Want to develop autonomous vehicles or a space elevator? Visit the top US engineering colleges!
How can you choose an engineering school with so many options and fierce competition for top programs? We’ve listed the top US engineering colleges to help you choose. We’ll describe each school and rank engineering subfields.
What Is Engineering School?
Applied sciences and mathematics dominate engineering school majors and courses. Engineering programs focus on applying scientific and mathematical knowledge to real-world issues rather than giving a full liberal arts education.
Schools of engineering, which specialize in mechanical and computer engineering, vary from bigger colleges with strong engineering departments, like Cornell University’s College of Engineering. Our rankings include both sorts of institutions.
Ranking the Best Engineering Schools
The excellence of undergraduate engineering programs was our sole criteria for rating colleges. We aggregated and compared rankings from US News & World Reports (weighted 2x due to dominance), Niche (a student satisfaction-heavy rating), and College Factual.
These rankings include students’ incomes (both immediately after graduation and predicted increases), how popular that degree is at that institution, student contentment, and how peers in the field assess the program (primarily professors from other schools).
US Top 25 Engineering Schools
Our list of top US engineering colleges follows.
Note: Acceptance rates are for the whole institution to give you a sense of selectivity. Contact the institution for program admissions information.
Best Specialized Engineering Programs
While all of our institutions are highly regarded, some specialize more. We selected gold, silver, and bronze medalists from six subfields:
Aerospace engineering
Chemical engineering
Civil engineering
In computer engineering
In electrical engineering
Mechanical engineering
These rankings are based on US News & World Report and College Factual specialty rankings for undergraduate programs alone (not include the school’s masters or PhD programs).
Some subjects overlap (MIT, Georgia Tech, and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology rank for most), but there are distinct disparities in which institutions are best for particular specialization.
Top US Aerospace Engineering Schools
Aerospace engineering is for everyone interested in flying, whether aircraft or spacecraft. Four colleges provide the finest aeronautical engineering programs:
The MIT gold medal Stanford wins silver.
University of Michigan—Ann Arbor bronze medal
Top US Chemical Engineering Schools
Chemical engineering combines chemistry, biology, arithmetic, and physics. The following three chemical engineering programs produce excellent graduates.
The MIT gold medal
Stanford wins silver.
Northwestern wins bronze.
Top US Civil Engineering Schools
Civil engineers design, construct, and maintain bridges, buildings, and roadways. The following four colleges provide top undergraduate civil engineering degrees.
The MIT gold medal
Stanford wins silver.
Cal Tech, Rice get bronze.
Top US Computer Engineering Schools
Students learn computer science and electrical engineering in computer engineering programs. The three colleges below have the finest undergraduate computer engineering programs in the US (for top IT programs, see this page).
MIT, Stanford tie for gold.
Carnegie Mellon wins silver.
California Tech wins bronze.
Bonus: Want a sneak peek at computer engineer tools? View our JavaScript TypeOf function article.
Top US Electrical Engineering Schools
Electrical engineering programs let students deal with electricity, electronics, and telecommunications (mobile/cellular/satellite). Electrical engineering may also include aeronautical, computer, or sound engineering, depending on the institution. These three US colleges provide the top electrical engineering undergraduate programs:
The MIT gold medal
Stanford wins silver.
CalTech, UC Berkeley tie for bronze.
Top US Mechanical Engineering Schools Programs include machine design, building, and usage theory and practice. Mechanical engineering programs are excellent in the following three top engineering colleges.
The MIT gold medal
Stanford wins silver.
University of Michigan—Ann Arbor bronze medal
#1: SAT/ACT Math Ace
SAT or ACT Math scores must be flawless or near-perfect to get into top engineering schools. For institutions like MIT, where 25% of students scored below 790 or 35 on the SAT or ACT Math portions, 800 or 36 is optimal.
In general, engineering schools prefer 800 on SAT Math and 550 on Evidence-Based Reading and Writing (total SAT score 1350) over 700 on Math and 700 on EBRW (1400). Extremely high math and mediocre reading/writing scores are always chosen above medium-high.
For admission to a reputable engineering school, you must score at least 700 on SAT Math or 30 on ACT Math.
To demonstrate your math skills beyond the SAT or ACT, you need get a flawless 800 on a SAT Math Subject Test (ideally Math 2). A perfect or excellent score on SAT II Physics or any scientific subject test isn’t essential, although it helps your application.
#2: Focus on Science and Math
To get into top engineering colleges, arithmetic skills are more crucial than well-roundedness.
A strong scientific background, especially in a discipline linked to the sort of engineering you’re interested in (e.g. bio or chem for chemical engineering), is a plus.
Take rigorous math and scientific programs and succeed to show colleges your skills. This involves taking honors-level, AP, or IB classes and working hard to earn high marks, even if it lowers your scores in other disciplines.
#3: Do well in math and science extracurriculars
In his guide to Harvard and the Ivy League, PrepScholar co-founder Allen Cheng advises building a “spike” in a certain area to get admission. This is math and/or science for engineering schools.
Building your engineering extracurricular credentials requires excelling in Math or Science Olympiads and Intel or Siemens Westinghouse contests. PrepScholar co-founder Fred Zhang advises the RSI science and math camp and excellent AIME scores to improve your chances of admission to top US engineering schools.