My son was admitted to Tufts, U Rochester, Case Western and U Maryland and is leaning towards the first two on the list so he can be in a smaller school with a strong liberal arts aspect to the campus. He will likely study Mechanical Engineering. Any thoughts on which program is stronger?
Interesting, as when students here in MA ask me what local school URochester is most like, I tell them Tufts. Both have engineering, Both have big medical and dental schools, both have engineering, both have a highly regarded off campus program (Tufts vet school in Grafton, UR’s Eastman School downtown). Both enroll excellent students who perhaps had hopes for ivies, but things didn’t work out in that regard.
My son is graduating with a ME degree in May '16 from UR. He did not apply to Tufts. He has had a good education and personal growth in his life at UR. Perhaps the same would have happened at Tufts. One thing I know about Tufts is that that have a branch to their ME program that involves Human Factors Engineering as a Minor that I think would have been interesting to explore http://engineering.tufts.edu/me/undergraduate/bs/index.htm
UR has some Environment engineering and Geophysical ? http://www.che.rochester.edu/undergraduate/minor.html#environmental
Tufts is in Boston which is more lively that Rochester but Rochester has a definite art and culture atmosphere, especially with Eastman. The other thing that UR has going for it is the open curriculum. Students do a cluster, not a core curriculum. PM if you have other questions.
Tufts is in Medford, which is in suburban Boston. It’s about a 15 minute walk to a subway station, followed by a 15-ish minute subway ride to get into Boston proper. Now, BU and Northeastern, yes, they are in the heart of Boston. Tufts is close, but not “in Boston”.
D is a graduate of UR, so I know the city and school well. I was comparing UR and Tufts as schools, not Boston vs. Rochester.
Medford and Somerville are not leafy suburbs if that’s what came to mind, btw. More like urban sprawl.
My husband and I both went to Tufts so we know the geography of the area. I am curious if anyone knows about the reputations of each school and which is better long term in the engineering field. Tufts has a more well known name and is more selective than U of R but I have a feeling that U of R is a better science school. Yet Tufts is investing in the engineering school with new buildings and the new Pres. is a science guy. Any thoughts?
I think the reason that no one is comparing the schools and focusing on the location is that the differences are negligible. They are very similar schools and much different than say a pure engineering school like WPI and RPI. They both have a liberal arts bent and are research focused and will prepare well for a job after graduation and perhaps better prepare you for further graduate study.
You could try looking at the type/geography of companies that recruit at each place to decide which is a better fit. Neither school will have as much engineer recruiting as a STEM school, but that’s a reasonable trade-off for a student that is keen on liberal arts environment.
I can tell you that engineering recruitment at UR is low. Companies that are in Rochester recruit but not many national companies do at least for ME. Optics is probably a different matter. But as Colorado mom said, being in a liberal arts environment is the trade off. Plus, UR is very big on research and grad school so if that is in your student’s future, UR is a good choice.