Info for students interested in engineering

Although Amherst does not have an engineering major, many Amherst graduates have pursued successful and rewarding careers in engineering, applied science, management, and related disciplines. Success in these disciplines requires strong foundations in science and mathematics, the ability to reason logically about technical and non-technical aspects of problems, and the ability to communicate clearly in speech and in writing. Engineers benefit from a broad perspective that allows them to consider technical, aesthetic, economic, social, and humanistic facets of the real-world problems they encounter. The well-rounded liberal arts education you can obtain at Amherst can included both a strong and deep training in the sciences as well as breadth in the language and culture, social sciences, arts, and the humanities. This is excellent preparation for engineering graduate school and an engineering career.

Below is some information about engineering careers, provided in the form of answers to frequently asked questions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Amherst College offer an engineering major?

No, there is no engineering major at Amherst College.

I know I can enroll in courses at other schools in the Five College system, and some of them offer engineering courses. Can I take engineering courses that way?

While there is no engineering program or major at Amherst College, here are engineering courses in the Five College area. Both Smith College and UMass Amherst have engineering schools. However, very generally the Amherst College Registrar will not give Amherst College credit for courses taken at another institution if those courses are not consistent with the curriculum of a liberal arts college. In particular, this means that courses deemed to be pre-professional, e.g. courses in business, engineering, nursing, cannot be taken elsewhere for Amherst College credit. However, there is a certain flexibility of interpretation that makes this rule a bit less restrictive than it sounds. If an Amherst College academic department will certify to the Registrar that a comparable course could, at least in principle, have been taught in that department, the Registrar will usually award credit for the course even if it's taught in an engineering department. The content of a great many undergraduate engineering courses is similar to that of science and math courses (although the emphasis and some of the techniques may differ), it is often the case that an undergraduate engineering course can be certified by some related Amherst College academic department. For example, fluid dynamics has (to my knowledge) never been taught in the physics department at Amherst College but is regularly taught in the UMass mechanical engineering department. However, since fluid dynamics could in principle be taught in the physics department, since it is physics broadly construed, the Amherst College physics department will usually approve it for Amherst credit. On the other hand, the Introduction to Engineering course taught in many UMass engineering departments will not be approved for Amherst College credit (the same it true for most business courses). In all cases the final discretion whether to grant Amherst College credit lies with the Registrar.
OK, so I can't major in engineering at Amherst College. How can I pursue a career in engineering?

A prospective engineer should major in one of the sciences, math, or statistics, and should plan to study at an engineering school after Amherst. Amherst students usually choose one of two routes to an engineering career:
- Undergraduate degree in science, math, or statistics, and graduate school in engineering
  
  Most Amherst students who pursue careers in engineering do so by completing an Amherst major in one of the sciences, math, or statistics. Afterward the student goes to a graduate school for a master’s degree or doctorate in engineering. The success rate for applicants from Amherst is high---many of the best engineering graduate programs are eager to accept Amherst students who have strong records in science courses.
  Regardless their majors, as preparation for engineering graduate school we recommend students take math through multivariable calculus (differential equations is good, too), a year of physics (the PHYS 123/124 is best), a semester of chemistry (CHEM 151), and a semester of computer science (COSC 111) or learn to program on their own. If you have particular interests in engineering, it would be sensible to take additional science courses in these areas (e.g. biomedical engineering? take some biology). It would also be good to do a senior thesis, so you gain some experience with research. Beyond the curricular aspects, you might want to explore your interest in engineering by participating in clubs at Amherst (e.g. the electronics club) and by doing engineering-related internships over the summer. Finally, if you like building things (and many engineers do), consider taking the machine shop course offered by the physics department over interterm and during the summer.
- Engineering dual degree programs
  
  An alternate route is to enroll in the dual degree program, which allows participating students to earn a BA at Amherst and a BSE from Dartmouth College in a total of five years.
Tell me more about the engineering dual degree program...

The College has an arrangement with Dartmouth College which permits Amherst students to take a year away from Amherst College (akin to a junior year abroad) to study engineering. Amherst College students can take their junior year at Dartmouth, graduate from Amherst with an Amherst College BA, and then complete one more year at Dartmouth College to obtain a Bachelors of Science in Engineering from Dartmouth.

Dual degree program with Dartmouth College (Dartmouth website)
Linked below is a copy of the proposal, approved by the CEP and the Committee of Six, to formalize Amherst's participation in engineering exchange program with Dartmouth. This document has a few more Amherst-specific details of our participation in the program. One or two of our students have participated in this program each year for the past several years.

Engineering exchange program with Dartmouth (Amherst details)

Neither of these options is easy, nor are they the quickest way to become a practicing engineer. If your goal is to prepare for an entry-level job in engineering and to begin working as an engineer as quickly as possible, you'll be better served attending a school with a four-year engineering degree program. Those programs will allow (indeed, require) you to focus your coursework on engineering-specific preprofessional topics, and the time available to study non-technical subjects will be limited. If your career goal is engineering, you should attend Amherst only if you are willing to both acquire a firm scientific foundation and to explore the arts, humanities, and social sciences before pursuing more technical, profession-specific coursework. Note that while you can do some kinds of engineering work with a bachelors degree, a masters degree is the terminal working degree for most engineers. Getting to a masters degree in engineering by going through Amherst adds about a year onto your total time in school relative to going through a four-year engineering degree program. You should attend Amherst only if you value the type of education that additional year will afford you.

Other useful links:

American Society for Engineering Education
This site has useful links both general and specific.

Smith College's Picker Engineering Program website has some useful links and some information about how engineering can mesh with a liberal arts education.

National Engineering Week

IEEE, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
The Q&A part of the student resources section is a particularly nice resource.

The Society of Physics Students (SPS) has many resources aimed at the undergraduate physics student. It's not directly related to engineering, but there are many useful general resources. In addition, the Careers Using Physics section has profiles and advice from people with all levels of physics education who went on to do all manner of things, including obtaining a physics bachelors degree and moving into engineering.