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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 Earnings ROI Employ
1 MIT
Cambridge, MA
Cambridge, MA 104 5% 47% / 53% 5% $106,765 97 94% —
2 Stanford
Palo Alto, CA
Palo Alto, CA 56 4% 64% / 36% 9% $140,707 99 96% —
3 Georgia Tech
Atlanta, GA
Atlanta, GA 473 13% 79% / 21% 14% $98,607 97 96% —
4 U. of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA
Berkeley, CA 213 11% 78% / 22% 11% $112,325 99 93% —
5 Caltech
Pasadena, CA
Pasadena, CA 38 4% 71% / 29% 3% $127,334 99 — —
6 U. of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, IL
Champaign, IL 289 37% 85% / 15% 22% $96,151 95 97% —
7 Carnegie Mellon
Pittsburgh, PA
Pittsburgh, PA 114 11% 69% / 31% 4% $115,666 98 100% —
8 U. of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI
Ann Arbor, MI 291 16% 73% / 27% 10% $101,330 93 97% —
9 Cornell
Ithaca, NY
Ithaca, NY 152 8% 66% / 34% 5% $113,983 97 96% —
10 Purdue
West Lafayette, IN
West Lafayette, IN 510 43% 82% / 18% 16% $97,551 96 97% —
11 U. of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX
Austin, TX 283 22% 73% / 27% 2% $104,021 97 97% —
12 Texas A&M University - College Station
College Station, TX
College Station, TX 486 52% 82% / 18% 2% $97,743 96 97% —
13 Pennsylvania State
University Park, PA
University Park, PA 385 55% 84% / 16% 14% $90,200 92 98% —
14 UCLA
Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles, CA 186 9% 82% / 18% 8% $108,947 98 93% —
15 U. of California, San Diego
La Jolla, CA
La Jolla, CA 180 29% 74% / 26% 9% $99,554 95 96% —
16 U. of Wisconsin - Madison
Madison, WI
Madison, WI 290 41% 84% / 16% 10% $96,277 94 98% —
17 U. of Washington
Seattle, WA
Seattle, WA 171 42% 75% / 25% 9% $94,653 95 94% —

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 Earnings ROI Employ
1 Princeton
Princeton, NJ
Princeton, NJ 37 4% 62% / 38% 14% $113,608 98 100% —
2 Harvard
Cambridge, MA
Cambridge, MA 33 3% 67% / 33% 9% $100,467 94 — —
3 Columbia
New York, NY
New York, NY 81 4% 73% / 27% 11% $103,801 94 93% —
4 U. of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
Philadelphia, PA 63 5% 67% / 33% 10% $116,366 98 97% —
5 Northwestern
Evanston, IL
Evanston, IL 94 7% 63% / 37% 11% $102,743 93 96% —
6 Yale
New Haven, CT
New Haven, CT 26 4% 58% / 42% 4% $104,897 94 — —
7 Duke
Durham, NC
Durham, NC 70 5% 71% / 29% 4% $125,085 98 94% —
8 Johns Hopkins
Baltimore, MD
Baltimore, MD 45 6% 80% / 20% 7% $118,208 98 98% —
9 Rice
Houston, TX
Houston, TX 60 8% 67% / 33% 7% $105,734 95 94% —
10 Brown
Providence, RI
Providence, RI — 5% — — — — — —
11 U. of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles, CA 93 12% 63% / 37% 9% $107,591 96 94% —
12 U. of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA
Charlottesville, VA 69 12% 71% / 29% 0% $91,262 88 90% —
13 U. of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, IN
Notre Dame, IN 116 9% 72% / 28% 3% $95,893 89 98% —
14 Case Western Reserve
Cleveland, OH
Cleveland, OH 71 35% 73% / 27% 8% $92,158 86 99% —
15 Boston University
Boston, MA
Boston, MA 130 11% 75% / 25% 17% $94,926 89 95% —
16 New York University
New York, NY
New York, NY 82 9% 74% / 26% 21% $83,656 81 94% —

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 Earnings ROI Employ
1 U. of Colorado Boulder
Boulder, CO
Boulder, CO 283 71% 80% / 20% 3% $91,715 93 95% —
2 U. of Maryland, College Park
College Park, MD
College Park, MD 302 45% 83% / 17% 1% $102,581 97 94% —
3 Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA
Blacksburg, VA 351 55% 84% / 16% 8% $97,664 96 95% —
4 United States Naval Academy
Annapolis, MD
Annapolis, MD 132 9% 81% / 19% 2% $91,967 — — —
5 United States Military Academy
West Point, NY
West Point, NY 84 12% 88% / 12% 0% $92,180 — — —
6 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Daytona Beach
Daytona Beach, FL
Daytona Beach, FL 89 72% 71% / 29% 0% $93,818 94 95% —

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 Earnings ROI Employ
1 Harvey Mudd
Claremont, CA
Claremont, CA — 9% — — — — — —
2 Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Terre Haute, IN
Terre Haute, IN 114 77% 81% / 19% 4% $93,120 89 95% —
3 Cooper Union
New York, NY
New York, NY 42 12% 81% / 19% 12% $97,645 95 — —
4 Bucknell
Lewisburg, PA
Lewisburg, PA 42 32% 76% / 24% 5% $99,777 92 100% —
5 Villanova
Villanova, PA
Villanova, PA 74 30% 76% / 24% 1% $113,966 97 99% —

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 Earnings ROI Employ
1 Northeastern
Boston, MA
Boston, MA 243 24% 73% / 27% 3% $104,723 95 97% —
2 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Troy, NY
Troy, NY 146 67% 80% / 20% 12% $94,402 90 96% —
3 Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Worcester, MA
Worcester, MA 288 60% 73% / 27% 8% $102,495 95 98% —
4 Rochester Institute of Technology
Rochester, NY
Rochester, NY 164 71% 76% / 24% 7% $91,471 90 96% —
5 Kettering
Flint, MI
Flint, MI 162 68% 79% / 21% 2% $102,774 96 100% —
6 Michigan Technological
Houghton, MI
Houghton, MI 181 75% 81% / 19% 1% $90,527 92 98% —
7 Iowa State
Ames, IA
Ames, IA 369 85% 86% / 14% 5% $88,697 93 98% —
8 U. of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, OH
Cincinnati, OH 204 85% 84% / 16% 8% $90,998 94 97% —
9 Illinois Institute of Technology
Chicago, IL
Chicago, IL 61 66% 90% / 10% 10% $88,837 89 93% —
10 Colorado School of Mines
Golden, CO
Golden, CO 301 29% 76% / 24% 1% $93,871 93 97% —
11 San Jose State
San Jose, CA
San Jose, CA 168 50% 92% / 8% 6% $112,360 99 95% —

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 Earnings ROI Employ
1 Ohio State
Columbus, OH
Columbus, OH 297 49% 83% / 17% 6% $95,293 94 97% —
2 North Carolina State
Raleigh, NC
Raleigh, NC 290 40% 87% / 13% 1% $91,136 94 100% —
3 U. of Florida
Gainesville, FL
Gainesville, FL 269 23% 81% / 19% 3% $94,291 96 94% —
4 Michigan State
East Lansing, MI
East Lansing, MI 262 83% 86% / 14% 9% $99,381 95 99% —
5 Arizona State
Tempe, AZ
Tempe, AZ 306 88% 83% / 17% 9% $93,365 95 97% —
6 U. of California, Irvine
Irvine, CA
Irvine, CA 208 29% 81% / 19% 13% $95,534 94 95% —
7 Clemson
Clemson, SC
Clemson, SC 227 42% 90% / 10% 0% $88,351 91 97% —
8 U. of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA
Santa Barbara, CA 87 38% 89% / 11% 8% $100,669 96 90% —
9 U. of California, Davis
Davis, CA
Davis, CA 124 44% 75% / 25% 16% $99,885 96 94% —
10 U. of Central Florida
Orlando, FL
Orlando, FL 376 43% 81% / 19% 5% $92,483 97 96% —
11 U. of Delaware
Newark, DE
Newark, DE 145 72% 81% / 19% 1% $91,595 93 100% —
12 Oregon State
Corvallis, OR
Corvallis, OR 368 75% 85% / 15% 12% $94,418 95 97% —
13 U. of Utah
Salt Lake City, UT
Salt Lake City, UT 145 82% 88% / 12% 6% $87,070 92 99% —
14 Auburn
Auburn, AL
Auburn, AL 197 47% 86% / 14% 3% $91,940 94 95% —
15 U. of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, AL
Tuscaloosa, AL 231 75% 87% / 13% 3% $91,807 94 97% —
16 U. of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA
Pittsburgh, PA 142 59% 80% / 20% 13% $93,999 94 100% —
17 Colorado State University - Fort Collins
Fort Collins, CO
Fort Collins, CO 174 82% 87% / 13% 4% $89,087 93 96% —
18 U. of Connecticut
Storrs, CT
Storrs, CT 200 54% 81% / 19% 2% $93,562 94 96% —
19 U. of Oklahoma - Norman
Norman, OK
Norman, OK 108 72% 85% / 15% 11% $91,580 95 92% —
20 Oklahoma State
Stillwater, OK
Stillwater, OK 244 68% 89% / 11% 1% $91,640 95 96% —
21 U. of Houston
Houston, TX
Houston, TX 190 66% 79% / 21% 5% $96,269 97 98% —
22 U. of Kentucky
Lexington, KY
Lexington, KY 157 90% 83% / 17% 4% $87,796 92 98% —
23 U. of South Carolina
Columbia, SC
Columbia, SC 124 55% 81% / 19% 1% $88,180 92 92% —
24 Texas Tech
Lubbock, TX
Lubbock, TX 293 69% 89% / 11% 4% $93,452 96 96% —
25 Washington State
Pullman, WA
Pullman, WA 237 75% 86% / 14% 3% $92,146 96 94% —
26 U. of Illinois Chicago
Chicago, IL
Chicago, IL 161 79% 80% / 20% 9% $88,275 94 95% —
27 U. of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA
Riverside, CA 121 86% 85% / 15% 1% $93,294 93 93% —
28 Florida State
Tallahassee, FL
Tallahassee, FL 105 20% 75% / 25% 2% $92,658 97 96% —
29 George Washington
Washington, DC
Washington, DC 39 47% 69% / 31% 5% $94,843 89 100% —
30 U. of Texas at Dallas
Dallas, TX
Dallas, TX 162 72% 81% / 19% 3% $86,469 90 93% —
31 Florida International
Miami, FL
Miami, FL 169 42% 88% / 12% 11% $94,520 97 95% —