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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]So if ABET sets the rigor of the program, and VCU accepts 95% of its engineering applicants and the same percentage graduates, is there really a sliding scale of rigor between colleges?

If you took VCU's accepted engineering students and put them through Carnegie Mellon's program, would all 95% graduate?[/quote]

of course not. Carnegie Mellon and other top E schools (MIT, ivies with real engineering, Northwestern, Georgia Tech, Berkeley) go far above and beyond the ABET standards. ABET is a minimum. The top schools have a much higher minimum bar of rigor and courseload hours. One can be competitive from VCU but one would have to take the most difficult upper levels--grad levels--and get all As--to end with a transcript that is closer to a student who did the minimum to graduate engineering at a top school. [/quote]

+1. Being ABET-accredited is the floor. It says very little on the specific content being taught. Using mechanical engineering as an example, it requires that ABET-accredited programs teach thermodynamics and fluid mechanics, but doesn't dictate which topics should be covered, how deep should instructors go, how much homework should be assigned, and how difficult should exam questions be. So you have a stronger ME department offering Thermodynamics I and II that are worth 6 credit hours with a bunch of homework and projects, and a weaker department offering Thermo that is worth 3 credit hours where many details are omitted/glanced over, despite both departments being ABET-accredited.[/quote]

How does a non-engineering parent determine a quality engineering program if the student cannot get into the top ranked programs? Do they exist?
Look at ranking websites? Which ones?[/quote]

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