<p>My brother is currently looking at colleges and has some pretty clear ideas of what he wants:</p>
<p>majors, 3-2 programs, or minors in:
engineering, education and architecture (he's not sure exactly what he wants to do yet)</p>
<p>Fewer distribution requirements are better.</p>
<p>music, theater programs (including classes and/or extracurricular activities). He's not a prodigy or anything, though he isn't terrible. Somewhere where everyone is encouraged to participate (not just majors) would be best.</p>
<p>He's more artsy than athletic and isn't a huge partier at all.</p>
<p>not too big (5-6000 or less preferably around 2800) and is somewhat rural. For those of you familiar with Smith, he says no bigger than Northampton.
My brother would do best with LOTS of personal attention.</p>
<p>Location (in terms of state/region) is not an issue.</p>
<p>He's an A/B student at our competitive public high school with a mix of honors and regular classes. SATs projected around 1200-1400 on old scale (so 1800-2100 on new scale). I know that's a big range.</p>
<p>Do you parents have any suggestions? Schools that don't fit all criteria are ok, as long as they fit most of them.</p>
<p>How about Beloit, Alfred University, Allegheny, Washington College, Occidental (not rural),Warren Wilson or Centre College? I think they all have engineering and are nurturing type schools. The architecture is tough.</p>
<p>Thanks patty! We had thought of some on your list, but not others. That was very helpful. We know the architecture is the toughie and that may force him to compromise on some of the other things he wants, we'll see. :)</p>
<p>DD has applied to schools specifically for architecture. Depending if your bro wants arch as a major or as a specific program which is licensed would help determine which schools. The link below is the one for the accrediting agency for arch:</p>
<p>Just click on the type of program or state and the site will provide you with a list of schools that have the accreditation. Other schools have the major and then if one wants to practice they go on for a Masters in Arch. You will notice that most of the arch programs are in major universities. But there are smaller schools that have arch, you just have to look for them.</p>
<p>I am not a big advocate of 3-2 programs. I have been an engineering professor for many years and my concern is not about academic preparation. It is about personal student issues. First, at universities offering engineering, student will have more exposure to the various fields of engineering from year one. It is not unusual for student to enroll thinking they want to be EE's and change to ME's after the first year "fundamentals" course. I know of no LAC that offer such a course.</p>
<p>In addition a 4 year engineering program becomes a 5 year program. This not only has financial implications but can discourage some qualified students from pursuing grad school. I was an undergrad at Ohio State when there standard engineering curriculum was a 5 year program. The education was a great one but they eventually went to a standard 4 year program because they did not want to discourage any students from attending grad school.</p>
<p>However my major objection is the need to transfer after 3 years. The most important aspect of one's undergrad experience is the friendships made. The need to sever these friendships, start anew as an upperclassman when new friendships are harder to develop, and forfeit the opportunity to graduate with YOUR class is to high a price to pay in my opinion. I would bet that most students enrolled in 3-2 programs reevaluate their decision and choose to finish their undergrad program at the LAC they are attending.</p>
<p>I am not familiar with a lot of what my brother is interested in, as I am pre-med and didn't mind being in a city or larger environment. All of this has been very helpful.</p>
<p>One thought: Pick a rural state with low popluation; ie Montana, Idaho, Wyoming. Those state schools have the academics, the rural locale. The student population is 10,000--but it is much lower than East Coast state schools. </p>
<p>If he applies to a a school of architecture, he will spend most of his time within that community-- several hundred students at most.</p>
<p>Bucknell and Clarkson are both good suggestions. Lehigh might also be an option. Union, although in a small and slightly run down city, has a liberal arts feel to it, with a sound engineering program.</p>
<p>As to a 3-2 program, I think it's right for some students. Although I didn't do a 3-2, I did graduate from a LAC and then did my graduate work in engineering. There was considerable outside the classroom learning involved, but it wasn't overwhemling by any means.</p>
<p>I had a friend in grad school at MIT (he ultimately obtained his PhD at MIT in ME) who majored in physics at a small liberal arts college (which did not have engineering) and then went into engineering for grad school. I do not know if I would PLAN ON this happening, but if someone is a junior at a liberal arts college and trying to figure out what to do, it might be an option. If you have an excellent GPA at a liberal arts school, you may be admitted to an engineering department for grad school. You might be required to take some extra coursework compared to other Master's degree students, but it might be an option.</p>
<p>I also agree with originaloog, that staying at one college for 4 years may be more rewarding.</p>
<p>Miami University is bigger than he is looking for, but mid-sized and in a small town. Not an engineering powerhouse, but offers a nice variety of programs and has architecture as well. Very strong education department.</p>
<p>Since your brother isn't sure what he will eventually study but is sure that he wants a small school, in a rural location, with a friendly and nuturing envirnonment, he may be better off looking at LACs that offer good science and math programs even if they don't offer degree programs in architecture or engineering. If he decides to pursue either architecture or engineering, he can do a graduate program.</p>
<p>I'd take a look at Hamilton, Kenyon, Conn College, Colby. A little more selective: Bowdoin and Middlebury.</p>
<p>Jenskate1, I need to comment upon your "fewer the distribution requirements the better" statement. College is far more than preparing yourself for a successful career. Its primary function is to transform you into an educated person. Here is a quote from a deceased Ohio State alumnus. "The function of a university is not to teach the means of life only, but life itself; not only how to make a living, but how to live."</p>
<p>Engineering curricula usually have minimal distribution requirements, typically less than 5-7 HSS electives during a 4 year program of study. I was fortunate that I was in a 5 year program which indulged me with the opportunity to take a few more and I made the most of them!!! My electives included among a few others, cybernetics(a sociology course), urban planning(I had an interest in Lewis Mumford), Race in America(taught by the great Gunnar Myrdal), Medeival and Renaissance Music(love that modal scale), Music of the 20th Century(nothing like a little Penderecki to get the juices flowing), Serbo Croatian Lit(in translation, ty), Ethics(Aristotle's Nicomachean and Mill's Utilitarianism), Metallurgy of Ferrous Metals(just because), and my most important elective-Technical Writing.</p>
<p>Yeah, I was a math/science nerd but those courses were just wonderful. They changed my life actually. I graduated a far different person with a far better understanding of the world than the one I grew up in in upstate New York.</p>
<p>If anything, I would encourage any engineering student to take as many electives as possible, to take a few chances and to choose creatively. I also STRONGLY encourage my advisees(to the point of arm twisting) to take a technical writing course(we have one particularly good professor which I recommend) and a public speaking course if possible. A typical complaint of engineering professionals is the inablity of grads to communicate effectively. It is very important and the ones who do communicate well are the ones who end up on the management fast track.</p>