Are you still debating between which college to attend for engineering? Maybe you are still trying to figure out what colleges to even apply to. Or maybe you are wondering what are the factors for choosing the best engineering college?
Choosing colleges to apply to and then narrowing down the list to the one college you will attend can be intimidating. Most students are using the typical criteria to compare schools, such as cost, location, student to faculty ratio. These are general factors that apply to all majors.
Below is a list of ten factors to use specifically if you are looking to major in engineering. These factors are specific to engineering majors and most people do not talk about these when discussing choosing colleges. This list will help you compare colleges to help make your decision easier.
Here are the ten factors for choosing the best engineering college for you:
- Project Work
- Freshman Introduction Classes
- Senior Design Project
- Advisor (Staff or Professor)
- Engineering Majors Offered
- Internship and Co-op Opportunities
- Accelerated Master’s Degree Program
- Student Groups
- Academic Support
- Financial Investment
1. Project Work
Hands on project work might be the most important part of your undergraduate degree for engineering. The project work gives you the best understanding of what you will be working on in the real world. Review the curriculums and compare how much project work is included. Project work is very important for getting an internship, especially when you do not have any internship experience.
2. Freshman Introduction Classes
Review the curriculum at each college for freshman year and see if there are introductory classes offered for the engineering majors you are interested in. Examples of course titles would be “Introduction to Biomedical Engineering” or “Introduction to Mechanical Engineering”.
These courses are really helpful because they give you more insight into what the major entails and what you can do with that degree. If you are debating between majors, these are great courses to take.
3. Senior Design Project
Most colleges offer a senior design project that usually lasts a semester or two. Some colleges partner with an engineering company so that the students get exposure to working with industry. This is really important because you can start making industry connections while you are still in school. It is also significant because you are working on solving real engineering problems.
These are the types of experiences companies care about that will help you get a job. Your senior project may even lead to your first job, working for the company that sponsored your project. Make sure the college you choose has a senior design project, preferably working with industry
4. Advisor (Staff Or Professor)
Find out who your advisor will be in college. Some of the larger colleges have staff people with no engineering experience guiding you through course and major selection. Other colleges usually have professors that are your advisor and helping you out with these items. It is beneficial to have professors helping you because they are more knowledgable about the courses and majors.
5. Engineering Majors Offered
Often students are still deciding on what engineering major to choose when they go to college. Therefore, pick a college that has a variety of engineering majors. Also, look at the freshmen year courses for the engineering majors you are interested in. Check how much overlap there is so that if you do change majors, the courses you have already taken will count towards the new major.
6. Internship and Co-op Opportunities
Some colleges have dedicated co-op programs included in their curriculum. For example, Northeastern University has a co-op program that requires their students to complete 3 semester long co-ops. However, this means that it takes you 5 years to earn a bachelors degree since you are taking time off from school to complete your co-op.
So the pro is that you are guaranteed to get a co-op and work experiences. However, the con is it takes you an extra year to earn your degree.
These programs are not for everyone so just be aware of this. Some colleges that do not offer co-op programs help students obtain internships. Look into how many career fairs the colleges hosts and if there are specific career fairs for engineering majors. These will help you in obtaining internships. Whether you want a co-op program or not will help you decide which college is right for you.
7. Accelerated Master's Degree Program
Some colleges offer programs that you can obtain a bachelor’s degree in four years and then a master’s if you stay an extra year. Therefore, you can get a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in only five years. If you know the type of job you want requires a master’s degree these programs can be great. However, most of the time your employer will pay for your master’s degree.
In some cases, it might be more beneficial to get a job first and then have your employer pay for graduate school. It is nice to have the accelerated master’s degree as an option so if you are interested in graduate school you should look into this.
8. Student Groups
Freshman year can be intimidating, especially when you enter a campus where you do not know anyone. An easy way to meet people is through student groups. These are student led organizations that you can join. You can review the student groups offered at the colleges you are interested in to see if the groups offered align with your interests.
It is great when colleges have student groups for the specific engineering major you want to join. It is a great opportunity to meet students in your major and learn from the upperclassmen. Sometimes they also offer events to network with alumni and meet with companies looking for interns or co-ops.
9. Academic Support
Majoring in engineering is challenging so it is a good idea to have an understanding of what the college offers for academic support. Check to see if they have a tutoring center dedicated for engineering majors. Understand the professors’ office hours and how available the professors are for academic help.
Research to see if there are any other academic support options on campus. Academic support is very important for engineering majors so this can help you with your college selection.
10. Financial Investment
Financial investment is probably the most obvious factor that everyone is concerned about. This made the list because of all the different factors you should consider besides the cost of the college. You should also understand the job placement rate, the average starting salary for their graduates, and scholarships available. All of these details should be considered as part of the financial investment, as opposed to only looking at the cost of the college.
College is an investment in your future so you want an investment that will get you the best return. Maybe it is worth paying a little extra for a college which is more likely to get you a better paying job, or for a college that has over a 95% job placement rate.
Choosing a college to attend can be challenging, especially when there are so many factors to consider. These ten factors will give you something to focus your search on when comparing colleges for engineering.
This list will assist you in knowing what to research about each college. It will also help you know what to ask if you attend a campus tour or open house event. You can bring this list with you to get all of your questions answered so you can select the college of your dreams! Factors for choosing the best engineering college
A decision matrix can help you compare colleges as well, read more about how to use a decision matrix here.
What is the most important factor to you when considering a college for engineering? Leave a comment below and let me know!