<p>Hi, I'm a senior and I've been hard at work on my Common App lately. However, just last week I went to an engineering program and I now think I could really love it and excel doing it. Should I go ahead and apply to the LAC's that were on my list, pay the app fees, and in one case write 3 supplemental essays for potentially nothing?</p>
<p>You can do engineering at some LACs.</p>
<p>e.g., Reed, Harvy Mudd, Swarthmore, Whittman.</p>
<p>Reed program is interesting - you spend first three years at Reed and then go to CalTech or Rensselaer for the fourth year.</p>
<p>Whitman college has a program very similar to that of Reed.</p>
<p>Thanks, I’ll have to look into that.
Would you recommend that? Or would it be better to just go to a university with reputable engineering program? (Purdue, CMU, Northwestern, Cornell)</p>
<p>My DD had a similar dilemma, and she chose to alter her list somewhat. While you can do engineering at some of the LAC’s; they are mostly 3-2 programs and if you want to do that it is certainly an option. There are also a few LAC’s like Lafayette which have a true engineering program which you might look into and depending on the type of engineering you like Tulane might be a “mid sized” option. Also remember that most of the big universities will also have an honor’s program of some type which can reduce some of the huge undergraduate class experience. Good luck!</p>
<p>If you have decided that you want to become an engineer then it might be better to go to those schools you mentioned. </p>
<p>I am no expert but here are my views.</p>
<p>LACs are much smaller and you get a totally different college experience.
Attending a LAC might give you better soft skills which are just as important.</p>
<p>Swarthmore, unlike most other LACs, has an actual engineering program on its own campus. So does Trinity College (Hartford). At Harvey Mudd the whole curriculum is focused on science, math, and engineering.</p>
<p>What Reed, Whitman, and many other LACs have for engineering is a “3+2 program”. There is no engineering at the LAC. You spend 3 years there, then 2 years in another school’s engineering program. At the end you get a BA from the LAC and an engineering degree from the other school.</p>
<p>I’d also add Oberlin and Beloit to your list as I’ve known people who successfully completed 3-2 engineering programs at those two schools. </p>
<p>At Oberlin, had 3 classmates who ended up going to Case Western, WUSTL, and Columbia Engineering. </p>
<p>As for Beloit, my uncle ended up at Columbia Engineering and was a professional engineer for several decades before retiring recently. </p>
<p>If you want the small college environment and a more well-rounded education with it, doing the 3-2 program or engineering programs at an LAC is a great option. </p>
<p>However, if you’re a hardcore engineering major who doesn’t want to bother with much else, I’d recommend applying to universities and hardcore engineering schools like MIT, Harvey-Mudd, Caltech, RPI, CMU, etc.</p>
<p>Williams has an agreement with Columbia for their students to complete their engineering degree there.</p>
<p>Also, Smith if you are female.</p>
<p>Choosing engineering is a big decision. If you are sure that you want to do engineering, it’s better to go to a reputable program. The ones you mentioned are excellent. If you think that you might change your mind, it’s best to go to a school that leaves you options. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t do the 3-2 engineering program. I think few people actually complete it. It takes an extra year. You have to leave a college you love before finishing and that’s hard. There are some LACs that have engineering, and those may be of interest, but a LAC education is more global and generally less deep in engineering. I feel that from those programs, you almost have to go to graduate school. </p>
<p>If you want to leave yourself options, go to a school that allows you to freely move between engineering and any other major. Some examples I know of are MIT, Rice, Johns Hopkins, and University of Rochester. I’m not sure about Cornell, Northwestern and CMU. At some schools, you apply to either engineering or arts and sciences, and it’s not that easy to switch. I think switching is especially hard at Columbia or Penn.</p>
<p>If you are thinking biomedical or chemical engineering, then Tulane is an excellent option. A research university with an LAC like undergraduate focus, it is also very easy to switch majors if you decide engineering really isn’t for you. You don’t get accepted to the “engineering school” or whatever, you just get accepted to Tulane and if you decide you really want business or anthropology or dance as your major, you just do it. Obviously might be a little bit of catching up in course work depending on the major you choose, but that would be true everywhere, and at some schools switching is very difficult.</p>
<p>Look into it, it might be the best of the different options and flexibility you want. Just be aware that those are the only two engineering majors Tulane retained after Katrina, the others are offered as 3+2 programs in cooperation with Vanderbilt and Johns Hopkins.</p>
<p>Since you are obviously unsure, why not throw in a few applications to schools that are slightly larger and do offer engineering, like Brown and Rice (top end options-there are others that are much less academically selective)? That way, in April, if you are still keen on engineering, you’ll have some choices?</p>
<p>
… and the fifth year … and perhaps a sixth year.</p>
<p>“The program calls for three years at Reed, including the completion of the general college distribution requirements, completion of major requirements in one department (excluding thesis), the passing of the junior qualifying examination … and **two years **at the engineering school.” ([Reed</a> College | Catalog |](<a href=“Reed College - Acalog ACMS™”>Reed College - Acalog ACMS™))</p>
<p>OP,</p>
<p>You have prevoiusly posted that your EFC will be 0. Do you have an IS safety?</p>
<p>The more I read about 3/2 programs, the less I feel that they are a good fit. I’ve done some research for Lake Jr., an aspiring engineer. I get the feeling that ClassicRockerDad is correct; it’s difficult to complete all the requirements without spending nearly six years on your undergraduate education, full-time. And I wonder if 3/2 students have the same co-op opportunities as the 9-semester engineering students. Doesn’t look like there is much time for a co-op job in a 3/2 program.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if you have a great faculty advisor and choose your liberal arts major well, graduating with two degrees in 5 years is clearly doable. For example, with a Chemistry B.A. or a Physics B.A. at the liberal arts college, many of your courses would be credited to B.S. in engineering specialties like Mechanical, Environmental or Geological. I can see a 3/2 option working well for someone with those interests.</p>
<p>I am not sure why LACs bother with 3/2 programs. Maybe you can keep your FA throughout those 5 years? If you are a student at LAC, you can finish with a BA in science/math and apply to one of the 1-yr master programs (e.g Stanford/Berkeley). If you major in history, then double-major it with science/math. It’s that simple. The end result is you get a BA/MS in 5 years instead of BA/BS; you graduate with your classmates at the same time and you won’t be doing your engineering as a transfer, which can be hard socially in a college environment.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1006478-reaches-galore-need-matches-safeties-3.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1006478-reaches-galore-need-matches-safeties-3.html</a>
See #s : 35& 37, also 57,59,60</p>
<p>“I’m not sure about Cornell…”</p>
<p>I was in this situation myself long ago, I opted for trying the good engineering program, and doing something else if it turned out I didn’t want it. Turned out this is exactly what happened, I attended Cornell and wound up switching to Arts & Sciences from engineering. I was able to accomplish this with essentially no disruption or lost ground. (Later I wound up going back into engineering, but that’s another story).</p>
<p>Transfer between the engineering college and Arts & Sciences at Cornell is not automatic, one must apply for inter-college transfer. That said, the level of difficulty is not unreasonable IMO. If you have done decently in courses taken in the destination college, and overall, there should not be much problem. Or at least this was the case in my day. Since the preponderance of courses one takes as an engineering student freshman year are actually in the Arts & sciences college anyway, there will be a relevant track record quickly. If you’ve done very poorly, particularly in CAS courses, there may be an issue, but then maybe this is not the best place for you in any event.</p>
<p>There is also the possibility of transferring to one of the other colleges there, if a program of study there turns out to be more appealing.</p>
<p>IMO there are few perfect solutuions to this problem of early commitment. I believe it is better to be in a good, robust engineering program to best fulfill one’s path as an engineer. But this requires a committment. The compromise solutions seem in many cases to be just that, compromises. You can get out more easily, but if you stay in you are offered a program with lesser options within engineering.</p>
<p>So pick your poison. The way I did it worked out, but there are other spots on the continuum.</p>
<p>No doubt that Cornell is a terrific school for engineering. However, I respectfully disagree with Cornell being flexible for the undecided, but considering engineering. I think the fact that you HAVE to transfer schools within Cornell is a negative in my opinion. That means if you aren’t doing well, it’s probably more difficult to change. It’s not unusual for a student to do poorly freshman year but eventually figure it out. It means that you can take less risks, which I think is an important part of college. </p>
<p>Contrast this with Rice, where you simply just change majors.</p>
<p>No question, there is a risk if you are doing poorly. This is a spot on the continuum, not an extreme. For example, if you want out at Cooper Union you have to switch universities; usually not so at Cornell. Though it could be so if poor performance, this is a real risk. A place where it is just a matter of changing majors, and there are no performance standards required to change to any major, would be a different spot on the continuum.</p>
<p>People have alleged that at Lehigh it is particularly easy to transfer between programs, they make it a big marketing point. But then they also say that, as part of this simple process, you have to show you were doing acceptably in courses at the destination program. So in practice I don’t know how much difference there really is there.</p>