<p>Any information on the quality of Trinity's engineering programs would be appreciated. Understanding this is a liberal arts college, am I wasting my time pursuing engineering here? Assuming I am accepted, should I even consider it?</p>
<p>Some consideratons:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Trinity's engineering degrees are ABET accredited, which is the "gold standard" for such degrees. As professional degrees, they have the same legal status as an engineering degree from MIT or Stanford. So they are "real" engineering degrees.</p></li>
<li><p>An ABET-accredited engineering curriculum is demanding. If you major in engineering at Trinity, you will have significantly fewer opportunities to take elective courses than other students. This may somewhat defeat the purpose of attending a liberal arts college.</p></li>
<li><p>The engineering program at Trinity is very small and unspecialized, relative to most university engineering programs. You will get a "generic" engineering BS degree, rather than a more specialized "electrical engineering" or "mechanical engineering" degree. You should make sure that Trinity offers the kinds of engineering courses that interest you (for example, they don't even attempt to offer civil engineering).</p></li>
<li><p>In general, the job market will likely favor BS graduates from large universities over a BS graduate from Trinity. This is because the universities have more specialized BS degrees, more name recognition, larger alumni networks in technical fields, and more on-campus recruiters. </p></li>
<li><p>One way to compensate for this disadvantage would be to obtain a specialized MS degree from a well-known university. The BS/MS combination would likely be very competitive in the job market. LACs like Trinity are generally very successful at placing their students in good graduate schools. Trinity will probably provide excellent opportunities to conduct undergraduate research, which grad schools love to see. </p></li>
<li><p>People who have backgrounds in both liberal arts and engineering generally make excellent candidates for law or business school. The BS/JD or BS/MBA combination could work well if you wanted to move into engineering management or work on associated legal issues.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Thank you. Your information was immensely helpful to me, as I am a "nontechie" parent helping S chart his course. I read that Trinity offers an MS degree in mechanical engineering from RPI Hartford completed in five years, which could be a possibility. </p>
<p>When my son started his college search he definitely did not want to commit to a strict engineering school; the coolness factor wasn't there, for one thing. But alas, now that his applications are in to a bunch of LACs offering engineering degrees or 3/2 programs, he is leaning more and more towards mechanical engineering, designing engines and machines and so on; he enjoys physics as well. I guess I'm not too rattled, however, because no matter which direction he goes, grad school is almost a given. And I do see him as an IP lawyer if it turns out he can bear that much schooling!</p>
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The engineering program at Trinity is very small and unspecialized, relative to most university engineering programs. You will get a "generic" engineering BS degree, rather than a more specialized "electrical engineering" or "mechanical engineering" degree.
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<p>Trinity engineers do not receive a B.S.E.E. or B.S.M.E., but there are four available areas of concentration available to the B.S. Engineering grads: Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Computer Engineering. The area of concentration is noted on the final transcript, but not on the diploma. As stated in the previous post, ABET accreditation is essential, and Trinity's B.S. degrees in Engineering are ABET accredited (but not its B.A. degrees in Engineering).</p>
<p>My son is pursuing a Mechanical Engineering concentration.</p>
<p>A few followup points:</p>
<p>(1) Trinity offers both a BS degree in engineering (which is ABET-accredited) and a BA degree (which is not). The BA program is probably more like a traditional liberal arts degree program, with relatively few requirements and more opportunities to take electives. But without ABET accreditation, the BA would not be perceived as a "real" engineering degree in many situations. </p>
<p>If you planned to work professionally as an engineer, or go to engineering grad school, you should probably get the BS. If you ultimately planned to go into engineering-related management or law, the BA might be fine.</p>
<p>(2) A big university, like UConn, will hold multiple ABET accreditations; they will have a separate accreditation for each major discipline, like ME, EE, CE, ChE, etc. Trinity, on the other hand, holds only a single ABET accreditation, for "engineering" in the generic sense. </p>
<p>This is why Trinity doesn't offer a BSME degree, or even a BS with a major in mechanical engineering. Technically Trinity offers a BS with a major in general "engineering" and "areas of concentration" in disciplines like ME or EE. This is perfectly valid, but it indicates that the Trinity BS is less specialized than a typical university engineering degree.</p>