<p>Is there any place to find where the drop-out rate of engineers is low?</p>
<p>When I think of retention rate, I think of retention rate after one year. But many engineering students don’t take any engineering courses in the first year. They might take calc and physics which are weeder courses for engineering.</p>
<p>When I think of drop-out rate, I think of graduation rate after 6 years which is different from retention after one year. </p>
<p>Do you mean drop out rate from engineering or from college altogether? Many students transfer to another major after one or two years and graduate from a different major. </p>
<p>The drop out rate from engineering at the top-20 schools is about 10-15%. The drop-out rate from engineering at the second-tier schools is about 50-70%. The rest fall somewhere in between.</p>
<p>Drop out rate after the first year</p>
<p>I don’t know the drop-out rates after one year within engineering specifically but I would guess they parallel the overall drop-out rate (100 minus the retention rate in US News) but are 2% higher at the top-20 schools and 10% higher at the second-tier schools (than the overall one-year drop-out rate).</p>
<p>So, if the overall drop-out rate after one year at a second-tier school were 10% then the drop-out rate from engineering would be 20%. At a top school, the difference would be only 2%.</p>
<p>collegehelp, I’m curious: Why do you think the drop-out rate is 2% higher at top 20 schools and 10% at lower-ranked schools? And are you talking about top 20 schools in general or schools with one of the top 20 undergraduate engineering programs?</p>
<p>
Probably the tech schools like Cal-Tech & MIT, and some of the top programs.</p>
<p>I’m curious, though; do you think there’s some cause-and-effect relationship? That if you go to one of the programs with a low drop-out rate you’ll be less likely to drop out?</p>
<p>worried mom,
The drop out rate at top schools is 2% higher in engineering than at the same school overall. That is what I was saying. I was not saying that the drop out rate is higher at top schools than second-tier schools.</p>
<p>So, the difference between engineering and the whole school is probably 2% at top schools and 10% at second-tier schools.</p>
<p>This is drop-out rate after one year.</p>
<p>Top schools accept very few students who lack the necessary ability. Second tier schools accept many students who lack the necessary ability in engineering.</p>
<p>
On the contrary, I think that Pitt engineering (whatever tier that is) has a freshman retention rate of somewhere around 90%. I think the retention rate is due to a concerted effort to implement a supportive environment to promote success in academics and transitioning from high school to college. Attention to the students will yield success more than research, donations, etc. (jmho)</p>
<p>is there a website/source where I can get all of the statistics that you are saying?</p>
<p>I’m not sure if there might be something in the common data set, but here is something I found about peer mentoring at Pitt. I think it helps that they have special housing for engineering students (SPACE), regularly scheduled tutors and homework help within that housing, student mentors, freshman recreational groups, etc.<br>
[SPACE:</a> School of Engineering: University of Pittsburgh](<a href=“http://www.engr.pitt.edu/freshman/advising/space.html]SPACE:”>http://www.engr.pitt.edu/freshman/advising/space.html)
<a href=“http://www.engr.pitt.edu/freshman/academic/eng12/1108.pdf[/url]”>http://www.engr.pitt.edu/freshman/academic/eng12/1108.pdf</a>
I agree that comparing retention rates might by really valuable. Sorry I don’t know where to find that info. It could be that Cal Tech and MIT have the very best retention rates…maybe you can inquire at specific colleges you are interested in?</p>
<p>Smith.</p>
<p>[Smith</a> College: Picker Engineering Program](<a href=“http://www.science.smith.edu/departments/Engin/]Smith”>http://www.science.smith.edu/departments/Engin/)</p>