Engineering Schools

This blog post highlights two amazing engineering schools that often don’t receive the attention they deserve. Of course, this isn’t to say that they’re right for everyone. But if you’re an aspiring engineer, I encourage you to take a look at each of these schools.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

• Private research university in Troy, New York with about 6,000 undergraduates. Campus overlooks the Hudson river.
• Oldest technological university in the English-speaking world.
• The School of Engineering is their largest, but students can also study subjects like business, biology, and architecture. (Business is especially popular due to the school’s popular business incubator program.)
• The engineering school’s philosophy is “…to educate leaders of tomorrow for technology-based careers; to celebrate discovery, and the responsible application of technology; to create knowledge and global prosperity.” 
• Lots of the department’s engineering research focuses on certain “grand challenges” relating to the life sciences, sustainability, and big data. Indeed, much of the curriculum, as well as the department’s overall philosophy, is aimed at creating engineers capable of solving society’s biggest technological challenges.
• Undergraduates are encouraged to conduct their own research and the university even hosts its own Undergraduate Research Symposium.
• Many classes are taught by former industry leaders. 

Rose Hulman Institute of Technology

• Private research university in Terre Haute, Indiana that’s focused on undergraduate engineering degrees. 
• Small school with only about 2,000 undergraduate students and hardly any graduate students. 10:1 student to faculty ratio.
• Curriculum focuses on research and also preparing students for technological careers.
• For 24 consecutive years, it’s been ranked as the “#1 engineering college that doesn’t offer a doctorate degree.”
• The engineering department focuses on “learning with doing” through undergraduate research and also encourages students to explore a wide variety of minors to customize their degree to their interests. Possible minors: cognitive science; biomathematics; astronomy; entrepreneurial studies.
• In addition to a plethora of minors, students can also acquire various “certificates” in their own area of specialization. Possible areas are: communications; integrated circuit testing; semiconductor materials and devices; and consulting engineering. 

At the end of the day, no matter what your specific interests in engineering, it’s worth at least checking out both of these schools!