Liberal arts schools with competitive robotics?

[Anonymous]

Look at Schools that compete at Formula Hybrid-Electric. My all-in robotics kid found this to be his new home in college and left robotics behind quickly. He went to a stem school but some non-stem schools at the New Hampshire comp included Tufts, Lafayette, Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth, Univ Akron, UVM. There is also a Michigan competition that is much bigger (with combustion engines) but is growing their electric program (more programming)--looks like Elon and Clarkson go to that one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - What aspect of the robotics team does he work on? Software? mechanical? Electrical?

When I toured colleges with my robotics-team-loving DS we realized college robotics programs largely mean programming.

But there are tons of fun extracurricular options to look for as another poster mentioned - BAJA club, rocketry clubs, steel bridge, concrete canoe, vex robotics, Ri3D, etc

Also lots of schools have maker spaces where kids can tinker. Lehigh, Lafayette and Bucknell are some LACs that come to mind.

Another route is volunteering as a mentor for a middle school or high school team. Depending on the team they may be thrilled for any help they can get.

OP here. DS is software. Any of the activities you mention would be fine -- he basically wants the team experience that others might get through sports but that he gets through STEM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting... loves math and robotics but 0 interest in STEM/Engineering schools.

OP here. His academic interest is math, which is firmly a liberal art. He loves the group problem solving experience of his robotics team -- he likes robotics, but I think would be happy with any STEM team where participants work together over time toward a common goal. He actively doesn't want a tech focused school like RPI.

Honestly, it sounds like you both just don't know what you're talking about. If he likes team problem solving on a robotics team, that's engineering. And who are his teammates likely to be? Future engineers.

You can call math liberal art, but applied math is basically engineering and it sounds like he likes applying his STEM skills to practical problems, so his interest is not purely theoretical math. It makes no sense to avoid schools with engineering programs.

If he doesn't want a tech focused school, he should look at a full university and go in with an open mind. If he wants to continue with robotics, I'd be unsurprised if he didn't take some classes in the engineering field, and he might want to consider a double major or minor. The team design labs and classes you take an an engineering major sound like something he'd really enjoy--they are lots of fun.

He's not avoiding programs with engineering programs, that's just not where he wants to enroll. His sister is at a tech focused school and that's not the environment he wants. If there's a school that has engineering and liberal arts and has small classes and accessible professors (so not the big state schools we've looked at), that would be fine too.

[Anonymous]

URochester
https://ccc.rochester.edu/urrobotics/home/
https://www.sas.rochester.edu/mth/undergraduate/bs-honors.html

[Anonymous]

Rice

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Can you provide a source where it says the facility will be used for robotics club or teams . . . [?]"

I didn't make a definitive claim on this aspect.

"It's analogous to the difference between having engineering research labs and a makerspace."

Hamilton will have created a new makerspace too, right?

Hamilton's new facility has been designed from the ground up to be the best in its class. I wouldn't underestimate the opportunities it might provide.

No one is underestimating anything, but OP is looking for a college to do competitive robotics, not a college to do research in robotics.

About which I posted this:

"I am not sure of Hamilton's current status in competitive robotics, nor of whether or not competitive robotics will be developed through the new facility."

Unfortunately, subsequent to that there were some distracting troll-like posts. The OP asked a question. I gave my best answer, with limitations of my knowledge noted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting... loves math and robotics but 0 interest in STEM/Engineering schools.

OP here. His academic interest is math, which is firmly a liberal art. He loves the group problem solving experience of his robotics team -- he likes robotics, but I think would be happy with any STEM team where participants work together over time toward a common goal. He actively doesn't want a tech focused school like RPI.

Honestly, it sounds like you both just don't know what you're talking about. If he likes team problem solving on a robotics team, that's engineering. And who are his teammates likely to be? Future engineers.

You can call math liberal art, but applied math is basically engineering and it sounds like he likes applying his STEM skills to practical problems, so his interest is not purely theoretical math. It makes no sense to avoid schools with engineering programs.

If he doesn't want a tech focused school, he should look at a full university and go in with an open mind. If he wants to continue with robotics, I'd be unsurprised if he didn't take some classes in the engineering field, and he might want to consider a double major or minor. The team design labs and classes you take an an engineering major sound like something he'd really enjoy--they are lots of fun.

He's not avoiding programs with engineering programs, that's just not where he wants to enroll. His sister is at a tech focused school and that's not the environment he wants. If there's a school that has engineering and liberal arts and has small classes and accessible professors (so not the big state schools we've looked at), that would be fine too.

That would be Rice

[Anonymous]

Swarthmore

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In terms of facilities, Hamilton will offer "best-in-class technologies and resources" for students interested in electronics and robotics:

Hamilton Invests in Digital Innovation with New $50 Million Facility - News - Hamilton College https://www.hamilton.edu/news/stories/ai-technology-innovation-building-campus

I am not sure of Hamilton's current status in competitive robotics, or of whether or not competitive robotics will be developed through the new facility.

50 million is not that much…and it currently doesn’t exist.

It’s plenty of money for effectively an expansion of the sciences building. It includes a new robotics lab, is under construction, and will be open by fall of 27. If you cannot contribute useful information please just keep quiet.

I am contributing. You just don’t like it.


I’m don’t think of a resource that doesn’t exist, has not been used, and is not a current formal program as a benefit. Fall of 2027 can easily be pushed back by construction realities and that doesn’t mean Hamilton will be fully ready to operate a robotics lab with programming by 2027- just that the press release and flashy building is up.

New programs are not where you want to steer your faith when something as simple as robotics is freely available at many institutions.

I’m unsure why your response was so emotional.

The contributor up-topic was conservative. The "building is expected to open for classes in early 2027." In that Hamilton's resources place it among the most financially stable and, presumably, well managed colleges in the country — note its current financial grade of A+ by Forbes — I wouldn't worry about the school getting the project completed on or close to schedule. As an opinion, the coming year or two would be a great time for a student interested in the rapidly changing technologies of electronics, robotics, or drones to attend Hamilton.

None of this has to do with robotics.

A 41,000-square-foot tech facility with a robotics lab has a lot to do with robotics.

For comparison, this is larger than Mudd's impressive McGregor Center.

[Anonymous]

Building things whether robots, cars, or whatnot are done within the context of engineering disciplines. All other kids will be engineering majors. He can build one in his dorm room but the whole idea is kinda stupid tbh.

[Anonymous]

NP. My advice is to look at mid-size universities. Most are not tech focused but many still offer engineering - and as a side-effect, are likely to have teams of interest, either robotics or race cars (formula one?), which look to me to be very similar in nature.

One other aspect that I consider very important here is the option to switch to engineering. I have multiple kids, physics lover at a T10 swore he didn't want to do engineering has now switched to engineering LOL. Poli sci kid, also at a T10, about to switch to engineering, which is even funnier. I also have a high school student in a leadership position of their robotics team, who adores the team aspects of robotics, so I get where you are coming from on the team spirit aspect.

Mid size private universities are more likely than large publics to have the ability to relatively easily switch to engineering from arts & sciences. I would look for schools where this is the case and try to keep that option open. It's a much bigger pain to try to transfer or do a 3/2 program or similar if the kid changes their mind later; some kids would simply close themselves off to that possibility if it required transfer.

Schools up and down the spectrum of selectivity may be an option. On the less selective end, there's Gonzaga, with 5k students and a robotics team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look at Williams OP.

Why Williams?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at Williams OP.

Why Williams?

It has a competitive robotics team, has a well-regarded mathematics program, and generally has a lot of resources per student.