echang08

Hey everyone,
The decision isn't actually mine but my friend's, but I thought that title would attract more attention. She is trying to choose among Brown, Duke, and Cornell, and is certain that she will be an engineer. Long story short, she really wants to go to Brown and loves the feel/social scene, but is concerned about the strength of the engineering program there. It is the weakest among the 3 schools in that area. Can anyone on this board offer any input on this? Is Brown engineering truly that weak in comparison?

My friend has to make a decision tonight, so thanks in advance! We both would really appreciate any advice on this front.

Something that I told her to consider was to get an engineering degree from Brown, then perhaps get a masters at a more prestigious engineering school, and rely on that plus the (presumably strong) alumni network in her first few years out of school. Is this a viable plan of action?

Thank you!

RestmyChemistry

I'm in a similar situation! There are other threads similar threads on the site but your's is really specific (and asks questions that I too am concerned about)

dcircle

1. brown actually has the oldest engineering program in the ivy league. it is very well-established, has excellent faculty, and excellent state-of-the-art facilities (including a rapid prototyping lab, huge machine shop, etc.)

2. the only reason brown's engineering program doesn't stand out in comparison to some others is because it is relatively small (brown doesn't have a separate school of engineering--it's basically a large department)

3. brown engineers get into all of the top engineering grad school programs at high rates, including MIT, stanford, and princeton.

4. the main advantage of being an engineer at brown is the opportunity to live outside of the engineering bubble. because it is not a separate school, you are exposed to all types of students with all types of interests. in addition, outside of engineering requirements, you have the opportunity to take advantage of the open curriculum and explore non-engineering interests to the greatest capacity possible

echang08

dcircle - do you have any sources to support #3?

dcircle

no, it's just anecdotal based on my friends. however, these people are all on facebook...i don't want to out them but you can probably do a creative search

muddaof2

My S chose Brown for engineering over Cornell and a number of other prestigious schools a year ago. Mainly for reason #4 stated previously, but also b/c he knows he wants a master's degree and saw no reason to get into a competitive stressful environment that exists at some of these theoretically more highly-regarded engineering programs during his undergrad years. He loves Brown. Good luck to your friend!

JoeTrumpet

I am not very well acquainted with engineering, but I'll just throw in that if your friend loves Brown, your friend should go to Brown. The school you go to is going to have very little impact, if any, on what happens to you career-wise after graduation. Your friend is great enough to get into those schools, and those abilities are going to still exist and still develop at almost any school in the nation--especially when the schools are so close in "quality" (whatever that truly means).

echang08

To everyone who replied, thank you! Thanks to you and some of the other "Brown Engineering?" threads on this board (which I hadn't looked up prior to starting this thread, sorry), and some other well-put advice, my friend finally decided on Brown.