Let's talk engineering!

[Anonymous]

WPI

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is post college but look at jobs at the patent office. Then law school, patent attorney. $$$$$$$$$$

Yup. With lawyer parents -- this is the sure way to go. That's the ticket.

[Anonymous]

Definitely look for a program that has a good ratio of women because her social life will be important too.

[Anonymous]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned The Cooper Union. Our son went there for Engineering and it WAS AWESOME. Plus, if you're admitted, the school pays your tuition, and you get to live in the Village. It was a wonderful experience.

Also, we looked at Harvey-Mudd - wonderful, Georgia Tech - wonderful, Rose Hulman - wonderful.

[Anonymous]

MIT, Cal Tech, Berkeley, Stanford, Cornell, CMU

[Anonymous]

As a female, i attended rose hulman partially due to the ratio that and it was small and just engineers so i could do all the extra afterschool stuff i enjoyed like drama. Check the us news list for under grad engineering and visit as many as you can

[Anonymous]

University of Akron

[Anonymous]

Smith.

[Anonymous]

WVA - Pet

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Smith.

Smith is the only women's college with an engineering school. Pretty cool.

Honestly, a woman who wants to go into engineering has a huge advantage in the college process because its the one area that skews male.

[Anonymous]

Also Carnegie-Mellon.

[Anonymous]

OP here --

I really appreciate all the responses so far; many thanks to all who've posted. A few questions:

1) Re the choice of major -- Why not mechanical engineering? How about electrical engineering? Is biomedical engineering sort of a cross between the two within the medical/health context?

2) What's an "engineering farm"? The poster who used this term referred to having gone to school in the Midwest, so I'm wondering if this is a way of describing the big state schools with engineering programs -- e.g., Wisconsin and Michigan. What are those schools like?

3) Can anyone tell me more about Harvey Mudd? I understand it's very well-respected, has a great location and as one of the Claremont Colleges has a lot to offer socially, but isn't it more advantageous to study engineering at a research university?

4) OTOH . . . how about those few SLACs that offer engineering (e.g., Swarthmore) or those that offer 3-2 programs in cooperation with larger schooles (e.g., Middlebury and Bowdoin both have programs with Dartmouth, I believe)?

5) And what about majoring in physics or math and then getting a master's in engineering? Is this a feasible plan?

6) What is a professional engineer? Is this a certification obtained via post-grad testing, something like the bar exam?

7) Can anyone tell more more about Rice and/or Northwestern?

Thanks again, to all who have been so generous in responding. Keep it coming!

[Anonymous]

Carnegie Mellon, Michigan, Illinois (particularly for mechanical)

Re another poster's comment about civil engineering: I know many well employed civil engineering majors from college (I'm about 15 years out-dang!). They tend not to make as much money as the mechanical, electrical, or chemical engineers, but they're all in great jobs they love. Often overlooked options like industrial operations, material science, and packaging (for real! Michigan State!) are good to think about, too.

Agree with other posters: it was hard being a woman in classes dominated by men, for all sorts of reasons. Hopefully some of that has evened out, but your DD should be prepared.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here --

I really appreciate all the responses so far; many thanks to all who've posted. A few questions:

1) Re the choice of major -- Why not mechanical engineering? How about electrical engineering? Is biomedical engineering sort of a cross between the two within the medical/health context?

2) What's an "engineering farm"? The poster who used this term referred to having gone to school in the Midwest, so I'm wondering if this is a way of describing the big state schools with engineering programs -- e.g., Wisconsin and Michigan. What are those schools like?

3) Can anyone tell me more about Harvey Mudd? I understand it's very well-respected, has a great location and as one of the Claremont Colleges has a lot to offer socially, but isn't it more advantageous to study engineering at a research university?

4) OTOH . . . how about those few SLACs that offer engineering (e.g., Swarthmore) or those that offer 3-2 programs in cooperation with larger schooles (e.g., Middlebury and Bowdoin both have programs with Dartmouth, I believe)?

5) And what about majoring in physics or math and then getting a master's in engineering? Is this a feasible plan?

6) What is a professional engineer? Is this a certification obtained via post-grad testing, something like the bar exam?

7) Can anyone tell more more about Rice and/or Northwestern?

Thanks again, to all who have been so generous in responding. Keep it coming!

The major is important, but don't let yourself get too caught up in what flavor of engineering she chooses before she even gets there. I started out planning to do electrical and ended up hating it. I was much more successful after I transitioned to mechanical. (Of course now I'm a lawyer, and arguably use the EE background more heavily.)

[Anonymous]

I'm not going to answer all these questions because I'm not an engineer, but my brother is and I have a lot of friends who have studied engineering, so I'll bite on the ones that I know anything about.

1) Re the choice of major -- Why not mechanical engineering? How about electrical engineering? Is biomedical engineering sort of a cross between the two within the medical/health context?

I wouldn't get too hung up on this. People change their minds about what they want to study all the time. I think it's more important to choose a school that has a good academic and social atmosphere and fit for the student. And mechanical and civil engineering might not make as much as other fields, but if that's what she loves, she can still have a comfortable lifestyle in those fields.

Don't have anything to say about 2 because I have no idea what an engineer farm is either

3) Can anyone tell me more about Harvey Mudd? I understand it's very well-respected, has a great location and as one of the Claremont Colleges has a lot to offer socially, but isn't it more advantageous to study engineering at a research university?

I have heard nothing but amazing things about Harvey Mudd and I know a few brilliant people who went there. I think in general, if it's feasible, it is better for students to go to undergraduate oriented institutions for undergrad. It is not a research institution, so you won't have access to the top labs in the world, but honestly academia has gotten so focused on research and graduate students that many students slip through the cracks. You are more likely to have a really great mentor at Harvey Mudd than at Michigan/Texas/Illinois. They have great graduate school and job placement, and very rigorous academics, and I think it does kids a service to be in an environment that is fully invested in giving them the best education rather than pumping out research. They also will get an experience that is like being a graduate student as an undergrad (leading their own project) than they might at a larger school, although this varies from student to student.

4) OTOH . . . how about those few SLACs that offer engineering (e.g., Swarthmore) or those that offer 3-2 programs in cooperation with larger schooles (e.g., Middlebury and Bowdoin both have programs with Dartmouth, I believe)?

See my views above about the superiority of SLACs for undergraduate education. If it offers engineering, that's great! My school offered a 3-2 program with Caltech, but almost no one did it because they found their groove academically and wanted to stay and do senior thesis research with a faculty member they clicked with.

5) And what about majoring in physics or math and then getting a master's in engineering? Is this a feasible plan?

Yes. I know several people who did this (I went to a SLAC with really great science and math programs, but no engineering). One has a masters degree in CS and works as a software engineer after a math bachelors.

6) What is a professional engineer? Is this a certification obtained via post-grad testing, something like the bar exam?

Nope, they are just hired to work at a company. Some people do design work, some people code, some people do consulting, it really depends on the field.

7) Can anyone tell more more about Rice and/or Northwestern?

Both have great engineering programs and are very well rounded institutions if she changes her mind about what she wants to study. Socially, it will have a different mix of people than a tech school like Rose Hullman.