LACs (or LAC-like universities) that offer engineering?

[mini]

Smith, but he can't go without a little, uh, re-engineering.

[momofthreeboys]

^^LOL.

Oh yes I forgot Trinity and that was one my son visited. I think if you have a kid who "wants" engineering and "wants" LAC it is difficult to parse what it is they want if they are unable to express. For my son, his college app list contains some of the colleges mentioned here (like Bucknell, lafayette) but also contains large universities where of course engineering students do not comprise the majority of the campus students. I think if the OP has some conversations with the nephew it will become transparent if it's size or if it's curriculum. If it's simply size then the list expands to include all those wonderful small engineering schools. I forgot Alfred, visited that with my second son and yes, I would include that one on my list. A very interesting place.

[spectrum2]

If this is a kid with very high stats and Harvey Mudd is an option as I recall it has the typical well rounded LAC requirements. Aside from this it is part of Claremont Consortium, thus while HMC is a very techy environment the other 4 colleges on campus are not. Students can take classes at the other 4 colleges, EC's are generally open to students of all of the colleges and movement between the campuses is very fluid.

[momlax]

Haverford College is now offering a 4+1 (with a masters from UPenn) in engineering

[spectrum2]

I hadn't thought of it before but the above post reminded me, I am pretty sure some of the other Claremonts have 3+2 engineering programs.

[momofthreeboys]

It takes a unique kid to leave their undergrad after junior year and forgo graduating with the peers they have spent three years forging relationships. I've only witnessed a few kids that have followed through on these 3+2 programs. Proceed cautiously. 4+1 makes more sense or a cross campus program (if that is what the Claremont program is).

[Proudpatriot]

momofthreeboys:

I graduated from Alfred with a degree in engineering back in the stone age. It is very much like a LAC in feel. It is in a remote location, which I loved but it isn't for everyone.

[momofthreeboys]

I loved everything about Alfred, and although we live in a village, my son, who was accepted, felt there wasn't "enough" of an off campus presence to live there 4 years...so he ended up in a remote college with a town that has maybe double the size shopping district of Alfred. 4 block downtown, 4,000 residents no. 8 block downtown, 5,000 residents yes. Kids, go figure.

[SteveMA]

Any geographical limitations?

[GMTplus7]

OP,
Unless your son is considering to continue on to a graduate degree after the undergrad engineering degree, you need to consider how many or few companies might be recruiting engineers from a small LAC

[GeekMom63]

Harvey Mudd, Olin, Rose-Hulman, Caltech and IMO RPI are full of pretty techie kids. Mine wanted the diversity of being able to take economics and other liberal arts classes in addition to engineering

Most of those schools have a lot of choices of liberal arts classes, either on their own or through consortia. I'd look at the catalogs before dismissing them based on insufficient non-STEM classes.

[mathmom]

Tufts has a small program. Union, WPI are small schools. WPI is part of a consortium of other Worcester Colleges (Holy Cross and Clark and 2 or 3 others IRCC.) GW has one of the few engineering schools with 50/50 M/F ratios.

[Lakemom]

If your nephew is not afraid of the cold, Univ of Rochester is good for both bio and engineering. Undergrad population is about 5K. They are know for being strong in sciences but have numerous other majors, Eastman school of music is available for classes and they have flexible curriculum, no core requirements except for a writing class.

[fieldsports]

NJIT is nicer than people realize. It has 6600 undergrads. I believe there are about 2000 grad students, but I think their presence is felt more in the evening, as many of them are working engineers.

[colorado_mom]

OP - The answer will vary a lot by the caliber of the student and financial factors. (Many colleges cost more than $50,000/year. That's an initial shocker to most family. Scholarships and financial aid are sometimes available -it's complicated but possible to factor that in early in the search. )