Looking for insight regarding the following in-budget options for DD who is interested in a strong STEAM program (maybe Engineering or Applied Science). Focused on fit - seeking a welcoming campus community for a student who wants to pursue project-based STEAM coursework with the opportunity to layer in some design courses.
Looking for feedback on the strength of these programs or special advantages they may offer:
Skidmore (Physics/Chem): Porter Wachenheim Scholarship $43k COA
WPI (Engineering): $50K COA
Lafayette (Engineering): Marquis Scholar: $54k COA
Lehigh (Engineering + open curriculum): Trustee Scholar / IDEAS program: $53k COA
W&M (Physics/Chem + Applied Science): Monroe Scholar: $60K COA (offered $4000 internship stipend + $1500 research stipend)
Skidmore has the lowest COA, but concerned about the breadth of STEAM opportunities for four years.
W&M is appealing for the Monroe Scholar offerings, warmer weather and beautiful campus, wide range of majors and potential access to graduate level courses. Are these perks worth the highest COA?
WPI’s advantages include the engineering + humanities structure with study abroad opportunities, but the gender ratio is a bit rough (64m/37w). Smallest school with limited major options if she decides not to pursue engineering.
Lafayette is appealing for its LAC approach and smaller size with an engineering program. Loved that she can study abroad through the engineering program. Can she find her crowd outside of Greek life?
Lehigh’s advantages include engineering at a research institution with a wider range of majors including design and STEM offerings through the flexible IDEAS program. Is the vibe welcoming outside of Greek life?
Planning on attending admitted student days, but any insight is appreciated! Thanks in advance.
You gotta cut. Skidmore and W&M make zero sense. Monroe is irrelevant. If you want to be an engineer, there’s no reason to be there.
You don’t need Monroe to do research. It’s nice that it’s funded but it’s not relevant to your possible desires. There’s unlikely a school in the country where you can’t do research. So again unless you want 5 years and to transfer in between, hard no to W&M. Great school though.
WPI is 7 week classes. Does that matter??
Lafayette is smaller and is an LAC so its engineering program will not dominate like at WPI. Lehigh is sort of best of both worlds.
Which of those three does your student like best ?
If you get an ABET accredited engineering degree - frankly the where doesn’t matter. So pick the one where the student is most comfortable and will have their best experience.
But to be an engineer go to a school that offers it. That’s an easy cut. Monroe is a great get but it’s an ego thing. Of the student knew they wanted to be an engineer up front, Skidmore and W&M shouldn’t have even made the app list, truth be told.
I don’t think cutting W&M because of the lack of engineering is necessarily the way to go. As you noted, you’re focused on fit, and W&M is a school where — for the right fit — it can be an incredible opportunity. I agree that you should go in with eyes open, that an engineering degree wouldn’t be available, but, as you noted “maybe engineering” in your original post, that isn’t the same as “for sure: engineering”. If you do decide that engineering is definitely what you want, I agree that W&M wouldn’t make sense.
Note that if you do go to an ABET engineering program, your definition of “design courses” will probably have to have a pretty limited scope, to “engineering design”. Maybe that’s what you want! If not, though, the engineering degree is usually very regimented, and you might not have a lot of leeway for outside interests. I’d suggest looking at the schools’ online catalogs to see what design courses they have that look appealing. You might be able to winnow your list a bit that way.
You’ll be able to go to the schools’ admitted students days? I’d strongly recommend doing that, to see about that “fit” and feel if it’s right. I’d also encourage you to check out the W&M Applied Science page / professors, and reach out ahead of time to see if you can chat with them at W&M’s Day For Admitted Students. (And similar for other schools.) Seeing how they respond / how willing they are to chat could be illuminating as well.
First and foremost, they are all excellent schools so congrats are in order. After looking at LACs with D, my sense is that fit is very important. Therefore, a lot of the decision (assuming affordability) should rest on where your student feels is the best fit both academically and socially.
My D graduated from Lafayette college a few years ago and had a fantastic experience in every regard. My sense is that Lafayette has found the secret sauce where students are academically challenged but still have time to develop close friendships, get involved in ECs, do research with professors, and relax a bit. I’m sure other schools on your list have found this balance but Laf is the only one I can speak to personally.
My D was a STEM major who also loves Shakespeare, classical music, etc. She specifically wanted a LAC undergrad experience and felt that Laf had the right balance of academics (good in STEM and humanities) and she felt very comfortable with students she met on campus. Socially, there is plenty of opportunity to find friends and have a vibrant social life outside of Greek Life. First of all students cannot pledge until sophomore year so by the time that happened she had a very strong friend group in place – some pledged, others didn’t but they stayed very close for all four years (and remain close friends today). Laf also has a number of living-learning communities which can be nice options outside of Greek Life.
If you have any questions about Laf feel free to PM me.
Also FWIW, D dismissed Skidmore from consideration after our visit feeling the school’s strength was not in the STEM arena. But I think they opened up a new science building since we were there so YMMV.
My S22 is a junior at WPI and a thousand years ago I went to W&M, so I’m partial to those.
In all seriousness, I’ll tell you that for a kid interested in project based learning, WPI is a great find. That’s really the basis of everything they do, and it offers some excellent experiences.
Right now my son is on his junior year IQP trip abroad - it’s a quarter long project that is likely not related to your major, but is designed to help you learn project management and how to deliver a product and work with sometimes challenging and always complex clients. They are in Greece, working to help a non-profit pomegranate farm that employs people recovering from addiction with their business needs and future modeling.
The gender imbalance is real - it wasn’t that bad with the class of current seniors, then a benefactor passed away and her will didn’t include the large funding that she had been giving every year for scholarships for girls. When that fell off, female students dropped in favor of other cheaper schools. Despite the imbalance, though, it appears to be a very welcoming campus for women and a very inclusive space for all people.
There is a surprisingly robust (surprising to me, didn’t expect to find that) music program and a good number of art options for a predominantly STEM school. Plus a fair number of students who end up more on the business side of the house which seems to work well for those interested, as the STEM businesses need people who can communicate for them in regular language too.
If she’s coming in with APs, even if she majors in engineering, she should have a fair bit of time to slide in some of those fun extra courses too (in addition to taking some humanities to meet the requirement). My kid is double majoring in CivE and MechE with a minor in writing. It took some careful planning, but is doable.
The first question that comes to my mind is, are you willing to go more than four years in order to add more interdisciplinary content to an ABET engineering degree? If so, then Lehigh may offer the richest array of options, with their dual-degree Arts & Engineering option (with a true design major as an option on the “Arts” side).
If wanting to get done in four years, then it’s true that the time-crunch of an ABET degree can end up being more of a limitation than the question of what the school does or doesn’t offer.
My son has some of the same schools and it’s down to Lehigh and Penn State for him, I think - Lafayette is too small and W&M is not a good culture fit for him based on everything we’ve seen and heard (plus the engineering focus is as strong as he wants it to be).
Have you verified the credit status with a Dean or the person who approves courses taken outside the institution? There are often surprises… just make sure you have accurate information on which credits will and won’t “count”.
My son is a junior majoring in physics at William and Mary. It’s been an amazing experience for him so far. He has enjoyed the smaller classes, personal relationships with his professors, research opportunities and being part of a community of students who are serious about their academics.He is also in a fraternity, a club sport and a few other campus organizations. He has plenty of time for fun. Feel free to message me if I can answer any questions.
William and Mary is definitely a “fit” school and does not have an engineering program. The Physics department along with comp sci.,data science and applied science will be a new college within in the university starting in the fall. There are a lot of resources being directed into STEM right now. I certainly wouldn’t say there is a lack of emphasis - quite the opposite.
My older son was an engineering major at an SEC school. He would have hated William and Mary and my younger son would have hated his school.
