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Mechanical Engineering & Robotics

Mad Scientists' Machine Shop

The absolute pinnacle of "Mind and Hand." They have the academic rigor of theoretical physicists, but the grease-stained hands of a Formula 1 pit crew. They don't just write papers; they build terrifying robots that will eventually hunt us for sport or cook us dinner. One or the other.

# ▲ University Location Degrees Accept SAT Male/Female Intl 5-Year Earn
1 MIT
Cambridge, MA
Cambridge, MA 104 5% 47% / 53% 5% $133,881 —
2 Stanford
Stanford, CA
Stanford, CA 56 4% 64% / 36% 9% $133,788 —
3 Georgia Tech
Atlanta, GA
Atlanta, GA 473 13% 79% / 21% 14% $111,031 —
4 U. of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA
Berkeley, CA 213 11% 78% / 22% 11% $109,709 —
5 Caltech
Pasadena, CA
Pasadena, CA 38 4% 71% / 29% 3% — —
6 U. of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, IL
Champaign, IL 289 37% 85% / 15% 22% $113,782 —
7 Carnegie Mellon
Pittsburgh, PA
Pittsburgh, PA 114 11% 69% / 31% 4% $115,129 —
8 U. of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI
Ann Arbor, MI 291 16% 73% / 27% 10% $115,857 —
9 Cornell
Ithaca, NY
Ithaca, NY 152 7% 66% / 34% 5% $108,011 —
10 Purdue
West Lafayette, IN
West Lafayette, IN 510 43% 82% / 18% 16% $122,173 —
11 U. of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX
Austin, TX 283 22% 73% / 27% 2% $107,238 —
12 Texas A&M University - College Station
College Station, TX
College Station, TX 486 52% 82% / 18% 2% $108,456 —
13 Pennsylvania State
University Park, PA
University Park, PA 385 55% 84% / 16% 14% $102,418 —
14 UCLA
Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles, CA 186 9% 82% / 18% 8% $120,312 —
15 U. of California, San Diego
La Jolla, CA
La Jolla, CA 180 29% 74% / 26% 9% $88,101 —
16 U. of Wisconsin - Madison
Madison, WI
Madison, WI 290 41% 84% / 16% 10% $116,254 —
17 U. of Washington
Seattle, WA
Seattle, WA 171 42% 75% / 25% 9% $93,661 —

Whiteboard-preferred

Elite private institutions where mechanical engineering is more theory than hands-on. They will mathematically optimize your heat transfer models or derive fluid dynamics on a glass wall, but they might call a mechanic if their car gets a flat tire.

# ▲ University Location Degrees Accept SAT Male/Female Intl 5-Year Earn
1 Princeton
Princeton, NJ
Princeton, NJ 37 4% 62% / 38% 14% — —
2 Harvard
Cambridge, MA
Cambridge, MA 33 3% 67% / 33% 9% — —
3 Columbia
New York, NY
New York, NY 81 4% 73% / 27% 11% $102,350 —
4 U. of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
Philadelphia, PA 63 4% 67% / 33% 10% $117,027 —
5 Northwestern
Evanston, IL
Evanston, IL 94 7% 63% / 37% 11% $105,206 —
6 Yale
New Haven, CT
New Haven, CT 26 4% 58% / 42% 4% — —
7 Duke
Durham, NC
Durham, NC 70 5% 71% / 29% 4% $133,069 —
8 Johns Hopkins
Baltimore, MD
Baltimore, MD 45 6% 80% / 20% 7% $118,219 —
9 Rice
Houston, TX
Houston, TX 60 8% 67% / 33% 7% $109,004 —
10 Brown
Providence, RI
Providence, RI — 5% — — — —
11 U. of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles, CA 93 12% 63% / 37% 9% $104,458 —
12 U. of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA
Charlottesville, VA 69 12% 71% / 29% 0% $90,358 —
13 U. of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, IN
Notre Dame, IN 116 9% 72% / 28% 3% $104,232 —
14 Case Western Reserve
Cleveland, OH
Cleveland, OH 71 35% 73% / 27% 8% $100,172 —
15 Boston
Boston, MA
Boston, MA 130 13% 75% / 25% 17% $101,550 —
16 New York University
New York, NY
New York, NY 82 9% 74% / 26% 21% $77,459 —

The Defense Budget Beneficiaries

If it flies, explodes, or orbits, someone from these programs probably built it. Heavily funded by the Pentagon and aerospace giants, they spend four years stressing over Mach numbers so they can legally play with classified rockets.

# ▲ University Location Degrees Accept SAT Male/Female Intl 5-Year Earn
1 U. of Colorado Boulder
Boulder, CO
Boulder, CO 283 71% 80% / 20% 3% $102,979 —
2 U. of Maryland, College Park
College Park, MD
College Park, MD 302 45% 83% / 17% 1% $98,636 —
3 Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA
Blacksburg, VA 351 47% 84% / 16% 8% $106,131 —
4 United States Naval Academy
Annapolis, MD
Annapolis, MD 132 9% 81% / 19% 2% — —
5 United States Military Academy
West Point, NY
West Point, NY 84 9% 88% / 12% 0% — —
6 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Daytona Beach
Daytona Beach, FL
Daytona Beach, FL 89 55% 71% / 29% 0% $90,210 —

The Boutique Pressure Cookers

Tiny, incredibly intense undergrad-only programs where everyone knows everyone and the professors will personally hunt you down if your CAD assembly fails. Zero sleep, infinite stress, flawless fundamentals.

# ▲ University Location Degrees Accept SAT Male/Female Intl 5-Year Earn
1 Harvey Mudd
Claremont, CA
Claremont, CA — 9% — — — —
2 Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Terre Haute, IN
Terre Haute, IN 114 79% 81% / 19% 4% $101,217 —
3 Cooper Union
New York, NY
New York, NY 42 12% 81% / 19% 12% — —
4 Bucknell
Lewisburg, PA
Lewisburg, PA 42 32% 76% / 24% 5% $101,813 —
5 Villanova
Villanova, PA
Villanova, PA 74 30% 76% / 24% 1% $116,292 —

Rust Belt Royalty & Co-op Cults

Colleges hidden in the snow or adjacent to industrial parks where you spend half your degree actually working at a real company. You won't get clout on TikTok, but you'll graduate with real-world experience and zero fear of angle grinders.

# ▲ University Location Degrees Accept SAT Male/Female Intl 5-Year Earn
1 Northeastern
Boston, MA
Boston, MA 243 6% 73% / 27% 3% $97,891 —
2 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Troy, NY
Troy, NY 146 67% 80% / 20% 12% $93,720 —
3 Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Worcester, MA
Worcester, MA 288 62% 73% / 27% 8% $97,862 —
4 Rochester Institute of Technology
Rochester, NY
Rochester, NY 164 55% 76% / 24% 7% $89,418 —
5 Kettering
Flint, MI
Flint, MI 162 68% 79% / 21% 2% $109,334 —
6 Michigan Technological
Houghton, MI
Houghton, MI 181 75% 81% / 19% 1% $102,076 —
7 Iowa State
Ames, IA
Ames, IA 369 85% 86% / 14% 5% $118,447 —
8 U. of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, OH
Cincinnati, OH 204 72% 84% / 16% 8% $111,757 —
9 Illinois Institute of Technology
Chicago, IL
Chicago, IL 61 55% 90% / 10% 10% $94,339 —
10 Colorado School of Mines
Golden, CO
Golden, CO 301 29% 76% / 24% 1% $103,937 —
11 San Jose State
San Jose, CA
San Jose, CA 168 50% 92% / 8% 6% $99,434 —

The Kinetic Energy Cartel

Massive state schools churning out the absolute backbone of the engineering workforce. They are running on pure caffeine and spite, ready to keep the physical world from plunging into the dark ages by optimizing your local HVAC systems.

# ▲ University Location Degrees Accept SAT Male/Female Intl 5-Year Earn
1 Ohio State
Columbus, OH
Columbus, OH 297 49% 83% / 17% 6% $113,641 —
2 North Carolina State
Raleigh, NC
Raleigh, NC 290 40% 87% / 13% 1% $108,045 —
3 U. of Florida
Gainesville, FL
Gainesville, FL 269 23% 81% / 19% 3% $102,439 —
4 Michigan State
East Lansing, MI
East Lansing, MI 262 83% 86% / 14% 9% $105,724 —
5 Arizona State
Tempe, AZ
Tempe, AZ 306 88% 83% / 17% 9% $100,097 —
6 U. of California, Irvine
Irvine, CA
Irvine, CA 208 29% 81% / 19% 13% $105,234 —
7 Clemson
Clemson, SC
Clemson, SC 227 42% 90% / 10% 0% $95,001 —
8 U. of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA
Santa Barbara, CA 87 38% 89% / 11% 8% $89,088 —
9 U. of California, Davis
Davis, CA
Davis, CA 124 44% 75% / 25% 16% $94,182 —
10 U. of Central Florida
Orlando, FL
Orlando, FL 376 43% 81% / 19% 5% $88,926 —
11 U. of Delaware
Newark, DE
Newark, DE 145 55% 81% / 19% 1% $92,520 —
12 Oregon State
Corvallis, OR
Corvallis, OR 368 75% 85% / 15% 12% $93,694 —
13 U. of Utah
Salt Lake City, UT
Salt Lake City, UT 145 82% 88% / 12% 6% $100,895 —
14 Auburn
Auburn, AL
Auburn, AL 197 47% 86% / 14% 3% $102,156 —
15 U. of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, AL
Tuscaloosa, AL 231 75% 87% / 13% 3% $102,008 —
16 U. of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA
Pittsburgh, PA 142 59% 80% / 20% 13% $102,724 —
17 Colorado State University - Fort Collins
Fort Collins, CO
Fort Collins, CO 174 82% 87% / 13% 4% $88,205 —
18 U. of Connecticut
Storrs, CT
Storrs, CT 200 54% 81% / 19% 2% $89,963 —
19 U. of Oklahoma - Norman
Norman, OK
Norman, OK 108 72% 85% / 15% 11% $104,068 —
20 Oklahoma State
Stillwater, OK
Stillwater, OK 244 55% 89% / 11% 1% $104,136 —
21 U. of Houston
Houston, TX
Houston, TX 190 55% 79% / 21% 5% $99,246 —
22 U. of Kentucky
Lexington, KY
Lexington, KY 157 90% 83% / 17% 4% $96,479 —
23 U. of South Carolina
Columbia, SC
Columbia, SC 124 55% 81% / 19% 1% $94,817 —
24 Texas Tech
Lubbock, TX
Lubbock, TX 293 69% 89% / 11% 4% $96,342 —
25 Washington State
Pullman, WA
Pullman, WA 237 75% 86% / 14% 3% $84,538 —
26 U. of Illinois Chicago
Chicago, IL
Chicago, IL 161 55% 80% / 20% 9% $89,167 —
27 U. of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA
Riverside, CA 121 86% 85% / 15% 1% $82,561 —
28 Florida State
Tallahassee, FL
Tallahassee, FL 105 20% 75% / 25% 2% $89,094 —
29 George Washington
Washington, DC
Washington, DC 39 47% 69% / 31% 5% $85,444 —
30 U. of Texas at Dallas
Dallas, TX
Dallas, TX 162 72% 81% / 19% 3% $89,143 —
31 Florida International
Miami, FL
Miami, FL 169 42% 88% / 12% 11% $90,885 —