Academics
Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering in Massachusetts just graduated its twelfth class in 2017, but it’s already taking the engineering world by storm with its rigorous hands-on program on the “bleeding edge of engineering education.” Olin stresses creating one’s own academic path to its 350 undergraduates: The curriculum weaves independent studies and co-curriculars seamlessly throughout four years of “learning skills through project-based learning in order to use engineering and design for the good of the world.” At the end of their time at Olin, students emerge as engineers with “fantastic and practical technical skillsets” that they are able to wield in a variety of settings. Classes are “hard, but interesting and worthwhile,” and students are also able to take courses at nearby Babson, Wellesley, and Brandeis. Classes traditionally involve breaking into small groups, and “most problems dividing work in teams have to do with students getting too excited about the work and doing more than their fair share rather than shirking group duties,” says one student. Self-directed study is important here, and Olin encourages students to design their own semester long project on a topic that interests them through the college’s Passionate Pursuits program.
Professors are “extremely dedicated” to the work they are doing at Olin. “I have had professors come to campus at 10 pm because they heard that students were struggling with homework assignments, and stay until well after midnight,” says one. Uniqueness is everywhere: There is a tremendous amount of flexibility in the classroom, with almost no lectures; TAs are referred to as NINJAs; and every semester there’s at least one new experimental course (“and the classes that aren’t new are better than they were last semester”). Faculty are “interested in how their teaching works,” and there is “constant improvement in the curriculum and learning styles.” At the end of the day, “Olin doesn’t create engineers—it prepares them.”
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