Anonymous wrote:I think the only place it might possibly make sense is when the "2" school is very close to the "3" school so you aren't disrupting your life so much and can still stay engaged with your LAC's community in senior year. The one that comes to mind is Agnes Scott College's dual degrees with Emory (10 minutes away from Agnes Scott) and Georgia Tech (a little farther)
https://www.agnesscott.edu/academicadvising/dual-degree-program.html

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They're a terrible idea. They're disruptive to your college social life, require that you pay for an extra year, reduce your opportunities to participate on engineering teams or do on campus research, make it harder to apply to engineering co-ops or internships, and result in a choppy curriculum that likely has gaps.

If you end up at a LAC and then change your mind and decide to be an engineer, fine. They're probably no worse of a plan than transferring. But no one should choose such a program at the outset.

+1000

I'd argue if you switch your mind to Engineering, unless it's during freshman year (and who at a LA college really does that), pick a major such as Math, data science, physics (or pick a major and strong minor) and get your undergrad degree. Then do your masters in engineering. It's still 5 years, but you have two degrees, and a solid consistent, non-disruptive undergrad experience.

However, I seriously doubt there are many kids who pick a LAC and then decide engineering. If it was at all on the radar, they would be at a university where it was a real option to begin with

The real reason students don't "make" it, is who wants to skip their senior year of college to go off and do an engineering major at another school. Students realize they have a lot of options with their current degree--and for most LAC students--kids who are drawn to a diverse number of subjects and like to read/analyze/research/write--engineering would likely be a pretty dull career.

Engineering majors anywhere including public universities drop out after seeing their gpa plunge below 3.0 or even below 2.0.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the only place it might possibly make sense is when the "2" school is very close to the "3" school so you aren't disrupting your life so much and can still stay engaged with your LAC's community in senior year. The one that comes to mind is Agnes Scott College's dual degrees with Emory (10 minutes away from Agnes Scott) and Georgia Tech (a little farther)
https://www.agnesscott.edu/academicadvising/dual-degree-program.html

As an example, the student enrolls in Bowdoin or Amherst. They spend junior year “abroad” at Dartmouth and then return to their home school for senior year to graduate with a BA or BS from there. Finally they spend a fifth year back at Dartmouth and finish with a BS in engineering.
Thoughts ?

Anonymous wrote:I think the only place it might possibly make sense is when the "2" school is very close to the "3" school so you aren't disrupting your life so much and can still stay engaged with your LAC's community in senior year. The one that comes to mind is Agnes Scott College's dual degrees with Emory (10 minutes away from Agnes Scott) and Georgia Tech (a little farther)
https://www.agnesscott.edu/academicadvising/dual-degree-program.html

Anonymous wrote:I think the only place it might possibly make sense is when the "2" school is very close to the "3" school so you aren't disrupting your life so much and can still stay engaged with your LAC's community in senior year. The one that comes to mind is Agnes Scott College's dual degrees with Emory (10 minutes away from Agnes Scott) and Georgia Tech (a little farther)
https://www.agnesscott.edu/academicadvising/dual-degree-program.html

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They're a terrible idea. They're disruptive to your college social life, require that you pay for an extra year, reduce your opportunities to participate on engineering teams or do on campus research, make it harder to apply to engineering co-ops or internships, and result in a choppy curriculum that likely has gaps.

If you end up at a LAC and then change your mind and decide to be an engineer, fine. They're probably no worse of a plan than transferring. But no one should choose such a program at the outset.

+1000

I'd argue if you switch your mind to Engineering, unless it's during freshman year (and who at a LA college really does that), pick a major such as Math, data science, physics (or pick a major and strong minor) and get your undergrad degree. Then do your masters in engineering. It's still 5 years, but you have two degrees, and a solid consistent, non-disruptive undergrad experience.

However, I seriously doubt there are many kids who pick a LAC and then decide engineering. If it was at all on the radar, they would be at a university where it was a real option to begin with

The real reason students don't "make" it, is who wants to skip their senior year of college to go off and do an engineering major at another school. Students realize they have a lot of options with their current degree--and for most LAC students--kids who are drawn to a diverse number of subjects and like to read/analyze/research/write--engineering would likely be a pretty dull career.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They're a terrible idea. They're disruptive to your college social life, require that you pay for an extra year, reduce your opportunities to participate on engineering teams or do on campus research, make it harder to apply to engineering co-ops or internships, and result in a choppy curriculum that likely has gaps.

If you end up at a LAC and then change your mind and decide to be an engineer, fine. They're probably no worse of a plan than transferring. But no one should choose such a program at the outset.

+1000

I'd argue if you switch your mind to Engineering, unless it's during freshman year (and who at a LA college really does that), pick a major such as Math, data science, physics (or pick a major and strong minor) and get your undergrad degree. Then do your masters in engineering. It's still 5 years, but you have two degrees, and a solid consistent, non-disruptive undergrad experience.

However, I seriously doubt there are many kids who pick a LAC and then decide engineering. If it was at all on the radar, they would be at a university where it was a real option to begin with

Anonymous wrote:They're a terrible idea. They're disruptive to your college social life, require that you pay for an extra year, reduce your opportunities to participate on engineering teams or do on campus research, make it harder to apply to engineering co-ops or internships, and result in a choppy curriculum that likely has gaps.

If you end up at a LAC and then change your mind and decide to be an engineer, fine. They're probably no worse of a plan than transferring. But no one should choose such a program at the outset.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My niece (who does not have parents to advise her, so I've been her college support), entered a 3-2 program this year as a Freshman. Turned down a full-ride at a few strong engineering programs for the dangling carrot of Columbia Engineering guaranteed admit. She is at a SLAC that I won't name; they lied to us about guaranteed admissions to Columbia. I was there in the office of one of the STEM professors, who told us that as long as she maintained a certain GPA, she'd be admitted to Columbia.

Now she is at the SLAC and finds out there are at least 50 other kids competing for the 4-5 slots that will be guaranteed to Columbia in year 4. She is stifled by the SLAC - way too small, classes not challenging, limited clubs and internship opportunities. She has applied to transfer out for next year. I had advised her strongly to take one of the engineering schools, but she said she wanted the small school experience, and to be able to study physics/math, then engineering. The only good thing is that she has a full ride to the ridiculously overpriced SLAC so we didn't have to pay for it. Hopefully she gets re-accepted as a transfer to one of the engineering programs that she turned down.

Lesson learned - even with our due diligence, the 3-2 was totally not worth it. As other PPs have said, if student is interested in engineering, they should go directly into an engineering program. I hadn't ever heard of a 3-2 program before my niece told me about them, but now I believe they are a way for the SLACs to attract strong STEM and engineering students that they otherwise wouldn't be able to attract. I would never recommend one.

If the classes aren't challenging, why not do an independent study with a professor?

A place where the classes aren't challenging is often heavily reliant on adjuncts, who won't have time to do an independent study. And the full-time faculty are often similarly stressed.

Plus that only solves the problem for one class.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WTF Columbia is backdoor factory

Even from Carlton, they mostly don't make it. And the 2-3 students who make it per year are spread over several engineering schools. I doubt anyone who gets in through the backdoor to Caltech, MIT, Or Columbia, can survive.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WTF Columbia is backdoor factory

Even from Carlton, they mostly don't make it. And the 2-3 students who make it per year are spread over several engineering schools. I doubt anyone who gets in through the backdoor to Caltech, MIT, Or Columbia, can survive.

Anonymous wrote:WTF Columbia is backdoor factory