What are some good target schools for engineering major with broader interests?

Parents Forum
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Hi I want to apply to a college with a good engineering program but still be able to study other things that I’m interested in!

I’m a Junior atm. My school only lets us apply to 8 PRIVATE universities

I’m female and middle eastern. I’m not first gen. I’m Jewish.

I go to one of the hardest schools to get into in NYC, my average is a 95.2 and the grade average is a 92. All of my classes are advanced placement or higher since seventh grade. Very academically rigorous.

SHAPE- Summer High School Academic Program for Engineers Columbia University
The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science
Courses completed: Innovation & Design and Entrepreneurship

Summer Student Program HOPP Human Oncology & Pathogenesis Program
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Summer Research Seminar Series in Translational Cancer Research

Center for Talented Youth @ Johns Hopkins University Undergraduate Neuroscience Course

2018-2019 Science Research Seminar at Hunter College High School
(Academic year) Final engineering project: Creating a More Potent, Localized, Topical Wound Dressing for Those with Bleeding Disorders

2017 & 2018 Society for Science and the Public Broadcom Masters
Competition, Hunter nominee

WORK EXPERIENCE:

June 2020-present Mt. Sinai Hospital Department of Pediatric Rheumatology, student observer under Dr. Rebecca Trachtman

March 2020-present Students Helping Students Online Tutoring Program aimed at connecting trained NYC high school student tutors with low-income NYC public school students preparing for the selective highs school admissions tests
Founder, President, Tutor Supervisor, Student Tutor

Bicultural and fluent in Farsi
Working knowledge of Spanish
Alto-Mezzo Soprano in Hunter College High School’s Senior Chorus since 2016
Member of Hunter College High School Mock Trial Team
Op-ed writer, Hunter College High School’s Third Law magazine
CPR certified, on track for lifeguard certification

I’m taking AP Bio, AP Span as my official AP courses but, like I said, all of my courses are advanced placement any way. On track to take BC calc, honors physics, and orgo/biochem next year among other STEM courses.

Haven’t taken SAT or SAT 2, but my PSAT is a 1490 out of 1520
Haven’t taken APs yet either

reach/ideal schools:
JHU
Yale
Princeton

target:
UMich Ann arbor?
Emory?
Tufts?

Safety:
SUNY Binghamton

I want to do biomed or mechanical engineering. My guidance counselor want us to have a basic list of ten schools with at least three targets. I’ve done a TON of research but I’m still so stuck…

2

Every engineering program I’m aware of has opportunities for students to take non-engineering courses. Actually I think such courses are mandated by the engineering accreditation board.

However I believe there are variations in the number of such free elective courses/credits an engineering student can take. Also there are variations in the number of such courses/areas available to be taken. based on the breadth and depth of the greater university that each engineering college is part of.

My suggestion is:
Do an initial screening based on factors such as: intellectual match, reputation, breadth and depth in engineering fields of interest, location/ proximity, other factors you might throw in to trim the list.
After you are done with initial screening there will probably only be maybe twenty colleges you will seriously be entertaining attending.

Once the candidate list is realistic and manageable, you can dive in to each school’s curriculum individually, look in detail at differences in the number and nature of free electives a student with your prospective majors would have available to them.

One clearly distinguishing feature you will find, for mech e, is an ABET-accredited major vs. unaccredited. I would suggest ABET if you actually want to practice as a “normal” mechanical engineer. But that program of studies will probably have less lattitude for outside studies. Though there will still be such opportunities.

As an aside, I know a number of alums of your school, they are all brilliant and successful. You are very fortunate (and very talented) to have been able to attend it. It will serve you well. Forever.

Best of luck. Not that you need it.

3

I don’t see any NYC schools on your list. Is that intentional?

Have a look at Canadian schools, in particular University of Toronto and University of Waterloo. Both have extremely strong engineering programs and are more multicultural than any of those on your list.

Smith College has a very good engineering program.

Are you interested in schools that have a STEM focus? Do you have a preference for size or geographic location?

4

In your case I would certainly screen Duke and Penn. Also Brown and Columbia SEAS. (though “The Core” will eat in to your free electives count).

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No limits on the number of public schools, or are there other limits?

Emory does not have engineering natively – it only has a 3+2 program with Georgia Tech.

If you are a New York resident, would you also want to add more SUNYs like Stony Brook and Buffalo to your list?

Very important: have you talked to your parents about what they will contribute for your college costs, and have you and they run net price calculators on the web sites of each college that may be of interest to you?

6

Comp. Sci/Psych major here! I would say try for some state schools, UT is a great choice (Austin native talking haha)! I would also apply to maybe some smaller schools (Scripps/Harvey Mudd or maybe Rose-Hulman). Maybe WashU and Swarthmore.

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The accreditation for engineering programs in Canada is very restrictive. There is very little room for electives, and of those elective spaces the majority have to come from pre-approved “technical electives”. You may get 4 completely free electives if you’re lucky. It’s one of the reasons why DS19 chose Physics over Engineering. He also has diverse interests and wanted more room for electives.

8

You could look into URochester. Their open curriculum is quite flexible, though I’m not sure if the engineering program allows for much.

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Yeah, I’d prefer to be out of the city but still in the country, I also prefer coast schools. definitely east coast, maybe west coast.

10

Thanks so much guys!!!

11

Talk to your parents about how much they can afford for college. Run the Net Price Calculator on each school’s web site. Many of those OOS or private colleges will be expensive.

12

Did anyone mention Case Western Reserve University? They are big in Biomedical and Mechanical and many Case students do more than one thing…e.g. Engineering with Music or the like.
CWRU was created from the merger of a LAC + STEM school in 1969. So you get people majoring in the liberal arts, nursing, business, as well as engineering. Unlike some engineering schools, you get more of a male female balance.

13

I’d add the obvious MIT, CMU, and Stanford as reaches.

Target/slight reach - Michigan, Georgia Tech.

Target - Purdue, Virginia Tech

Safety- Ohio State, Penn State

I’m curious how you’ve taken all AP or better classes since 7th grade but are on-track to take Calc BC and honors Physics as a Senior. What AP+ courses have been in your math track?

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14

Check out Tufts and Union . Both are, by design, places where you can do things outside your engineering major. I see Tufts is on your list – it’s more of a low reach than a target.

Start by seeing what the requirements are for your engineering degree, then see how many other classes you can take.

15

Penn and Vanderbilt came to mind for biomedical. Also Pitt. Tons of medical opportunities. After that I would think schools in Boston would be good to look at. Great college city.

16

Talk to your parents about financial benchmarks, i.e. what you can comfortably afford. Most public universities in other states will not offer much financial assistance to OOS. Also, understand that the engineering requirements for Mechanical (and the other traditional engineering disciplines) will not vary much from school to school, therefore your opportunity to enroll in more that a few general education or Liberal Arts courses will be limited.

That said, some colleges try extra hard to create well-rounded engineers. For example, these publics:
U of Virginia
Georgia Tech
George Mason University
U of Maryland-Baltimore County
SUNY New Paltz

Investigate these private STEM colleges:
Princeton U
Columbia U
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
U of Rochester
George Washington University

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All schools with a good engineering program offer much more than just courses in STEM. The question is whether they offer majors/minors/certificates/courses that YOU are interested in. What are YOUR interests besides engineering?

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Oh I’ve done so much research into swarthmore!!! It looks exactly like what I want haha!

19

Northwestern would be a good reach to explore. They are on a quarter system which lends itself to being able to take more courses. They stress the ease of double majoring or adding minors to any major.

I second looking at Case and U. or Rochester for targets.

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20

Ohio State offers merit scholarships and has a vibrant Jewish community.