As educators at a leading private university - and as parents - we think it's smart to consider a private college or university for your undergraduate experience. For starters . . .

• Private institutions offer dynamic interdisciplinary collaborations, excellence in teaching, dedicated mentors, and student selectivity. You can also take a fresh approach to your scientific and technical interests through unparalleled research opportunities.
  
• Private colleges and universities focus on undergraduates. We seek special, well-qualified students who can contribute to classroom and lab efforts and who can inspire others to work hard, smart, and creatively. We are committed to creating diversity in our student populations and a degree of competitiveness that will encourage you to reach for - and to reach - your goals.
  
• We combine these commitments in a holistic approach to education that is well-rounded and well-grounded, providing a variety of education experiences, internships, and research opportunities that prepare you for a career of continuing education.

Sound like a lot to offer? It is, so let's explore some of the specific advantages at a private college or university.

You will learn from the best teachers
Research and teaching together. Research and education don't compete with one another at private colleges and universities. In fact, research faculty gravitate to private institutions because they want to teach undergraduate students and do cutting-edge research.

At institutions like Case Western Reserve University, Cornell University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and many other places, faculty bring their excitement for scientific research to their interactions with you, as future scientists, computer scientists, and engineers.

Student-faculty involvement. The top 25 colleges in the country are balanced in terms of being private and public, and all have excellent faculty. But faculty at private institutions are more intensely involved with their students. The ratio of faculty to students is more favorable at private schools, and class sizes are generally smaller.

At many private institutions, you will take introductory courses taught by leading faculty mentors. You will find Nobel Laureates treating students to their foresight, imagination, and knowledge. At private colleges and universities, you will roll up you sleeves and work in labs with deans, department heads, and distinguished professors. These teachers write the textbooks that you use for physics (and then teach that class, too!), show you the power of Java programming, and teach introductory courses in engineering that link complex theories with hands-on projects and experiments.

Explore your interests through research
We don't wait for students to show up at our laboratories; we go out and find you, bring you into that environment, and actively promote meaningful research as a component of your education.

The research component
At private colleges and universities, you can participate in some of the leading centers of research. Look at the research center at any private college or university and you will see students and researchers from many disciplines working side-by-side on state-of-the-art equipment. The same holds true for smaller labs run by faculty researchers.

At our own Carnegie Mellon University, about 80% - or four out of five - science and engineering students do original research with a leading faculty member (see the article Hands-on in the Lab by Peter Russell in this magazine for more information on faculty-student collaboration).

Excellent student research programs are part of many institutions, including Harvey Mudd and California Institute of Technology. In many cases, your work as a student researcher is supported through grants, and you will present your results, both on your campus and at national meetings with fellow scientists and engineers.

The interdisciplinary approach
Private colleges and universities bring scientific-technical disciplines together in creative ways.

Cross-disciplinary work
Today, computer scientists are interacting with all of the experimental disciplines: interaction is an important tool for students in pre-medicine and science, psychology, and multimedia and performance art, for example. In engineering, design and computer science are meshing to create digital pens, wearable computers and increasingly small hard drives for computers.

Course selection
Many private institutions allow you to create self-defined majors or combine existing majors and minors in creative, contemporary, and exciting ways that underscore our interdisciplinary approach to undergraduate education.

Team-building.
At private colleges and universities, interaction and an interdisciplinary approach to education go beyond social functions and large survey classes. At our institutions, 'interdisciplinary' it means actually working together on team projects and conducting hands-on work with peers and faculty from many different fields.

You'll enjoy interacting with other students who share your excitement for science, technology, and engineering. Many students say that this is the first time they've ever been with a significant number of other students who share their own excitement for the sciences and engineering.

Your advisors are advisors for a lifetime
Private colleges provide a supportive atmosphere of guidance through mentors, advisors, and career counselors.

At most private institutions, guidance in choosing a major, a relevant humanities course, an exciting lab job, or even the right graduate or professional school is provided in an atmosphere of involvement and concern for you.

Beyond equipping you with the usual college survival skills set, advising is a commitment to you and your growth, even well after you've earned your degree. This commitment - and access to advisors, deans, and faculty mentors - sets us apart from most public institutions.

Advising.
In the beginning, there is advising for coursework - to build that survival set: What courses do you want to take? Where can you get that research experience or an internship that will help you to decide on a career path? Where can you get help to resolve a personal or academic issue?

Mentoring.
Then there is the guidance that comes from one-on-one work with a faculty member in a science, computer science, or engineering program that you enjoy and may want to participate in for your lifetime. This kind of mentoring may involve working together in the laboratory or gaining practical experience and advice about the next step in your academic development. By working one-on-one with faculty members, doing research, and being involved, you have the direct connection with a faculty member who gives you advice and then, later, helps in directing your career, including actual answers to "What do I do next?" This may involve advice about finding a job or finding the right graduate or professional school. Your mentors will step in and help you to understand how to prepare.

Their advice - combined with internships, classwork, research, and the skills you'll acquire in critical thinking, analysis, and presentation - now comes into play.

Private colleges are springboards to strong futures
Private institutions are leaders in taking you to the level that defines you as a professional in your chosen field of science, engineering, or technology.  When you combine that preparation with the excellent network of alumni and friends and contacts with employers, you are another step ahead.  You see, those same people who encouraged you to take a class, advised you in a lab environment, and wrote letters of recommendation to a graduate school or for a job will be there for you in the years to come, too.

These are all parts of the lifetime education process that begins the day you choose a private college or university for science or engineering. Private colleges may provide the best educational environment for you. We hope that no matter what field you pursue and no matter what private college or university you choose, you experience a dynamic education environment that helps you attain your life and career goals.

Eric Grotzinger and Susan Henry are, respectively, Associate Dean and Dean of the Mellon College of Science, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.