Ranked undergraduate engineering programs

There's also a difference between schools of engineering which exclusively focus on engineering fields like mechanical and computer engineering and larger universities that have strong engineering programs within them like Cornell University's College of Engineering. We've considered both types of schools in our rankings. In deciding which schools to include in our rankings, we focused only on the quality of undergraduate engineering programs.

These rankings take into account factors like students' salaries both immediately after graduating and projected gains in the future , how popular that degree is at that school, student satisfaction , and how peers in the field view the program mainly professors from other schools.

Note : All acceptance rates listed are for the school as a whole and are meant to give you a general idea of the schools' selectivity. For more details on admissions for a specific program, you should contact the school directly. While all of the schools on our list are highly ranked overall, certain specialties are stronger at certain schools.

We've chosen the gold, silver, and bronze medalists for six different subfields:. You'll notice some overlap over different fields for instance, MIT, Georgia Tech, and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology rank for most of them , but there are still clear differences in which schools are best for which specialty. Aerospace engineering is the field you go into if you're interested in studying flight of any kind whether that's aircraft or spacecraft.

The best aerospace engineering programs can be found in the following four schools:. Chemical engineering is at the intersection of chemistry, biology, math, and even some physics. The following three programs all do an outstanding job at turning out graduates skilled in chemical engineering.

Students in civil engineering programs learn about designing, building, and maintaining physical structures like bridges, buildings, and roads. The following four schools have leading programs in civil engineering for undergraduates. Computer engineering programs focus on teaching students computer science and electrical engineering. The three schools we've listed below have the best undergraduate computer engineering programs in the US if you're looking for top information technology programs, check out this article instead.

Bonus: Want a preview of what sorts of tools you'll be using as a computer engineer? Read our article on the JavaScript TypeOf function here.

Depending on the school, electrical engineering can also be a broader program that encompasses other engineering fields like aerospace, computer, or sound engineering. The following three schools are the best in the US when it comes to electrical engineering undergraduate programs:.

Mechanical engineering programs teach students the theory and practicalities behind machine design, construction, and use. Of all the top engineering schools, the following three are known for their strong mechanical engineering programs.

Now that you know what the best engineering schools in the US are, the next step is to make sure your high school transcript and application show that you're a strong engineering candidate. We'll go over three useful tips for planning your standardized testing , coursework , and extracurriculars to have the best chance of getting into top engineering schools.

If you want to get into top engineering schools, it's less important to be well rounded than to show that you have a solid foundation in math. Showing that you're strong in science, too, is a nice bonus, particularly if your strength is in a field closely related to the type of engineering you're interested in e. Demonstrate your strengths to colleges by taking and excelling in advanced math and science classes.

This means taking honors-level, AP , or IB courses and putting as much effort as you can into getting top grades in them, even if it means you end up with relatively lower grades in other subjects. As PrepScholar co-founder Allen Cheng discusses in his guide to getting into Harvard and the Ivy League , the key to getting accepted to the most selective institutions is to build up a "spike" in a certain area.

Taking part and scoring highly on Math or Science Olympiads and participating in competitions like Intel or Siemens Westinghouse are crucial to building your engineering extracurricular creds. Where can you get the most money to study engineering? Find out with our compilation of the best engineering scholarships. Not sure if engineering is the right subject for you? We go into what some of the other highest-paying college majors are in this article.

Liked this list of schools? Check out some of our other best-of-specialty-school lists, including the best film schools , best video game design schools , best journalism schools , and best creative writing schools. We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:. Our new student and parent forum, at ExpertHub. See how other students and parents are navigating high school, college, and the college admissions process.

Ask questions; get answers. How to Get a Perfect , by a Perfect Scorer. Score on SAT Math. The University of Texas at Austin.

Purdue University. Maine Maritime Academy. Kettering University. Missouri University of Science and Technology. Carnegie Mellon University.

University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. Stevens Institute of Technology. Cornell University. Duke University. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. University of Oklahoma. Michigan Technological University. University of Pennsylvania. Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art.

Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Tulane University of Louisiana. Rice University. San Jose State University. University of California-Los Angeles. Oregon State University. Milwaukee School of Engineering. North Carolina State University at Raleigh. Columbia University in the City of New York. Clarkson University. Johns Hopkins University. Northeastern University. University of Washington-Seattle Campus. California State University Maritime Academy.

Massachusetts Maritime Academy. University of California-San Diego. Princeton University. Northwestern University. New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology.