Johns Hopkins Mechanical Engineering?

Emotive
Mon, 22 Feb 2016 14:06:30 +0000

Hopkins has a relatively small and rather selective engineering program. Last year, the school received about 8000 applications for engineering, about 1000 students were admitted out of which 444 were enrolled. For engineering, enrolled students have SAT around 2300, or ACT around 35.

Of the 444 enrolled students, 43 were in Mechanical Engineering. Total enrollment in the department is about 250. Total number of faculty in the department is 21. That gives a very respectable student/faculty ratio. Given that Hopkins takes pride in its undergraduate research programs, you are sure to be able to work on interesting projects, if you wish to do so. By the way, the department’s research expenditure is about $17 million. This is a good indicator of the department’s research vitality and strength.

In terms of engineering curriculum, you would not find much difference among accredited engineering schools. They all have similar set of courses and graduation requirements. It comes down to professors’ teaching abilities/experience and the school’s commitment to undergraduate education. In that regard, smaller schools, like Hopkins, have an advantage over larger schools with way too many students per class.

Internship, co-op, study abroad, research, … are keywords that one hears at almost every school. Job placement for engineering graduates at most reputable engineering schools is about 90%. So, no school has an upper hand for providing unique experiences/opportunities. Though some schools have a better track record of placing their graduates in highly sought after positions/companies.

There are many good engineering schools with a rigorous technical engineering program, but they generally give only lip service to liberal arts/humanities education which has become increasing important in our modern multi-cultural economy. Hopkins is unique in this regard since it offers a technically rigorous engineering education in a broader university-wide liberal arts curriculum.