<p>Hello. I was recently accepted to BU and Smith College, and I hadn't researched much before and I was wondering which one was better for chemical engineering. I am not sure of my concentration in Chemical Engineering but I wanted to go into Pharmaceuticals or Materials Science. Does anyone have any information on the engineering programs at both of these schools?</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>The two programs/schools are very different. Smith gives only a B.S. in Engineering Science, while, though a very good program and ABET accredited, will not let you “hit the ground running” as a ChemE, since you won’t have a lot of the ChemE courses you would get at BU. You may have to get a masters to get them, but a Smith degree is great preparation for a masters, and in my opinion, with the small classes, great professors and all-women environment, a great choice if you like Smith’s environment. BU is a research university in the middle of a big city, so you’ll sometimes be taught by grad students, have large classes, etc. But there will be perhaps more opportunity to get involved in research if you’re one of the top students. You should try to visit both. </p>
<p>Smith has a nice, small, well-funded engineering program. They have by far the highest percent of female engineering faculty in the country (60%). As mentioned above, you’ll get a degree in general engineering and there aren’t many chemical engineering classes at Smith (though they do have a great chemistry department). There are lots of opportunities for research in general at Smith, but I’m not sure how much of it is related to your interests.</p>
<p>However, at Smith you would be able to take chemical engineering courses at UMass via the Five Colleges consortium. Smith also has a junior year exchange with Princeton for engineers, so you could spend your junior year there taking chemical engineering classes (and then come back to Smith senior year for your engineering capstone project).</p>
<p>If you’re going to the Smith revisit day, I’d highly recommend arranging to talk to the head of the engineering program and/or some of the faculty. If not, I’d recommend talking to them on the phone or by email.</p>