Need one or two more small engineering schools--UPDATE in OP

[plansrme]

On the table:

Rose-Hulman

Calvin

Missouri S&T

UAH

Mines

Letourneau

Rejected: Bucknell; Kettering; Olin; CalTech (etc., likely not competitive for tippy-tops due to XCs), probably some others I'm not thinking of.

He is probably not applying to all of these, but we all feel like we need one or two more to consider. Assume money is not an object. It IS, of course, but not at this stage.

UPDATE: It is looking like Calvin. Assuming the coach comes through with a roster spot, as seems likely pending conversations with my son's HS coach (who will give him a glowing recommendation), Calvin is a 90%  sure thing. He bought the t-shirt and drank the Kool-Aid. It was down to Calvin and R-H. He loved Grove City, but their coach made offers to guys who play both of my son's positions the day before my son got there. He could try out for a spot, but there would be no guaranteed roster spot, and he did not like it better than Calvin. He is probably pulling out of the recruiting pipeline at R-H, although he liked it very much despite the terrible tour guide. Mines was super-intense; he liked Letourneau but did not love it; he desperately disliked UAH. Looks like he will, like his two sisters before him, be one-and-done on the application process (although I may ask him to hit "submit" on his non-athletic safety just in case.)  Go Knights!

Edited September 20, 2021 by plansrme
update

[domestic_engineer]

Trine University

Grove City

[Selkie]

University of Wisconsin Platteville

[plansrme]

1 hour ago, domestic_engineer said:

Trine University

Grove City

Thanks. I will have him take a look at both. 

[skctgbrlis]

I have a Rose-Hulman ‘21 grad. He loved it!

Cedarville University is small and has a good engineering program. 

[Roadrunner]

Stevens Institute of Technology 

[Clarita]

Harvey Mudd 

[NewnameC]

My current high school senior has a friend who wants to major in engineering at a small school in a warm climate.

These are the ones I’ve heard mentioned.

Florida Institute of Technology 

Embry Riddle 

Mercer

Trinity University in Texas (in searching to see where Trinity is I see there is a Trinity College in Connecticut that has engineering.

 

[Eos]

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Worcester, MA. 

It has an unusual term system - very short intensive terms, same classes every day for 7 weeks then a break.  This is perfect for some kids and overwhelming for others.  Very project-oriented.

Edited August 19, 2021 by Harpymom

[Tree Frog]

10 hours ago, NewnameC said:

Trinity University

It's in San Antonio.

[plansrme]

13 hours ago, skctgbrlis said:

I have a Rose-Hulman ‘21 grad. He loved it!

Cedarville University is small and has a good engineering program. 

That's good to hear, as it is attractive for other reasons. He visited once when campus was closed but is visiting again in a couple of weeks.

[plansrme]

12 hours ago, Roadrunner said:

Stevens Institute of Technology 

This was an early contender, but it fell off of the list for some reason I never understood. Location, maybe? It gets rave reviews on College Confidential, though. 

[NewnameC]

55 minutes ago, wilrunner said:

It's in San Antonio.

Trinity University is in San Antonio. 
 

There is a Trinity College in Connecticut that also offers engineering.

 

[8filltheheart]

TN Tech

[Tree Frog]

4 hours ago, NewnameC said:

Trinity University is in San Antonio. 
 

There is a Trinity College in Connecticut that also offers engineering.

 

I thought you said you needed to find out where in Texas Trinity University was. Thought I was saving you a step.

[Dmmetler]

Christian Brothers University in Memphis, if by small, you mean really, really small (about 1000 students). Pricey, but good merit aid. 

[Farrar]

No one mentioned RPI yet. Is that in the "small" category? It's sort of midsized by college standards, but seeing as engineering tends to be huge schools...

[EKS]

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (project based--my son thrived there!)

He also applied to Stevens, RPI, RIT, and Mines, but I'm certain that WPI was the right choice.

[plansrme]

On 8/18/2021 at 3:56 PM, domestic_engineer said:

Trine University

Grove City

Update: Grove City is now definitely on the list, and we're working on scheduling a visit. 

[hellen]

Clarkson University in NY.

[GoodGrief3]

Messiah University in Grantham, PA. Was in the top 4 choices for my engineering daughter 🙂 

[Kendall]

The University of Tulsa!!!  Smallest NCAA I school. About 3000 undergraduates. Average ACT 30 the year my 3rd son got in. 

[MEmama]

On 8/20/2021 at 9:51 PM, Farrar said:

No one mentioned RPI yet. Is that in the "small" category? It's sort of midsized by college standards, but seeing as engineering tends to be huge schools...

RPI looked like a match for my DS on paper but fell off the list immediately when we visited (we were lucky to tour the campus the fall before covid). I’m sure it’s a great fit for some, but it was *all* wrong for DS. 
 

I always recommend visiting schools if possible, but for this one I would prioritize it. 

[Matryoshka]

13 minutes ago, MEmama said:

RPI looked like a match for my DS on paper but fell off the list immediately when we visited (we were lucky to tour the campus the fall before covid). I’m sure it’s a great fit for some, but it was *all* wrong for DS. 
 

I always recommend visiting schools if possible, but for this one I would prioritize it. 

We also ruled out RPI after a campus visit - wondering what it was that gave you guys the vibe.

A friend's dd went there and as far as I know liked it (she's graduated now).

[Alice]

We have a friend who ended up at Florida Institute of Technology. He’s a freshman so just started but it seems like a great fit for him. It’s on the Space Coast and apparently there are opportunities to do things with NASA. 

We also know someone who went to WPI and loved it. 

Another option might be 3+2 schools. At a bunch of the smaller liberal arts schools we looked at offered some kind of dual-degree engineering program with a larger school. For example, ds is going to Centre College in Kentucky. They have dual degree engineering programs with University of Kentucky and Wash U. My son is not planning on doing engineering, although I could see him on that route so we had looked into schools that had some kind of option. It might not be as nice as going one place for 4 years but on the other hand it can give you both the experience of a small place and a larger engineering place. 

[MEmama]

13 hours ago, Matryoshka said:

We also ruled out RPI after a campus visit - wondering what it was that gave you guys the vibe.

A friend's dd went there and as far as I know liked it (she's graduated now).

I hesitate to get into too many specifics because I’m sure there are boardies with kids who went there and loved it and I don’t want to come off as overly critical. I think it’s a *very* niche school, either it fits or it doesn’t—there didn’t seem to be much wiggle room. 
 

First off, Troy was never going to be home for him. He looked at schools with an eye toward the future—he’s extremely interested in taking advantage of the connections made through coops and staying in upstate New York wasn’t something he could imagine for himself. The school to me—and I mean no offense to anyone who enjoyed it—felt like a castle on the hill, like a campus of privilege literally overlooking quite an opposite reality below. He didn’t like how separated campus was from its community; it was apparent—and the tour guided reluctantly admitted—that there wasn’t much mingling amongst the school and the surrounding town. The whole environment made us uneasy, and forced an honest reflection about privilege and values and  a whole host of Big Questions that we hadn’t previously considered.
 

One thing I immediately noticed on our tour was a lack of diversity in the posters on campus. It might sound silly, but posters can be quite telling about the values of a school, and at RPI all I saw—without exception— were for academic (math/science) events. DS wanted a diverse school, inclusivity is essential, and while yes he’s math and science oriented, he also wants university to be fun (as it should be) and to offer a wide variety of experiences and opportunities, and none of us got a sense of that at all. Even the tour guide made it seem like a total grind.
 

Unlike WPI—one of his top contenders when it came to decision time— there wasn’t an emphasis on teamwork at all at RPI;  it seemed like every man for himself and that was a huge turnoff. Coming from a high school where the top kids all worked together and cheered each other on along the race to the top, the idea of competing *against* one another was a foreign and unappealing prospect. Altogether the school felt off balance to us; the gender ratio was too far off (even for an engineering school), it projected itself as too overly academic focused (even for an engineering student), it felt too insular and privileged in a way that made us feel deeply uncomfortable.

I truly hope no one takes offense at our impressions.  In truth, the tour provided DS with the opportunity to reflect on the qualities and opportunities he was looking for in a school and to consider what he hoped to gain from the experience in a way that he hadn’t in schools that were a better fit (BU did as well, but in different ways). I can easily see the appeal for students with a different set of life experiences and visions;  it just wasn’t right for DS.

 

[plansrme]

16 hours ago, Alice said:

We have a friend who ended up at Florida Institute of Technology. He’s a freshman so just started but it seems like a great fit for him. It’s on the Space Coast and apparently there are opportunities to do things with NASA. 

We also know someone who went to WPI and loved it. 

Another option might be 3+2 schools. At a bunch of the smaller liberal arts schools we looked at offered some kind of dual-degree engineering program with a larger school. For example, ds is going to Centre College in Kentucky. They have dual degree engineering programs with University of Kentucky and Wash U. My son is not planning on doing engineering, although I could see him on that route so we had looked into schools that had some kind of option. It might not be as nice as going one place for 4 years but on the other hand it can give you both the experience of a small place and a larger engineering place. 

I am glad you mentioned this option. We did look at this, but barring automatic merit aid, we are full-pay, and adding an extra year to an already-expensive four (fingers crossed!) just did not seem prudent. Plus, I know it's first love and all of that, but his girlfriend is already a year ahead of him (she is a college freshman), and adding yet another year to their separation would be a hard sell. 

[plansrme]

On 8/30/2021 at 9:15 PM, Kendall said:

The University of Tulsa!!!  Smallest NCAA I school. About 3000 undergraduates. Average ACT 30 the year my 3rd son got in. 

I've never heard of this school before but looked at their website, and now I wanna go there. It looks so--happy!

[prairiewindmomma]

What’s your child’s priority in engineering school? A certain emphasis? Good access to summer internships and job placement? Tiny class size? Good labs?

Engineering school can be so very many things…

[8filltheheart]

Co-ops would be near the top for us.

[jboo]

If he is interested in Marine Engineering, the Webb Institute. It's exceedingly difficult to get in (average SAT ~1480), tiny (~100 students), and also offers free tuition.

Another small, extremely competitive school is the Franklin W Olin College of Engineering. It's bigger (400 students), and offers more usual engineering majors, as well as design-your-own programs.

[mom31257]

Bryan College in Dayton, TN, is a small school that established an engineering program just a few years ago. They had a multi-million dollar grant to get it going. They hired an OSU professor to head it up. Ds and I visited there when he was considering engineering, and we were impressed with the program, technology, equipment, etc. It is a Christian college, but very affordable.