Middlebury vs Dartmouth vs Penn

circuitrider
Mon, 07 Mar 2016 14:33:46 +0000

I think you have to be very careful when asking about engineering “majors”. There are programs at the undergraduate level that allow you to combine a significant amount of classroom time with engineering professors while essentially attending a regular college of arts and sciences. These are fine and could even be mind-blowing experiences for the right student. However, they won’t get you into a top engineering firm at the end of four years. For that you will need either a bachelor of science degree from an accredited engineering school (they are usually completely separate from the arts and science undergraduates) or be willing to put in anywhere from another year to two years of further education.

The B.A. programs allow you to get your feet wet and have the advantage of having other options should you decide engineering is not for you, whereas most B.S. degrees are designed to supply all the subspecialties like chemical, electrical, mechanical and computer engineering, that an entry-level job recruiter would be looking for. You will definitely not have time for a lot of experimentation with other subjects.

At Dartmouth, you can pursue either program (i.e., applying to the liberal arts college OR the engineering school.) I think Penn only has the engineering school option. Middlebury, as others have pointed out, would require you to squeeze all of your prereqs and liberal arts courses into three years before transferring to an engineering school.

Hope this helps.