We’ve had many students ask us what colleges have the best engineering and science programs. Using a weighted average of faculty resources, technology grants, class size, and student ratings, we have developed the following list to help guide students and parents in the process of college counseling. The list provides a concise summary of these top engineering and tech programs. For more information, contact Top Test Prep directly.

(1) California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA
Cal Tech is the top ranked tech savvy college. The school is packed with great professors and has a niche in the California technology industry, including Google and Yahoo. Cal Tech is highly recommended if you’re interested in entering Silicon Valley and have a knack for inventing new technologies. Their undergraduate program is one of the best for students interested in individual research projects with professors and Cal Tech is a key part of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Some key specialties: Natural Sciences, Biotechnology, Space Sciences
Famous alumni: Gordon E. Moore, co-founder of Intel Corporation; Charles Francis Richter, creator of the Richter Magnitude Scale;
SAT range for incoming students: 2200-2350
Acceptance rate: 17%

(2) Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
MIT is a great school with unique resources for its students. If you’re interested in graduating with the famed MIT degree, and want to be immersed in high quality education, every day, then this is a great place to be. With more Nobel prizes than one could count in an hour, they define excellence in engineering. Their high alumni giving suggest generations of families are happy with their educational choice. MIT probably has the highest name recognition worldwide amongst scholars and students.

Some key specialties: Artificial Intelligence, Aerospace Engineering
Famous alumni: Col. Buzz Aldrin, NASA Astronaut; IM Pei, world-renowned designer and architect; Robert Metcalfe, inventor of Ethernet and founder, 3COM;
SAT range for incoming students: 2070-2340
Acceptance rate: 13%

(3) Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Cornell is one of the few colleges with engineering research programs that allow students to work directly under renowned professors. With faculty like Bill Nye (the science guy) and Steven Squyres of the NASA Mars Rover program, you will have the opportunity to learn from the best. Be prepared to work harder at Cornell than you would at most colleges. Cornell’s unique engineering science facilities include newly built Duffield Hall, which represents the university’s next high-tech step.

Some key specialties: Engineering Physics, Nanotechnology, Biomedical Sciences
Famous alumni: Steven Squyres, principal science investigator for the Mars rovers; William F. Friedman, founder of the study of cybernetics;
SAT range for incoming students: 1940-2240
Acceptance rate: 24%

(4) Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA

Founded originally as Carnegie Technical Schools in 1900 by industrialist Andrew Carnegie, the school is primarily known for its science and research. Carnegie Mellon hosts the Software Engineering Institute (SEI), a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense and operated by Carnegie Mellon University. In addition, they host the Robotics Institute (RI), a division of the School of Computer Science. Overall, its solid reputation amongst scholars and education journals is a reason why students should look to this school.

Some key specialties: Computer Science, Software Engineering
Famous alumni: James Gosling, creator of the Java programming language; Andy Bechtolsheim, co-founder of Sun Microsystems; Vinod Khosla, billionaire venture capitalist and co-founder of Sun Microsystems;
SAT range for incoming students: 1940-2235
Acceptance rate: 34%

(5) University of Texas, Austin, TX

Considered to be one of the Public Ivies in America, the University of Texas has fantastic resources for their students. As a public university, it spends almost 50 percent of their engineering budget on sponsored research. UT’s Cockrell School of Engineering enrolled 67 new National Merit Scholars in 2006-2007, the university’s largest proportion of new National Merit Scholars. UT Austin enrolls the third highest National merit scholars nationally. Plus, Texas is a great state with awesome weather and friendly people. Definitely keep UT-Austin in mind when applying to college.

Some key specialties: Petroleum Engineering, Computer Engineering
Famous alumni: Michael Dell, Founder and CEO of Dell Computers; Rex Tillerson, Exxon Mobil Corp. chairman and CEO.
SAT range for incoming students: 1680-2055
Acceptance rate: 49%*

*Note that this admissions rate will be affected by Texas’s top ten percent law, which guarantees graduating Texas high school seniors in the top 10% of their class admission to any public Texas university

Brought to you by Top Test Prep and the Education Expert, Ross Blankenship
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We have had a lot of questions about the new college rankings, particularly what sort of methodology was used to assess hundreds of schools throughout the country. Although there’s an entire school of thought on the efficacy of the rankings themselves, what we believe is that the criteria should at the very least be modified. One of the key criteria we believe should be factored into these rankings is post-graduation statistics, namely what students are doing from these prestigious colleges after they graduate.

We believe that much information could be gleaned by adding an additional category on post-graduation employment and/or statistics on graduate school entry. Adding an additional category would reflect a college’s ultimate purpose, i.e. providing employment opportunities and/or graduate program opportunities.

There are two reasons why adding this criteria into the rankings would be helpful: (1) this information would show the public exactly what the graduates do after college, and (2) it would create an incentive for colleges to improve their career services and graduate program counseling. If a parent were comparing two top schools, let’s say Cornell University and Washington University in St. Louis (both ranked 12th respectively), would it not serve the public well to know which school provides its graduates better career opportunities and/or graduate program opportunities? Further, colleges have for generations been adjusting their core curriculum and admissions based on the U.S. News rankings. Whether this is a good or bad thing could be debated for just as long. However, if parents are going to spend 40 to 50 thousand dollars per year on their son or daughter’s education, it would be helpful to know what exactly their son or daughter will do after graduation.

The U.S. News Rankings do provide valuable information on colleges, both public, private, as well as liberal arts and graduate schools. But the methodology could be improved with additional criteria like graduation statistics specific to employment and further education pursued by students. This addition would create major incentives to improve student resources, would give valuable information to parents and students and lastly, would provide a greater ability for parents to differentiate these schools.

-Ross Blankenship, Co-Founder, Top Test Prep

Test Prep and Admissions

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