<p>Hi! I'm a current Junior in High School and am thinking about colleges. Right now, I think I want to become an Engineer, but may possibly want to switch to Biology/Pre-med in the future. I was just wondering the caliber of Tuft's Engineering program? Is it comparable to Engineering schools like Carnegie Mellon, RPI, WPI, etc.? Thanks!</p>
<p>Tufts’ engineering school is very good but rather intimate in size - about 200 a year.
Carnegie Mellon’s is certainly ranked higher, as is RPI, but i think the location of Tufts is superior. MOre importantly, Tufts correctly describes itself has having “low walls and thin barriers” between A&S and Engineering - i.e., you’d never know there’s a difference except in the classes you take. In terms of living and socializing, it’s all one big (okay, medium) happy place. And if you might consider switching to and A&S curriculum, then I would recommend Tufts over the other two.</p>
<p>To add on to WCAS, the biology/pre-med at Tufts is stellar, so if you are considering between engineering and the bio/premed program, Tufts is certainly well-rounded, whereas RPI and Carnegie-Mellon are (from what I understand) a little more specialized towards engineering. All great schools though, so you really can’t go wrong with any of them. Hope that helps! =)</p>
<p>Hi - it sounds like we’re in a really similar situation being torn between biology and engineering and other sciences, as well as the fact that we’re both rising juniors. I actually just visited Tufts and Carnegie Mellon earlier this summer and came away preferring Tufts to CMU. </p>
<p>CMU is undoubtedly a more prestigious school for engineering. However, I really really value the liberal arts experience at Tufts, and I think that a student like you who is undecided would value it similarly. At CMU, the admission counselor straight up told me that you need to know what you want to study when you start freshman year, and that it is difficult to graduate in 4 years if you change your mind. Tufts is the opposite. You get to start out in engineering, but you can decide during your first two years if it’s right for you, and if its not you can transfer over to liberal arts easily. </p>
<p>Unless you’re positive you want to be an engineer (and it doesn’t sound like you are) I think you should consider Tufts more. Definitely apply to both (I know I will too) but Tufts is leading in my book.</p>
<p>Also, consider the difference in the student body at Tufts versus the more tech-oriented schools. This was a subject of intense study and debate when my son was looking at colleges 
WPI, RPI, CMU kids are more intensely geeky/nerdy on average than Tufts students who are on average more well-rounded. When we visited CMU in particular we walked past many people who walked with their eyes glued to their laptop screens. Kinda scary 
So the overall social environment is different and not that any of them is bad, but you may decide you really prefer one environment over the other…</p>
<p>Our daughter graduated with both an engineering undergrad and grad degree from Tufts. She loved it - everything from the great undergrad experience to the small engineering departments where students get to work closely with their professors.</p>
<p>I don’t know much about engineering at Tufts except that a friend’s daughter graduated last year and is employed. My other son was at Carnegie Mellon - he loved it, but he’s very much the computer nerd stereotype. Not everyone is, but there are a lot of them!</p>
<p>I graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering (and Math) this spring and I’m very glad I chose Tufts. Coming out of highschool I’d taken as many AP math, science, and CS classes as I could in HS, so I knew engineering was a possibility but I definitely wasn’t certain. The ease with which I could switch and the opportunity to interact with a more diverse group of people was a large part of what drew me in. Ultimately, I never had any desire to leave the engineering school but I was very thankful that I wasn’t surrounded solely by engineers.
Strictly speaking, RPI/WPI/CMU are more highly regarded engineering schools but you can definitely get a good engineering education at Tufts. When I was a freshman a few of the required introductory classes were of questionable utility, but I believe they’ve made improvements for this coming year and will continue to work to improve the school’s offerings.
As far as outcomes, all of my friends who’ve looked for jobs have gotten them and, in general, if you do well you won’t have trouble finding a job in your field.</p>
<p>I’m back on this thread because I just spoke with a recent Tufts engineering grad (from the class of 2012).</p>
<p>He said that all of his friends from Tufts engineering were employed (at places like Google, Microsoft, Motorola, Dow Chemical, etc) and were doing really well! The more I hear about Tufts, the better it gets! =)</p>
1 Like