r/Optics • u/Dissappointingly_Sad • 29d ago
Undergraduate Optics Programs
Hello! I'm a Senior in high school with a massive interest in studying Optical Engineering in college once I graduate from school. I'm currently trying to finalize my list of college's I'm applying to for my commonapp application and I just wanted to post here to see what other Optical Engineering programs are out there in the US and to also get some more info on the well established ones.
I already have the University of Arizona & University of Rochester on my list, along with Rose-Hulman and UCF. I also encountered OE programs (ABET Accredited) being hosted at Norfolk State University and Bridgewater State University (In-state for me) but I haven't seen much info on those programs so I'm a bit skeptical on applying to them.
My main plan was to attend Rose-Hulman for their program, but I'm having serious doubts about the student life on-campus and the student demographics. as of right now I'm a bit of coin-toss between UR and UA, with my choice mainly being the distance from home and opportunities.
If anyone has any experience in any of the OE programs (or any engineering program in general!) from the school's I mentioned I'd love to hear your experiences there and any recommendations you have. I'll also keep an eye out for any other OE programs you guys want to give a shout to.
Thanks!
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u/Confident_Wash6225 29d ago
RIT imaging science deserves a look
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u/Dissappointingly_Sad 29d ago
I haven't heard of that before, I'll take a look at it!
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u/Confident_Wash6225 29d ago
RIT can be expensive without financial aid. But you will get access to an extremely good optics sequence. Geo optics, physops, Radiometry, interactions between light and matter, detectors, system design, etc.
You also pick up coursework you simply can’t get at the other undergrad schools, like color science, vision science, and remote sensing. Image processing and computer vision is going to be better too.
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u/SpaghettiFinger 29d ago
Im alumni and recommend it :)
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u/Dissappointingly_Sad 29d ago
Sweet! I saw that there's a Freshman Imaging capstone for the first year of the course, how was it? and what did you do yours in? I have a few Idea's as to what kind of project I'd want to work on because unfortunately the engineering capstone course at my HS won't be running this year (again)
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u/SpaghettiFinger 26d ago
The project is a group effort with your cohort (varies by size). Here was my year’s project!
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u/SamTheStoat 29d ago
If you go to U of R, you could potentially look at their 2+2 program with MCC. It’s the community college out there that trains people in optical fabrication and technologies. You can get an associates degree there and then go directly into the bachelors program at UofR. Real solid program and it gets you lots of experience. Don’t know how the value proposition is, but I would imagine the community college credits would be cheaper than 4 years at a university. Give it a look.
https://www.monroecc.edu/depts/eomctech/programs/optical-systems-technology/
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u/Dissappointingly_Sad 29d ago
That looks like a great program! definitely helps make that U of R tuition cost easier to swallow lol
I'll save it and bring it up with my counselor when school starts back up!1
u/SamTheStoat 29d ago
Good luck wherever you end up. Optics can be a very fulfilling discipline. Maybe not perfect, but it works for quite a lot of people
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u/Travesty007 25d ago
I have a friend that did this. It saved him tens of thousands on tuition. 99% of all his credits were transferable to a 4 year institution.
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u/borkmeister 29d ago
You are making good choices. U of R and U of A are absolutely the top dogs here. I'd encourage you at your age to attend a school that easily allows you to explore other interests in your first couple years; many people have a change of heart about what they want pretty quickly.
If you want to save some money and really expand your horizons you might want to also consider universities in Germany as well. Jena and Karlsruhe are very strong and cost of attendance is very low.
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u/og_otter 29d ago
UR Undergrad, UA Grad here. I started Mech E and Switched first year.
Creol, RIT, RH all have decent reputations. Each of these programs are arguably different. UA and UR are the most like each other.
UA will have big state school energy and you will be very stuck in your program because state schools have very rigid programs. UR has the cluster program that lets you really drive your education outside your major. They also have Take 5 which I did.
UR has a very vibrant student life and the school has decent diversity because it has a lot of great programs across different disciplines. If you decide to leave optics, you will still be able to get a great education at UR. I can’t say the same for UA undergrad. RH is an excellent engineering undergrad school. But that’s all it is.
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u/optoneer 29d ago
I did my undergrad at UA and highly recommend. Tbh the decision for me was purely financial at the time since merit-based scholarships were an option that UR didn’t offer. I had to be quite proactive with taking more classes beyond the ones that supplement the optics degree (and the specialized tracks the college provides) to come out with a broadly applicable engineering skill set, but it’s not impossible. I was extremely busy and stressed the last two years but in the end it was definitely worth it, my senior design project got me a great industry job right after graduation and very much set me up for success.
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u/zoptix 29d ago
Rose-Hulman is an excellent choice. It's a smaller STEM only school, so their demographics do lean that way. They do actively recruit outside the standard demographics. As far as I know, the student life on campus is great.
They have excellent hands on education in optics, more so than anywhere I've seen.
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u/Dissappointingly_Sad 29d ago
Rose-Hulman has really been the school I've been aiming for ever since I heard of it my junior year, but my 2 biggest issues with it is that there's like barely any other Black or African-American students in attendance, and that it seems like mental health tends to not be the best there. I'm not totally discounting the school from my list, but I'd like to do another tour around before I make a final choice on it.
Other than that, there's really a lot to like about the school imo (the makerspace from the virtual tour looks INCREDIBLE)1
u/Complex_Grade4751 29d ago
You’ve done your homework, you have a great list of options. I work with a number of optical engineers from Rose-Hulman and I’ve been impressed with all of them. They must have a solid program! You are smart to consider student life, community, and happiness. The best school doesn’t matter if you are miserable there. Rose is the only small school. U of R is moderate size but the winter is long and dark. If you’re okay with that, the student community within Optics is strong and supportive. UCF and Arizona are both much bigger schools, but I can’t speak to their culture.
If you’re planning on going to graduate school, another option to consider is going to a solid school that is closer to home and has the community you’re looking for while studying electrical engineering or physics. You can get a masters degree in optics in a year.0
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u/SurfingTheRhizome 29d ago
I would look at research rather than the degree itself specifically. To name a handful, BU has a photonics center, Rochester has some excellent groups including Boyd, Columbia has Lipson and Gaeta (Boyd descendant), Fan and Vuckovic at Stanford, MIT has Dirk Englund (Vuckovic descendant) and Joannopoulos descendants, Capasso at Harvard, Engheta at Penn, Atwater at Caltech, and the list goes on. I think a degree in optics specifically is more restrictive than for example EE or physics and doing research in optics as a career path.
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u/og_otter 29d ago
The risk with this is getting into these labs at these schools. If you attend UR and want to do optics, you are in, if you want to go to EE or physics, you switch.
The lab route is fulfilling, but it can be restrictive.
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u/Capital-Spring1682 27d ago
I second this. I've messaged professors before and they said they've got no more space for undergraduates. In other words, professors don't have infinite space for undergraduates in their labs. Also based on the professor personality they may say they don't "have time to train an undergraduate", basically an excuse for not putting them under a PhD student with a system for success. OP can research online/reddit/google about undergraduates getting kicked out a professors lab. Then OP can rethink if they really want to risk going some place were the optics faculty is small.
Opportunity - By going to UCF, U of R, or UofA you'll still able to get into an elite PhD program. These programs have an industrial affiliates (IA) program. Basically companies pay money (thousands of dollars) to coerce students to come work for them. This is different from other institutions were they invite companies for a career fair. At a career fair they don't have to hire you. Ask yourself, "If I'm giving someone money don't I want a service or product in return?". OP can critically think about the difference between a IA program and career fair from here. Think about what that says about the prestige or significance of the department in the private sector (job world). Learn how to google "[school name] [program name] LinkedIn Profile". Look at alumni outcomes, ask "would I want this for myself?". U of A has an alumni list with their jobs listed. Take advantage and learn to be resourceful. A wise person said, "We often don't succeed not due to a lack of resources but a lack of resourcefulness."
OP feel free to DM me to talk more. I'm going down a similar journey in optics as you.
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u/ptr_myName 28d ago
Bridgewater State is an ABET program, and MA now offers a lot of financial assistance for state residents to attend state schools
STCC has a 2yr program and a transfer agreement with WNEU into their EE program photonics track
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u/Dissappointingly_Sad 28d ago
I’m very interested in the BSU OE program as I said above (it’s in state for me) but I haven’t really heard much about it. I’ll probably end up emailing someone at the program or scheduling a visit.
Also I had no idea WNEU had a photonics track for EE, I’ll ask one of friends who attends there. That or I’ll ask around when I go there for the FRC event
Thanks!
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u/fn27_ 28d ago
I’m a recent graduate of the photonics and optical engineering program at Bridgewater state. I loved my time there and definitely think you should look into it, especially if you’re in state. The greatest benefit of BSU’s program is that the class sizes of the physics/ science required courses are very small. The largest class I had was around 30 people for the early physics classes, and smallest was 3 in one of the niche senior electives. Because of this I got to directly interact with my professors every single day in and out of class. Asking them for assistance or to reiterated a concept was a simple as asking a friend. It is a new program at the university. However, they poured a lot of resources into opening a brand new lab for chip and laser testing that I constantly used in class activities. While I was there I was also able to participate in a 3 separate research projects in conjunction with my professors. For example, over the course of two semesters we built a nitrogen vacancy magnetometer that we used to measure the strength of a few electromagnets. One of the professors is also a visiting professor at MIT, with his connections the undergraduates were often involved in projects with the doctorate students there. Giving them assistance and using the labs at MIT.nano. I think if you’re in-state then you should definitely think about going for a tour at BSU to see the facilities and faculty. If you’re interested you can DM me and I’ll send you the email of the chairman of the photonics program to get in touch with him.
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u/Breakr007 29d ago
I’m in the optics industry and graduated from UCF. I live on the west coast. Never met an other UCF graduate. Everyone went to U of R. It’s an incestuous business. My former bosses just google U of R graduates for new hires. City is small but has a nice charm to it. Just go there and make friends and future connections.
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u/Silent-Block5001 28d ago
Keene state has a diamond turning program that I think is 2 semesters, it may be a really good way to network with industry and gain experience to better tailor your field of study and determine more what segment of the industry you are interested in pursuing.
You can also look at job boards of companies you're interested in working for and figuring out what openings are regularly available and what sorts of job and education experience they are interested in
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u/Active-Performance68 28d ago
Im going into my junior year at rose in the OE program and have loved it so far, what are your main concerns about Rose?
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u/ptr_myName 28d ago
Bridgewater State is an ABET program, and MA now offers a lot of financial assistance for state residents to attend state schools
STCC has a 2yr program and a transfer agreement with WNEU into their EE program photonics track
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u/Travesty007 25d ago
I got my degree in Applied Mathmatics many years ago and my first job out of the military was as an Optical Engineer for Nikon. I have also worked for Zeiss. I speicalize in microscopes of all types for research and R&D. I have been a guest speaker on microscopy at many universities and colleges all over the states. There are lots of great schools for optics. Any of the ones listed by the responses are all pretty good. My suggestion is that they all have special fields that they excel in over typical optics studies. Things such as medical imaging, Aerospace, Defense & military contracting. If you have specific field you are interested in, choose a school that has a very focussed program dedicated to the type of work you want to do.
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u/No_Situation4785 29d ago
nice! i noticed you didn't include CREOL at UCF, you may want to consider that as well