3+2 College Engineering Programs
How these Dual Degree Programs Can Offer the Best of Both Worlds and End the Ill-Informed Mad Dash Toward Engineering
In his college applications, Peter wants to go into engineering. But he’s actually interested in farming, and cars, and foreign languages.
Why does Peter — and why do so many high school students — claim they want to go into engineering? They have almost no context about what this degree — or career — entails, yet they appear so confident. Perhaps it’s the result of years of “high-growth careers” talk from parents, teachers, and neighbors; perhaps “STEM” has become synonymous with “the only viable path.”
Students who are good at communication, have good writing skills, and are good critical thinkers will do will be much better engineers
As I see it, more students are actually interested in something a bit more flexible and interdisciplinary — dare I say original — than their major and career preferences would lead one to believe. 3+2 engineering programs (which have been around for over 40 years), should really be where ALL future engineers start, but that might be overzealous. So let’s just focus on kids like Peter — kids who…
