Located just blocks from Fenway Park (as well as Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts), Wentworth Institute of Technology is part of a consortium of colleges called the Colleges of the Fenway, where students can cross-register for courses within the diverse group. As the technology-based school of the group, Wentworth students have a little less flexibility in their curriculum, but they still have the opportunity to take humanities and arts courses at the other colleges in the group.
Additionally, Wentworth students share a gym, common study space and a snack bar with students from the other CoF colleges, and dorms are literally across the street from one another.
Wentworth’s education is focused on the application of engineering disciplines in the real world. All students do two paid co-ops during their time here; nearly half get job offers from their co-op employers, but many don’t take them because they get better offers. Average starting salary for Wentworth grads is $57k; computer science grads average $77k per year to start. Because it’s a co-op school, Wentworth has great relationships with many companies in the greater Boston area and throughout the Northeast.
Wentworth students are well-regarded as good team members in the workplace because of their EPIC program – externally collaborative project based interdisciplinary curriculum. This helps them apply their skills to real team-based efforts, improving their employability. The students in this short video explain:
https://youtu.be/ipAOsJjaKm0&w=650
Housing is guaranteed for four years, which is important at an urban school like Wentworth. In addition to being able to take courses at the other consortium schools, Wentworth students can participate in the active Hillel and ROTC programs at Northeastern University, which is immediately across the street (you have to walk through Northeastern to get to the closest transit stop!).
While Wentworth is known for its strong engineering programs, they also have several design-related majors, including architecture, interior and industrial design. No portfolios are required for admission to these programs, and math scores for students admitted to these majors are more flexible (and a bit lower) than those for the engineers. Mechanical and biomedical engineering are the most popular majors – students can move out of these majors if they change their mind after starting, but they can’t transfer in.
Evelyn visited Wentworth in May, 2016. You can see all of the photos from her visit here.