Can anyone comment on the quality of Western Carolina’s engineering program?
I know nothing about the program but look at the professors, where they got their degrees and what type of facilities they have. It’s evidently a small school. What other schools are you looking at and what state do you live in. Giving your unweighted GPA and any scores like Act /Sat a. And highest math and science taken can be helpful. What are you looking to major in?
1 Like
I know they are ABET with a few concentrations. ABET means you’ll learn similar material as elsewhere.
I would call the career center (or find online) and ask for outcome data.
2 Likes
I don’t have any first hand knowledge, but looking at the website, it’s limited, which is too bad because tuition at this school made me badly want it to be great.
Offerings are limited to Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering, the latter with an emphasis on electric power. No Civil or Chemical Engineering. No Nuclear, or Computer, or other specialties. It seems career oriented, but the price is right. If the student’s interests match the offerings, and if s/he works hard, it can be a springboard to the future.
2 Likes
WCU is a very underrated school. They have are accredited by ABET and some of their STEM majors are pretty good. I can tell you for a fact that energy companies in NC are always looking for power engineers, so if that is something you can roll with then I would consider WCU. I do think both NCSU and UNCC are better options. ECU has engineering as well as does UNCA (mechatronics).
FWIW, the area leans conservative and the school attracts a lot of kids that are the first in their families to go to college and often lean right. I personally know a bi-racial kid (friend of dad) who transferred out because he could not deal with the social scene at the college. I also know someone who went there that fits the description of the typical student, and is now faculty at a university. YMMV.
1 Like
I believe UNCA has a 2+2 program with NCState. I am not sure because my kids are not interested in engineering, but I believe and older brother of one of my D22’s friends did a 2+2 in engineering at UNCA and NCState. It might be a student could start at WCU and also transfer to State. Worth looking into.
We looked into UNCA for my son. The issue is that almost all lectures are taught virtually by NCSU faculty and it is facilitated by UNCA staff. For some students, it is far from ideal. But the 2+2 option is pretty nice. One thing I did find out was that admission to NCSU is not guaranteed through these programs and is pretty competitive, like 3.7 GPA competitive. Just something to remember when weighing options.
1 Like