<p>What aspects of Princeton’s engineering department make it stand out? Are there any unique programs or anything that makes Princeton’s engineering different from others? Can anyone point me to some online resources that answer these questions? Because I can’t find any online. Other schools like Northwestern detail their unique programs and opportunities, but I don’t see that on Princeton’s website.</p>
<p>My D will be heading into the engineering program at Princeton. At this point, I would suggest that the biggest hurdle for you is admissions. In other words, cast a wide net for schools which reach your threshold of engineering competency, then sort through your acceptances. FWIW, D did the research on the engineering department and determined that, if she got in, it would be a great opportunity.</p>
<p>As a strange, Princeton twist, engineering majors are excused from the foreign language requirement. This means that changing majors out of engineering after the freshman year may create some scheduling issue in order to satisfy the foreign language requirement.</p>
<p>Here is a link to the Science and Technology job fair. <a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/engineering/undergraduate/job-fair/[/url]”>http://www.princeton.edu/engineering/undergraduate/job-fair/</a></p>
<p>Princeton engineering is well-known and well-regarded. Unlike many other schools with good undergrad engineering, however, Princeton stands out because it’s good at everything. Along with a couple hundred other top-notch engineering students, you’ll encounter brilliant writers, published researchers, dancers, singers, D1 athletes, “politically-minded” kids, etc. You will encounter much more academic / intellectual diversity than you will at, say, MIT (where everyone is an engineering / NS major).</p>
<p>Princeton has no weak points. (For example, Yale’s undergrad engineering is ranked 30-40…or even unranked in some lists. Rankings don’t mean too much but COME ON. The third oldest American university is ranked behind noted stoner school UCSB in engineering? Yale didn’t/doesn’t give a crap about engineering and science.)</p>
<p>Princeton’s math is top. Princeton’s econ is top. Princeton’s bio/chem is top. Princeton’s policy/international relations is top. Everything is strong. Students gravitate to areas that they’re passionate about and help foster an awesome campus atmosphere.</p>
<p>No med school? No problem. 90+% med school admission rate (alongside Harvard and Yale; compare with Stanford and MIT’s ~70 percent admission rate?)</p>
<p>No law school? No problem. Still have high numbers, etc., etc. Plus A THIRD of the Supreme Court went to Princeton for undergrad. ( bragging rights 
)</p>
<p>Far from Silicon Valley? Who cares? The companies situated there come HERE to recruit. Entrepreneurs / businessmen: Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Meg Whitman of Ebay, Eric Schmidt of Google, the list goes on.</p>
<p>Change your mind about pursuing engineering? Use your math / problem solving in finance to make a boatload of money. Princeton is a top-tier TARGET school for Wall Street recruiting (upwards of 35 percent of grads work in finance I believe).</p>
<p>You go to some engineering schools to learn how to become an engineer. You come to Princeton to learn how to engineer…and to LEAD.</p>
<p>That’s what you get with your “useless” liberal arts degree.</p>
<p>Really consider the sort of experience you get with a solid engineering degree in a Liberal arts environment…if the OP is looking for material for the Why Engineering essay, this should form the meat of the essay</p>
<p>Great response, but does Princeton actually have a 90%+ acceptance rate to medical schools? Just curious.</p>
<p>PSAT321, there are several unique things about Princeton engineering. First of all, if you’re interested in conducting research at college, it is simply a given at Princeton. Due to the senior thesis requirement (across all majors), you’ll have the opportunity to conduct research in something that interests you, working one-on-one with a professor. Depending on your major, you might also do research for a junior paper (similar to a senior thesis). What others have said above really embodies another key point-- Princeton is a liberal arts college at heart; this is more true for Princeton than any other school I’ve seen that offers engineering. What this means is if you choose not to major in engineering for whatever reason, there are other strong programs for you. Also, if you know what engineering major you want, look up that department’s undergraduate handbook (The Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering Undergraduate Handbook for instance). This document (or the equivalent for whatever department you’re interested in) contains detailed info about potential certificate programs, graduation requirements, independent work, career trajectories of Princeton engineers, areas of concentration (sort of subdivisions of majors), advising, extracurriculars associated with engineering, awards available, etc. You can find a lot of good info in these handbooks, so I’d recommend typing “Princeton Department of (insert your department) Undergraduate Handbook” into a search engine.</p>
<p>See my post in this thread <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/princeton-university/1523043-princeton-engineers-out-there.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/princeton-university/1523043-princeton-engineers-out-there.html</a></p>
<p>Engineering at Princeton is a pretty demanding area of concentration but from what I understand is extremely well regarded globally.</p>
<p>@exile3418 Yes Princeton does have a 90%+ acceptance rate to medical schools. Also, unlike many places that inflate that acceptance rate (I heard some LACs and Ivies actively discourage their weak students from applying) , Princeton’s HPA works with all students, even those who take a gap year after senior year to apply.</p>