer engineering. For example, you may want to see if South Dakota School of Mines and Technology or New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology are still accepting applications (both are engineering focused schools with about 2,000 students).</p>
<p>Wooster is a wonderful school, no question about it, for those who want that environment. I also truly believe that these smaller schools with smaller departments give kids who might not be ready for the tough gauntlet that a STEM major undergoes, has a better chance of getting some help and making it through such a program. </p>
<p>But the problem here is that you are not getting what you are seeking at Wooster They do NOT have a engineering major. There are some small schools, LACs that do offer that option but not Wooster Why are you setting yourself up to paying probably $100K for a school that is GUARANTEED NOT to have what you want. You can’t even make a go of it there. After you graduate, even under the best scenario, you need to find another program, probably at even more cost to get where you want to go. </p>
<p>So, though I love the school, what the heck? It doesn’t have what you want. You don’t fish where there ain’t none. </p>
<p>It’s really a matter of “turn of mind”.
It also depends on what you want to do: Wooster is very good if you want to do research as an undergrad and be broadly educated. Honestly, it makes you a more interesting person because you’ve been encouraged to stretch your mind but ymmv. Are you interested in many things? Like to see connections between disciplines? Have a double major, or a minor? Study abroad? Have an internship in Philadelphia, study natural/environment issues in TN, or Border Issues in AZ? Then Wooster is better.
But wooster doesn’t have engineering. So if you want CS or physics then engineering school it’s okay(see if wooster has agreements), but not if you want a BS in engineering.
UTD is better if you want a more technical education: do you find classes in foreign languages, art, or humanities, at best, a complement to “important” subjects, or, at worst, a nuisance? Do you want a structured 4-year program? Do you want to find a job right after college, then return to school to improve your professional standing? If you want to be an engineer first, then it’s clearly UTD.</p>
<p>Where would the money come from - do you have the money in the bank? Can your family pay for Wooster?</p>
<p>Did you apply anywhere else, perhaps a LAC that has a school of engineering (like Connecticut, Bucknell, Union, Lafayette…)</p>
<p>UCBAlumnus, as his screenname indicates, isn’t a student from UTD, but a graduate from UC-B, aka (I presume 
) the University of California - Berkeley. </p>
<p>Thanks for all these awesome comments! My problem is I’m not even sure about whether do engineering or science–for now I go for engineering because I can earn income right after graduation, since I want to be economically independent early on,. As much as I enjoy science too, (STEM stuff seem all equally appealing to me) probably it’s the engineers who get the big bucks. (any comments on science v. engineering?)
I’m indeed interested in many things-- music, economics, politics/government, and literature in addition to STEM subjects…but I really don’t feel like making my parents pay 22k a year as much as they’re willing to…:(</p>
<p>The problem is, College of Wooster is relatively weak in the sciences that you have indicated interest in. If you wanted LACs, you could have applied to other LACs which are better academic matches for your science interests. So even without the price difference, the clear choice is UT Dallas.</p>
<p>A happy compromise might be this:
you likely got into the Honors Program. Email the director of the program in addition to the director of 1st year engineering, and ask whether Engineering students are allowed to do a minor in a humanities or social science subject, especially if it’s possible to take 1st and 2nd year honors classes in that subject, and still graduate in 4 years. Does the Honors Program give you a bit more flexibility? What about AP credit, would that allow you to combine a Liberal Arts minor and and Engineering major? How likely are you to do research for a professor during your first year? Will you be allowed to work on your own research as a senior?
(Engineers do have to take some gen eds, but not many compared to liberal arts majors.)</p>
<p>That is a wonderful idea! I checked out UTD’s Honors Program and fortunately they have plenty of liberal arts/humanities offerings and enough room for these elective courses…I haven’t heard back about my Honors application status yet but I’m pretty sure I’d get in. In fact the Honors Program endorses the popular “multi-disciplinary” approach.
I’ll definitely talk to UTD more about this, and hopefully I’ll be able to graduate four years later with a BS in EE and a minor in English! </p>
<p>I’m not quite sure about the prospect of doing undergrad research at UTD, but the school seems to be offering plenty of internships to undergrad engineers which probably can give me the same hands-on experience…
(BTW does undergrad research play a big role in getting me into a top engineering grad program? I’m pretty sure this is true for science majors but I wonder if it applies to engineers as well–i’ll probably have to start a new thread about this question</p>
<p>Thanks again everybody for your effort in helping me out! </p>
<p>Pretty sure that undergraduate research plays a big role in the admissions to any PhD program.</p>
<p><a href=“Engineers%20do%20have%20to%20take%20some%20gen%20eds,%20but%20not%20many%20compared%20to%20liberal%20arts%20majors.”>QUOTE=MYOS1634</a>
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<p>UT Dallas’ core curriculum appears to apply to students of all majors:
<a href=“Core Curriculum - UT Dallas 2013 Undergraduate Catalog - The University of Texas at Dallas”>http://catalog.utdallas.edu/2013/undergraduate/curriculum/core-curriculum</a></p>
<p>Note that some other schools, like Brown, have more general education requirements for engineering majors than for other majors.</p>