And in each of those cases, a student enrolled in a LAC would have to pursue, at the very least, a masters in order to enter those fields.
1 Like
It works the other way around, too. 
I’m an economist whose real strength has always been more in the humanities. I know the math but I can relate to people who have trouble with it. So I ended up in the role of explaining the expert work to the litigators a lot of the time. And, of course, my interests made a litigation-adjacent career a good match to begin with.
It is not something the typical college student is exposed to, but expert witness work is actually a very interesting way of combining an interest in law with another area of interest, while also avoiding some of the more rote aspects of the legal work an associate might do.
3 Likes
I’d rather spend a few weeks in the summer at Cal Poly than in Indiana. I don’t know if Colorado State or Idaho or Montana have summer programs to try out engineering, but great places to spend a few weeks hiking, biking, climbing and it’s a lot of fun to be on a big college campus in the summer since those schools are set up to serve 20-30k students (rental kayaks, bikes, big rec centers) and only have a fraction of those numbers on campus in the summer - never a line for anything.
My D did the Purdue STEP program and then worked in the program after freshman year. It is intense. They are up at 7 am and work until midnight and beyond. It’s a combo of classes, projects, Purdue traditions, demos and company tours. They do have a couple of fun nights but not a second to do hiking/biking/touring. My D thought it was the best week of her life but she was utterly exhausted and I think fell asleep in the car within five minutes and slept the entire five hour drive home. A crash course into Purdue and their freshman eng design class. Highly recommend for a student who isn’t sure about engineering.
7 Likes
And just a reminder - it’s a competitive entry. So just wanting to go isn’t enough.
My son was turned down but then came a higher ACT which we submitted, and he got in.
And yes - he didn’t want to go - thought we were forcing him.
And then didn’t want to come home he had such a great experience - and raved about the food!!
PS - when we toured RHIT (summer), they had Operation Catapult and the girls there raved about it as well -so another to consider. Not sure of entry requirements.
You can also test out of the language requirement entirely or partially, so that frees up 1-3 course slots depending on what level you would’ve otherwise entered.
1 Like
Classics. If you haven’t started Latin or Greek in HS, you don’t have the luxury of waiting. And a more generalist program in Antiquity or Archaeology even more so. Those grad school programs often require German or French plus a Semitic language (learning Aramaic is easy if you’ve reached reading fluency in Biblical Hebrew, but any of the ancient languages with their own alphabet are going to take time to master. And you can’t advance without mastery…
2 Likes
You just reminded me of “The Holdovers”. LOL
The positive about studying engineering at Cornell College with their block plan is that labs and projects are easier to coordinate, both because you have a longer time with the materials (no need to leave a project to go to another class) and because all of your classmates have the same schedule.
I’m going to throw out a suggestion for RIT. Although many see it as an engineering-heavy school, they have really moved forward with their liberal arts offerings. It has every major you’ve mentioned (all types of engineering, as well as multiple math and physics type offerings, history, museum science, and a bunch of majors that combine multiple interests). Best of all, they have either an engineering exploratory major or a general exploratory major. Part of the major is career counseling. If nothing else, have him take a look at the majors they offer to see that many majors are a match of his skill set that aren’t necessarily engineering.
2 Likes
But specializing is essential if you want professions like mine, structural engineering. There’s a lot to learn and it takes at least four years of college to have enough time to learn all the necessary analysis and design. There are so many materials- wood, concrete, steel, masonry, prestressed concrete, etc. Every one of them is unique and often require more than one semester. Seismic design is incredibly complex. Not to mention needing to understand construction, down to the nuts and bolts.
3 Likes
In my experience, the “weird capitalist/merchant” is one of the common subtypes of engineers. There are plenty of engineering majors who do almost no engineering themselves once they leave school, but rather are interested in strategy, leadership, start-ups etc. I know some who are very happy and successful with this path.
3 Likes
Both my s’s went to schools whose engineering programs were ABET certified ( If going the engineering route, would not recommend any other alternative). That said, neither had had to complete the PE. One worked first at a small start up where there wasn’t a supervisor available. Ultimately neither needed the PE for their careers. Both are engineers, but both are now senior technical program managers at their jobs.
1 Like
And this is true for a number of engineering jobs. But if an engineer switches gears in the middle of their career, they might need the PE.
1 Like
One would have gotten his PE if it was available and he persisted in that direction. I suspect that if one goes a different route and comes back specifically in engineering, they can always get the PE if they need it.
I will say one thing about the PE exam, at least for me, was that the hardest part was relearning how to solve problems with paper, pencil and calculator again, and it was only 4.5 years after I graduated.
A lot of the PE is on stuff you don’t use in every day life. I think it is now a little bit more concentrated for civils. At least part of the test you can choose an area of focus. But I had to solve a lot of soils problems and dam problems, things I hadn’t had to do since school. 4-6 years is a long time to be away from the problems. It would have been really hard to do it 15+ years later.
And when I took it, it had something like a 28% pass rate. Not like it was a slam dunk test.
1 Like
I think the PE exams are all unique now to your discipline…it’s the FIE test that has it all. @MaineLonghorn can be more specific.
Reportedly the longer you are away from these studies, the more difficult this might be. DHs company paid for a prep course for anyone who planned to take the PE and had passed FIE.
Here is an article that tells pass rates for first time takers.
Just an FYI: "Beginning with this year’s entering class (Class of 2026), all students must fulfill the Language Requirement through one or more courses taken at Dartmouth. It is no longer possible to gain an exemption from the language requirement on the basis of prior knowledge or high-school study. "
https://students.dartmouth.edu/ugar/faculty/advising/resources/language-requirement
1 Like
Just asked my son at lunch (he’s home for the weekend). He says he’ll never need it. So he wouldn’t take it.
I guess it just depends on what one wants to do in life.
Yes I should’ve noted that.
I would also note however that I know a '27 who nonetheless was given an exception for proficiency of a studied language. I think the thing they were trying to get away from was someone passing out of e.g. Spanish because they’d spoken it at home as a first language or more or less adjacent to English. The '27 had studied French and Italian extensively, but not spoken it at home. So they were allowed out of the requirement. But it’s definitely not the norm as the changed policy you posted calls out.
1 Like
that makes sense, and for many (most?) kids it likely isn’t that onerous of a requirement. Most kids will have AP-level (or close) experience with a language.