<p>I have been accepted into both Swarthmore and the University of Southern California. I plan to go into engineering, specifically environmental engineering. I am not 100% sure I want to do engineering, but that is the plan as of now. Both schools appeal to me and I am having trouble deciding between the two because they are quite different. Is USC respected for its engineering? Swarthmore? I have also been accepted to the University of Michigan, would that be a better option for me? I have not gotten my financial aid back from any of these colleges yet, so money aside, what is your take on these colleges? I'm open to hear it all!</p>
<p>I’m a Swarthmore engineering grad (many years ago). As you’ve noted, they are very different. Are you the type who lives and breathes science and math? Or do you like to debate politics, read literature, learn about obscure times of history, etc.? Swarthmore has a solid engineering program, but as you probably know, it is an “engineering” degree, with a specialization in one of the usual areas, rather than, say, a degree in “electrical engineering”. It will not be as in depth as you would get at a larger school. On the other hand, you would be getting a world class liberal arts education. My kid is a HS senior, certain he will be majoring in Computer Science. And he will be attending Swarthmore, for what it’s worth :)</p>
<p>I would agree 100% with Donaleighg…if you want an engineering pedigree, Swarthmore doesn’t have the reputation as a hyper-technical institute. If you want to be a well-rounded person…Swarthmore is a great place to explore areas you won’t at USC or Michigan. The Pass/Fail options are really an incredible opportunity to “safely” experiment. </p>
<p><a href=“Swarthmore vs USC - College Search & Selection - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1330241-swarthmore-vs-usc.html</a></p>
<p>^Although that thread doesn’t focus on engineering, it gives a general comparison between the two schools. </p>
<p>Thank you everyone!
I have never been one to stick to one particular subject and I really enjoy being well-rounded in a variety of subjects.</p>
<p>@donnaleighg As a Swarthmore Engineering grad, did you pursue a Master’s degree afterward? What is your career now? Sorry for all of the questions - this is a tough decision for me!</p>
<p>At USC, they have a program where students can get their Bachelor’s and master’s in engineering in 5 years. They do encourage students to take courses in other fields and do require students to choose a specialty in engineering. Our S got his BEE from a USC. Our friend’s S got a B Chem E and B finance + master’s in 4 years and 2 summers at USC. Not sure what the master’s was in. </p>
<p>USC has an internship and career counseling office in the engineering school. Their renaissance scholars program encourages studying diverse fields. </p>
<p>@HImom thank you for this info! The decision only gets more difficult!</p>
<p>Congrats on having great options to choose among. S liked being able to attend engineering job fairs from fall of freshman year and found them helpful and motivating. </p>
<p>Have you visited all these Us? What about each U appealed to you?</p>
<p>Not sure how relevant to this discussion, but in answer, I went immediately after Swarthmore to Stanford where I got a Ph.D. in EE. I am now retired after many years at IBM Research.</p>
<p>and just to comment on “At USC, … They do encourage students to take courses in other fields and do require students to choose a specialty in engineering.”</p>
<p>Swarthmore does not “encourage” you to take courses in other fields. It is mandatory. When I went, and I assume it’s similar today, you took 32 courses to graduate. 12 were required in Engineering. 20 were required *outside Engineering". Now of course some of those were required math and physics, but I probably took 15 courses completely outside math and science. I went to a info session with my son at Cornell about the Engineering school there, and was shocked at how little space there was (relative to what I experienced, and what my daughter has experienced at Yale as a Physics major) for humanities and social science. I encourage you to really look into the requirements so you know what you are getting into and aren’t surprised.</p>
<p>@donnaleighg I know it may not have seemed that relevant, but Stanford is where I hope to go for graduate school, so that was nice to hear. I will definitely look into the course requirements, thanks!</p>
<p>@HImom Thank you! I have not visited either yet. But I will be visiting Swarthmore on the 24th and 25th of this month. Unfortunately I do not have the opportunity to visit USC. :(</p>
<p>I like how focused Swarthmore is academically and how small the student body is. As for USC, I like the location and the spirit there, and I really don’t mind that it has a larger student body. As for Swarthmore I don’t really know what the surrounding city is like. It’s difficult for me to really know what I prefer without experiencing it first hand!</p>
<p>Swarthmore does not have a “surrounding city” 
The town of Swarthmore is a tiny village. However, there is a train literally at the foot of campus that goes to Philadelphia (about a half hour ride). And maybe I’ll see you there on the 24th and 25th My son is attending the visiting days.</p>
<p>A traditional engineering curriculum is an ABET-accredited program, with a major in a sub-field of
engineering (eg mechanical, electrical, civil,…). In my day anyway, that’s what most “normal” engineering employers expected when they went hiring BS engineers. That curriculum is pretty standard across schools, and requires relatively a lot of engineering courses. So consequently less room for liberal arts courses. Though still some.</p>
<p>Schools that offer generic “engineering science” degrees do not meet ABET standards for engineering training, So they can allocate course requirements however they want to. Which is great, but students will obviously
have less training in engineering. When I left the field, the sentiment was BS employers wanted actually more training in engineering, and some were pushing for it to be a five year program.</p>
<p>My feeling is that most grads of these 'engineering science" type programs really don’t plan to become engineeers.
Many that want to actually do something related to engineering go on to get advanced degrees and become basically applied scientists. Others that actually do want to be “real” engineers go to a Masters program someplace afterwards so they get the required additional engineering training.</p>
<p>Limitations in engineering courses can actually alter what type of engineer one might choose to become.
I would check how many courses are offered in the major subfields- say civil engineering, for example- at each program. Look at the registrar’s list of courses actually given each semester, not just the course catalog which may list courses that are actually given only rarely.</p>
<p>Either approach may be preferable, for a given individual, but you can’t have it both ways. If you need to have more of everything than either approach provides for, you can either :i) be virtually forced into a grad program in your major field; Or ii) you can take additional liberal arts courses on the side, during the course of your life.</p>
<p>@donnaleighg Oh awesome! I am really excited for Ride the Tide!</p>
<p>@monydad Thank you for this insight. The very different thing about Swarthmore is that is has an ABET-accredited program at a liberal arts college which is very enticing to me. I also read that they are taking on a new project to improve Philadelphia’s water pollution problem, which is something right up my alley for the specific sub-field of engineering I’d like to go into. I also foresee myself going to grad-school, no matter which school I choose.</p>
<p>USC requires a lot of engineering courses and doesn’t allow you to choose as many other courses outside of its school if you plan to have a manageable course load and graduate on time, but you do graduate with a particular engineering specialty. You can look at its course requirements online. It does have 38% females in engineering which is one of the highest ratios for engineering schools and we and D saw as a big plus. :)</p>