Hello,
I am looking for a mechanical engineering program for a student who is high achieving, including a 36 ACT. We are avoiding large schools with little emphasis on undergrads like Berkeley. He visited Union and liked it (Olin is also on the table but it might be too small). Are there any smaller programs like Union that are in more desirable locations? Any such programs in CA? Or could be a larger school with a small school feel or emphasis on undergrads–not as impersonal as some of the bigger programs. We would like something in CA and West Coast, East Coast or perhaps Great Lakes, not South, Southwest, Plains or Rockies. Any suggestions?
Harvey Mudd, part of the Claremont colleges in California.
Thanks
WPI? A lot of people don’t like Worcester, but I liked that campus more than Union’s (as well as the surrounding area).
Cost constraints?
Among California publics, there is UC Merced, which has about 6,800 undergraduates, with about 1,700 in engineering, according to http://www.ucmerced.edu/fast-facts . However, there are plans to expand the campus, so it may become somewhat larger over the next several years.
The other smaller California public with mechanical engineering is the California Maritime Academy (part of the CSU system), but it is a rather specialized school (mainly focused on ships).
Michigan State University has a professorial assistantship program that might interest you. Good merit aid and more importantly a fast track into research and extra attention from faculty. https://honorscollege.msu.edu/professorial-assistantship-pa-program
Santa Clara maybe?
PA: Bucknell, Lafayette, Swarthmore
CA: Harvey Mudd
IN: Rose-Hulman
NY: RPI
MA: WPI
NH: Dartmouth
PA: Lehigh
CA: Santa Clara
TX: Rice
Mudd, R-H, RPI, and WPI are focused specifically on engineering and technology.
The others are “general purpose” liberal arts colleges or small universities that include engineering. Within this group, Lehigh and Rice are particularly noted for their engineering programs.
no cost constraints. Merit aid would be a pus but not necessary.
Olin is a really good program. It has cross registration with Babson (directly abutting) and Wellesley (about a mile and a half away). I have a family member cross enrolled there from Babson. Its small size has both advantages and disadvantages
Harvey Mudd’s engineering is the same size as Olin (but it only offers a general engineering degree).and it offers a range of science degrees, making it a little more than twice the size of Olin. It has cross enrollment with the other Claremont Colleges.
Tufts’ undergraduate engineering is about twice as big as Olin and a little smaller than all of Harvey Mudd. It also has a small graduate program that does interdisciplinary research in order to achieve critical mass. Tufts entire undergraduate population is about 5300 which is similar to the sum total of all the Claremont Colleges.
Tufts’ larger graduate programs are associated with the Health Sciences Campus (Medical, Dental and Nutrition schools) in downtown Boston as well as the Vet school, which is in Grafton (near Worcester - the home of WPI)
Tufts’ undergrad campus is located in Medford/Somerville Ma, Next to Cambridge (where Harvard and MIT are located) and across the Charles River from Boston (where BU and Northeastern are located.) Somerville has the second highest density of young people in the US and Cambridge the third. Lots of high tech companies and startups and lots for young people to do.
The acceptance rate for Tufts’ Engineering is about 11%
Note, however, that Dartmouth’s ABET-accredited engineering bachelor’s degree programs tend to need more than 4 academic years to complete.
Also note that some smaller schools in rural areas have a very “wet” (alcohol consuming) reputation, along with high fraternity/sorority participation.
Harvey Mudd and Caltech are very small schools that are very selective and very rigorous. Stanford is not all that big with 7k undergrads. Santa Clara has a very solid ME program, and is considerably easier to get into than the other three.
On the east coast I have been impressed by the students coming out of Olin and Brown lately. University of Rochester might be worth looking into as well.
UC Merced and CA maritime academy are probably not the best choices for some one who is “high achieving.”
First comment, yay!
For the NorthEast, check out RPI, WPI (more safety), Stevens Institute of Technology in NJ (bigger than Olin, but still small). Also, if no south east, I guess no Georgia Tech?
My daughter loved Valparaiso University in Valparaiso Indiana. We visited over the summer. The school only offer undergraduate degrees and all classes are taught in a small setting. Mechanical engineering appears to be one of their their strongest program.
Thanks all. What about Cooper Union in NYC?
Please consider the weather. It will be depressing for a CA kid in an isolated place and stressful major from Nov thru Mar in the North East.
One West Coast school I haven’t seen mentioned yet is the University of San Diego (the private school, not UCSD). With his stats, he would probably be in line for their $25k/year scholarship which brings the cost down to the mid-upper 30s. As mentioned by others, Santa Clara and Harvey Mudd too. While not a small school, Cal Poly SLO is excellent for ME and has smaller classes like a much smaller school.
Any thoughts about Cooper Union? It is highly ranked and seems like an interesting student body. The student is not from CA, BTW. Thanks!
Very small and selective school in NYC, focusing on engineering, architecture, and arts. Noted for (1) high academic rigor, and (2) highly urban location, in East Village near NYU. Historically known for free tuition, but due to budgetary issues this is no longer the case, although their financial aid is competitive.
Not noted for college social life. No NCAA athletics. Sometimes perceived as a “commuter school”. There are dorms for freshmen, but most other students live in off-campus apartments – often in distant parts of the NYC area, due to the very high housing costs near the school.
There are, of course, lots of non-college things to do in NYC, assuming you have time and money to spare. But if you are on a student budget, paying NYC rents, commuting 2 hours a day on MTA, and attending a school known for high workload, you may not have a lot of either.
USD and Santa Clara are both Catholic schools in California. However, Santa Clara is much stronger for engineering, due to its location in the heart of Silicon Valley. There are a lot of highly qualified students who want to study tech in the Bay Area, but as admissions at Stanford and Berkeley have become insanely competitive, SCU has emerged as the top backup option. According to asee.org, SCU is now pulling engineering students with 680-760 Math SATs, which is higher than most UCs or Cal Poly. USD’s selectivity is not in this league.
On the other hand, SCU is not particularly well endowed and is not known for great financial aid. So it’s possible that a student with high test scores could get more merit aid at USD.