Hi, I am a highschool junior looking to get a science/engineering education grounded in the liberal arts so that I can have some flexibility and general skills for the future job market. How is the engineering honors liberal arts program at wisconsin in this regard. Is it too difficult to be realistically possible? I was also planning on doing an art minor along with this if I get in. Would that be impossible? This minor is not the most necessary thing though. Does this program provide a good enough engineering education? Also can it be realistically finished in 4 years? I am willing to go a little bit beyond four years, but not more than 5. I will be major in specifically bioengineering. Thank you for your responses.
You need to spend some time perusing the UW website. There are so many different issues you need to learn about. College is about choosing one or two majors (UW has no minors, btw) to become proficient in. You do not attempt to master all possible fields that interest you. Check on the Honors programs for L&S (Letters and Sciences) and Engineering. Check the required courses for a degree in each of these, including various majors. UW admits students to the university as a whole, regardless of proposed major. This allows you flexibility in changing your major once you are there and have college experience. Remember the saying “jack of all trades and master of none”- in college you will need to choose one or two areas.
A check of the caliber of many UW majors will find the school is highly regarded in many fields. This may be a ranking of graduate programs but the undergrads benefit from them as well.
You need to research your terms- STEM and liberal arts in particular. You need to look at the requirements not only for a major but for graduating from UW. You will find that regardless of your school/college within the university you will need various courses to meet breadth requirements in science, social sciences and humanities. The number of college credits varies for a BS and BA as well. This means having some literature, foreign language and social studies courses along with your proposed science based major.
Check on the requirements for admission to UW and the courses most accepted applicants will have taken. Most HS students will complete four years of a foreign language before attending UW. Most will have taken many of the most rigorous courses their HS offers. Look at the gpa and test scores (ACT, SAT) for the middle half of accepted UW freshmen (that’s the 25-75th %ile). See where you fit.
It sounds like you are just beginning to think about college and will learn a lot about how it works in the next few months.
http://www.engr.wisc.edu/current/current-student-undergraduate-honors-liberal-arts.html
Engineering Honors in the Liberal Arts *is *a ‘thing’ and the OP is interested in learning if anyone has followed this path.
This student triple-majored (engineering, biochemistry, political science) in 5 years.
I assume it would be difficult to double major in College of Engineering and in Letters & Science (honors in the liberal arts) with some art classes, all within 4 years.
Go for it- the link identifies a program that does exist. There are no honors courses in engineering per the link. But the needed courses and credits mimic those required for the L&S comprehensive Honors degree. Easy enough to do for the well rounded student. I did it for my Chemistry major eons ago. The Honors version of breadth courses means a good academic peer group of classmates and there are some great science Honors courses you can take for your engineering major. You still take the same engineering courses, this substitutes/adds those nonengineering courses to your education.
I am pleased to see this program since it acknowledges that some engineering students are good in many areas, not just STEM. It does require some planning so you find and take Honors versions of your breadth requirement courses early on in your college career instead of needing to load up on them later.
btw- do this because you love learning, not because it will increase your job flexibility in the future. Employers will not look at which courses you took, nor will your major always make a difference. Do it for YOU. You will benefit from better classes most likely, instead of being one of the masses taking a course to get requirements out of the way. No matter what your major it alone does not define you. Taking arts and literature classes are helpful when you attend plays, concerts and art exhibits decades later. The Honors designation is a perk that will always be on your diploma. Taking courses for Honors will also add to your abilities, likely improving your job prospects simply because you are used to thinking/going beyond the norm.
When the time comes spend some time outlining a likely four year plan to include the needed courses. This means selecting Honors L&S courses that fit a schedule and seem interesting to you. You can always change your major or drop the honors plan if you want to later. Find out if the honors versions of freshman courses such as math, physics and chemistry fit your goals. Math may not because of the theory instead of problem based approach. That’s why advisors are there when you plan your schedules.
(The student I referenced earlier has one more year as a Rhodes Scholar in Oxford and was accepted to Stanford for Medical School for fall 2016).
thank you for your replies.
By the way, I thought that I was approaching the end of my college search process, but it looks like I have a lot more research to do!
Don’t stress out too much over it. There is plenty of time to figure everything out once you graduate and are signing up for your freshman college classes. UW admits students to the university as a whole so you do have options in case you change your mind about your major once you start college. I think you will find UW will be able to not only meet your needs but offer you a stimulating/challenging college experience as well. With time for fun.