<p>“I did your research for you”</p>
<p>Ahem – it wasn’t <em>my</em> “research.”</p>
<p>If you’ll check page 1 of this thread, I stated in post #14 earlier today:</p>
<p>“Financial aid can always be arranged for Williams students who qualify – even at institutions they choose during and after their third year.”</p>
<p>I’m not sure that “always” is correct. For example, Columbia does not provide financial aid for international students in the 3-2 program.</p>
<p>That’s why I said “for Williams students who qualify.”</p>
<p>At first I was thinking of studying arch [b.arch] or civil engineering and I applied to various schools across the country. But what made me uncomfortable, was the fact that I had to apply to such and such school of engineering/arch and most of my courses would be in those subjects. And that’s why the lib arts concept really appealed to me. I’m potentially a physics+music major now, at Williams, plus art, possibly. I’m considering civil eng grad school or a 3yr M Arch, and I’m taking classes in physics, music, art and will be taking more art, physics, music and history, next year. I just love the flexibility the program affords.</p>
<p>A professionally accredited BS in engineering or BArch in architecture has very rigorous course requirements. Unfortunately, it does not leave you with many opportunities to take elective courses. This is probably why most LACs don’t offer such degrees.</p>
<p>If you pursue civil engineering, you should check your home state’s licensing requirements for Professional Engineers. You will probably need a PE license for a successful career in civil. However, some states will not license you without an ABET-accredited BS degree in engineering, even if you go on to earn an MS degree in engineering. In other words, there are some states where the BA/MS combination for civil engineering is not viable under current laws.</p>
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<p>I think that is slighly less of an issue these days with advanced math and AP courses in high schools. I’ve looked at Swarthmore’s engineering requirements (factoring in the math, science, and engineering courses). It’s a heavy load. However, someone really seriously aiming for an engineering degree would have, in all likelihood, knocked off two or three semester courses in high school. For example, an AP Calc BC 5 would place out of the entire first two semesters of college calculus.</p>
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You may be right. Swarthmore (and other LACs like Smith and Trinity) may also be able to reduce the courseload slightly by offering BS degrees in “general” engineering, as opposed to the more specialized degrees (in “mechanical”, “electrical”, “civil”, etc.) that are typically offered by universities. It wouldn’t surprise me if ABET’s requirements for the less specialized “general engineering” degree are more flexible.</p>
<p>I’m not sure. Even for the general BS Engineering (at least at Swarthmore and I assume at other ABET programs), you still take five or six semester courses towards a particular specialty. </p>
<p>It’s a lot of courses overall – 20 including engineering, math, chem, and physics. A minimum of 12 semester courses in engineering – typically six core engineering courses (basics and intro to the various fields) plus six electives geared towards your specialty (which could be one of the standard specialties or a concentration designed by the student and advisor).</p>
<p>I get lost at every Big U Engineering School website I’ve ever looked at, so I don’t think I’m smart enough to compare!</p>
<p>The killer, at least for some engineers, is that the other courses you are taking aren’t “Humanities for People Who Hate to Read and Write but Need to Fulfill a Requirement 101”</p>
<p>At Smith, there are 21 required courses (actually 18 required, and 3 technical electives); of the remaining 11 courses, at least 7 of them must fulfill the requirements for “Latin Honors” (essentially, distributional requirements outside the sciences), plus a writing intensive course usually taken in the first year. Students who graduate with an overall 3.5 GPA are guaranteed graduate school admissions in the engineering schools at Princeton, Tufts, Johns Hopkins, UMichigan, Notre Dame, and Dartmouth.</p>
<p>Dartmouth does provide full finaid to its 5th year engineering ‘seniors’, but D is not need-blind for internationals.</p>
<p>Dartmouth will provide aid for the 3rd year but not the 5th - talking about internationals</p>