November 6, 2004
A: FROM MENTOR CATHIE MANNION IN NY
One of the advantages of choosing a college of engineering within a large
university is that you can choose to take courses towards your degree
outside the College of Engineering in the different colleges and schools of
the university. For example, you can take chemistry and physics in the
College of Arts and Sciences, organizational behavior in the School of
Industrial and Labor Relations, and accounting in the School of Hotel
Management. Each of the different colleges and schools have a different
focus and thus the student body is diverse. If you enjoy having friends who
have interests different from yours, I would recommend that you consider
seeking admission to a college of engineering within a university.

Some liberal arts colleges have 3-2 engineering programs where you apply and
attend the liberal arts college for 3 years and then transfer for 2 more
years within the program to the partner school of engineering to complete
your undergraduate engineering degree in 5 years. Since students have
established friendships and often do not want to leave the college where
they started, some colleges have a combination liberal arts/engineering
program that returns the student to the first college to graduate.

It is good to consider what you think you prefer when applying to colleges
so that you make an informed choice. If you transfer colleges,
unfortunately some of your college credits are not usually accepted by the
new college to count toward graduation requirements. This necessitates the
student extending their college experience by a semester or two semesters
taking 5 years to obtain an undergraduate degree and thereby incurring
additional college tuition and room and board expenses.

Good Luck toward making your informed choices!
********************
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