The people working on the bomb at Columbia were clearly physicists. Look 'em up. Enrico Fermi didn’t call himself an engineer. While I agree that there were engineering components involved in building the bomb, it isn’t what Columbia is known for in that case. Eckert was an astronomer, and Fermi & Szilrd clearly identified themselves as physicists. I have no dislike of Columbia, but this wasn’t a feat of the engineering department.
Sure, but Fermi’s most important contributions to the project were at the University of Chicago anyway, not Columbia. That’s where he built Chicago Pile-1. Also, most of the technical staff working on the bomb were physicists, but those physicists were doing both theoretical physics and engineering anyway. The line between the two is quite slim. At any rate, my main point is that the bomb was designed almost entirely in Los Alamos.
My son looked into a 3-2 program but I discouraged him from doing so for the following reasons.
- It is more expensive. Sure, making CC part of that program can reduce those expenses but really only if you live at home (or some other real cheap living arraignment) as those living costs do drive up the cost of the 3-2 programs.
- Are you sure you want to do engineering or will you succeed in it (GPA wise at least)? If you can't answer that question until you've finished 3 years of college (and probably well into your 4th year), that's a big risk. Many students do leave engineering programs for other fields.
- In a 4 year program, you probably start with some intro to engineering classes your freshman year and start to figure out what engineering is really all about. Your high school programs really don't show what engineering about, so just figuring out what it is about is an education in itself.
- Taking all your general education and arts and humanities classes your first 3 years doesn't prepare you for the rigor that is required for engineering programs. You will have to hone those study skills when you enter the engineering program meanwhile you won't have that art or humanities class to provide a diversion and some relief from the engineering classes.
- You also risk turning the 3-2 program into a 3-3 program as many engineering programs are impacted and class availability is an issue. In many schools (especially the public ones) it requires a lot of attention and some luck to make it out in 4 years, For the 3-2 student, so many classes, so little time.
- You delay entering the job market by that extra year. That's about $70,000 worth of lost income.
Interesting to note (and it might just be an aberration); I know that the 3-2 programs exist but I can’t recall a single engineer I’ve worked with that did a 3-2 program (and I know most (but not all) of the educational backgrounds of the people I’ve worked in my 40 year career).
Columbia accepts about 100 students from affiliate liberal arts colleges into their combined engineering program each year. The engineering school also includes Applied Math, Applied Physics and Computer Science majors.
You indicated that Columbia was not known for engineering and I pointed out that they are by providing proof: They are one of the oldest engineering schools in the country, highly ranked at both the undergraduate and graduate level (18 and 14 respectively), also has one of the largest graduate engineering enrollments in the country (3,200) and attracts a very large $145 million a year in research funding. These are all measures of a world class engineering school.
@akin67, this…thread…is…dead. As is the other one you just replied to. Elvis has left the building.