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Daily Digest Archive for November 1, 2004
Q: Initially posted October 28, 2004 FROM STUDENT
MEMBER CLAIRE W. IN MN
Hi,
I'm a senior in high school trying to decide where I should
go to
college. Many people have given me the pitch about a liberal
arts
education being invaluable, but I wonder how will it benefit
me as an
engineer? My college dilemma is between three schools: Smith
College,
Carnegie Mellon University, and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.
Obviously, CMU has an excellent reputation in engineering, and
RHIT is
top ranked among schools not offering PhD's. Smith has a new
engineering
program, and I really like the school, but question if I will
be able to
get a good job in engineering after graduating.
So, if you or someone you know went to a liberal arts school
and ended
up in engineering, I would be interested to hear your take on
the
situation. Thanks. |
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November 1, 2004
A: FROM MENTOR MAYLING WONG
IN IL
Hi Claire, When I was deciding which college to attend, I
was choosing
between Smith College and the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign).
At some level, it was a difficult choice for me because I
knew that
both schools had excellent reputations. My first major was
biology (in
the Liberal Arts School), but I was also interested in engineering.
Smith College at the time did not have an engineering curriculum,
but
students could take engineering classes at a nearby univeristy.
I felt
that if I ended up wanting to be an engineer, I would prefer
a college
that offered both. The University of Illinois had (and still
has) an
excellent reputation in both areas. For this reason, I chose
the
University of Illinois. It turned out to be a good choice,
as I
switched to engineering during my junior year. While I was
at the
school, I benefitted from excellent teaching. After school,
I
benefitted from the school's reputation to help open doors
to good
companies. I believe that engineering majors learn how to
solve
technical problems. As working engineers, we may not use the
specific
topics that we learned in school, but the problem-solving
skills are
valuable tools that are used every day in our jobs. Hopefully,
my
experience gives some food for thought. Best of luck in your
decision!
One more word of advice (for what it is worth): In the end,
it is not
the decision that is as important. Instead making the most
of the
situation that you are in is (I believe) more important. So,
while the
decision may seem rather agonizing at the moment, your hard
work,
perserverance, and williness to try new things will take you
far, no
matter what school you decide to attend. -Mayling
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