I have finally narrowed my college list down to 7 schools

[BradT]

In no particular order:
1.) Olin College of Engineering
2.) RPI
3.) Bucknell
4.) MIT
5.) Lehigh
6.) University of Rochester
7.) Cornell

As you may have already guessed, I plan to attend an engineering school. Originally RPI was my top pick, but a tour of their school showed how terrible of a campus city Troy, NY is. Right now I have my heart set on Olin. It just seems to be a perfect match for me. Of course MIT is my dream school, but I will give it a try.

Are there any grads from these schools on here that would care to tell me a little about their experiences at these schools?

I will be finishing my tours of all these schools within the next month or two, but hearing about these schools from a student's perspective will certainly help in my decision.

Thanks!

EDIT: I have seen many posts about the temperature. I have lived in New England all my life and I wouldn't have it any other way. That is also why I didn't look too much into Stanford, Caltech, Berkley, etc. (even though I wish I lived in that area so that they were options). I actually live less than 25 minutes from Dartmouth, but it would be too weird going to college there since I have spent so much of my childhood there.

To give more information about myself, I am interested in either mechanical or electrical engineering. You may have saw my thread in here about the wind-turbine that I am building. I love experimenting with that type of stuff.

Also, I am getting more and more interested about Cornell, but it always seems like they are the butt of many jokes. Are they known as being the worst of the Ivies? Is this simply a misunderstanding on my part?

And I have also read that many here believe that my list is very unusual. I never had too much criteria for my search. I am simply looking for an engineering school in the North East that could offer me the most.

By the way, thank you all for your many suggestions. I am taking each and everyone one of them seriously.

 

[erub]

all of those are too cold for me..how about Georgia Tech? Better engineering school than most of those as well.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Why not RIT?

 

[JDub02]

I graduated from Bucknell with a degree in Computer Engineering. I wound up working for Lockheed Martin in Syracuse after gradutation. Currently working as a nuclear engineer .. whoda thunk it?

Bucknell is great as long as you can handle not being around a city. NYC is 3 hours away, so a weekend is easy to do, but for just a night, you just have Greek life (about 70% of students are Greek).

Feel free to ask any questions. I'd definitely recommend Bucknell's engineering program. Great education and great reputation.

 

[Anubis]

if you didnt like where RPI is you definitly will hate where Bucknell is, there basicially is no campus + lewisburg is in the middle of nowhere
and yes RIT > UofR

 

[Nerva]

Originally posted by: BradT
In no particular order:
1.) Olin College of Engineering
2.) RPI
3.) Bucknell
4.) MIT
5.) Lehigh
6.) University of Rochester
7.) Cornell

As you may have already guessed, I plan to attend an engineering school. Originally RPI was my top pick, but a tour of their school showed how terrible of a campus city Troy, NY is. Right now I have my heart set on Olin. It just seems to be a perfect match for me. Of course MIT is my dream school, but I will give it a try.

Are there any grads from these schools on here that would care to tell me a little about their experiences at these schools?

I will be finishing my tours of all these schools within the next month or two, but hearing about these schools from a student's perspective will certainly help in my decision.

Thanks!

the only school that should be ahead of cornell is MIT. you obviously suck at the picking.

cornell has an awesome engineering program too. the new nano tech lab cost like 700 million to built, or something. ithaca is a bit cold, so what. everywhere is cold on that list. unless you get into MIT, i would choose cornell, the name will open numerous doors later on as well. you will be in a very special club.

plus, ithaca has one of my all time favorite bars, Stella's!

 

[BradT]

I actually might add RIT to my list. I am heading in that direction next weekend to tour Un. of Rochester and Cornell.

 

[MrDudeMan]

Originally posted by: 3cho

Originally posted by: BradT
In no particular order:
1.) Olin College of Engineering
2.) RPI
3.) Bucknell
4.) MIT
5.) Lehigh
6.) University of Rochester
7.) Cornell

As you may have already guessed, I plan to attend an engineering school. Originally RPI was my top pick, but a tour of their school showed how terrible of a campus city Troy, NY is. Right now I have my heart set on Olin. It just seems to be a perfect match for me. Of course MIT is my dream school, but I will give it a try.

Are there any grads from these schools on here that would care to tell me a little about their experiences at these schools?

I will be finishing my tours of all these schools within the next month or two, but hearing about these schools from a student's perspective will certainly help in my decision.

Thanks!

the only school that should be ahead of cornell is MIT. you obviously suck at the picking.

cornell has an awesome engineering program too. the new nano tech lab cost like 700 million to built, or something. ithaca is a bit cold, so what. everywhere is cold on that list. unless you get into MIT, i would choose cornell, the name will open numerous doors later on as well. you will be in a very special club.

plus, ithaca has one of my all time favorite bars, Stella's!

None of the job interviews I've had were effected by where I went to college. Not a single one. As a matter of fact, most of them didn't even ask. I'm curious what this special club will do for someone other than giving them a reason to pat each other on the back more frequently? You are obviously biased for some reason, but 5 years after graduation no one gives a shit where you went to school. They care if you can do your job, not what school is printed on your degree.

Go to school where you feel like you fit in and have a lot of opportunity. You are kidding yourself if you think, as an engineer, that your school title will make a difference after you get your first job, and most likely not even then. No one will care where you went to school as it makes zero difference as long as you applied yourself. I went to a no-name school instead of going to Georgia Tech and I got a job at Intel doing exactly what I wanted to do. If you know your stuff you will get a good job - it's that easy.

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: MrDudeMan

Originally posted by: 3cho

Originally posted by: BradT
In no particular order:
1.) Olin College of Engineering
2.) RPI
3.) Bucknell
4.) MIT
5.) Lehigh
6.) University of Rochester
7.) Cornell

As you may have already guessed, I plan to attend an engineering school. Originally RPI was my top pick, but a tour of their school showed how terrible of a campus city Troy, NY is. Right now I have my heart set on Olin. It just seems to be a perfect match for me. Of course MIT is my dream school, but I will give it a try.

Are there any grads from these schools on here that would care to tell me a little about their experiences at these schools?

I will be finishing my tours of all these schools within the next month or two, but hearing about these schools from a student's perspective will certainly help in my decision.

Thanks!

the only school that should be ahead of cornell is MIT. you obviously suck at the picking.

cornell has an awesome engineering program too. the new nano tech lab cost like 700 million to built, or something. ithaca is a bit cold, so what. everywhere is cold on that list. unless you get into MIT, i would choose cornell, the name will open numerous doors later on as well. you will be in a very special club.

plus, ithaca has one of my all time favorite bars, Stella's!

None of the job interviews I've had were effected by where I went to college. Not a single one. As a matter of fact, most of them didn't even ask. I'm curious what this special club will do for someone other than giving them a reason to pat each other on the back more frequently? You are obviously biased for some reason, but 5 years after graduation no one gives a shit where you went to school. They care if you can do your job, not what school is printed on your degree.

Go to school where you feel like you fit in and have a lot of opportunity. You are kidding yourself if you think, as an engineer, that your school title will make a difference after you get your first job, and most likely not even then. No one will care where you went to school as it makes zero difference as long as you applied yourself. I went to a no-name school instead of going to Georgia Tech and I got a job at Intel doing exactly what I wanted to do. If you know your stuff you will get a good job - it's that easy.

To be fair though, a lot of the IC design companies recruit exclusively from the top schools. I know Intel does not, but the others seem to be more exclusive. To give an example - I got 2 interviews with Intel out of undergrad from a school whose engineering school was ranked in the 40's, but no bites from any of the other semi companies.

I then attended a top-10 for grad school, and networked with all of the semi companies who were absent at my undergrad schools career fair, and who never responded to my resume submissions on their website. They even sponsored a design contest just for one particular class at my school. My team won, and that was how we began to network with the company. I never would have had that opportunity at a school they didn't actively recruit from.

I'm not saying you *must* go to a top school to be noticed by the top engineering companies, but to say it doesn't matter at all is wrong, IMO.

 

[MrDudeMan]

Originally posted by: Special K

To be fair though, a lot of the IC design companies recruit exclusively from the top schools. I know Intel does not, but the others seem to be more exclusive. To give an example - I got 2 interviews with Intel out of undergrad from a school whose engineering school was ranked in the 40's, but no bites from any of the other semi companies.

I then attended a top-10 for grad school, and networked with all of the semi companies who were absent at my undergrad schools career fair, and who never responded to my resume submissions on their website. They even sponsored a design contest just for one particular class at my school. My team won, and that was how we began to network with the company. I never would have had that opportunity at a school they didn't recruit from.

I'm not saying you *must* go to a top school to be noticed by the top engineering companies, but to say it doesn't matter at all is wrong, IMO.

I said most likely it won't make any difference for your first job, and definitely not after that. If you have experience in the field, you are worth more than anyone coming fresh out of school. Period. Once you land your first job and get some experience under your belt, your degree means much, much less if it even means anything at all past that point. Several of my close friends went to prestigious schools and they are very smart guys, and I supported their decisions to go there. I am not biased, which is why I said pick a school where you feel comfortable and see yourself being given opportunities. If that is MIT, then go for it, and if it isn't, that's fine too.

What IC design company are you talking about? I can't think of one that makes a more widely used or more well known product than Intel or AMD, and neither gives a shit where you went to college. I also interviewed with IBM, HP, LSI, and Analog Devices, all of which asked me but never mentioned it again and obviously didn't care. I didn't get or didn't take the jobs because I either wasn't qualified (wrong degree or wrong specialties) or I didn't want to do that for a living. I am yet to be hindered by my degree being at a "non-elite" school.

 

[zinfamous]

lol...MIT 4th.

NC State is a huge engineering school. cheap as hell too. The campus kinda blows, but seems like a lotta yankees love living in the area (one of the reasons I moved away )

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: MrDudeMan

Originally posted by: Special K

To be fair though, a lot of the IC design companies recruit exclusively from the top schools. I know Intel does not, but the others seem to be more exclusive. To give an example - I got 2 interviews with Intel out of undergrad from a school whose engineering school was ranked in the 40's, but no bites from any of the other semi companies.

I then attended a top-10 for grad school, and networked with all of the semi companies who were absent at my undergrad schools career fair, and who never responded to my resume submissions on their website. They even sponsored a design contest just for one particular class at my school. My team won, and that was how we began to network with the company. I never would have had that opportunity at a school they didn't recruit from.

I'm not saying you *must* go to a top school to be noticed by the top engineering companies, but to say it doesn't matter at all is wrong, IMO.

I said most likely it won't make any difference for your first job, and definitely not after that. If you have experience in the field, you are worth more than anyone coming fresh out of school. Period. Once you land your first job and get some experience under your belt, your degree means much, much less if it even means anything at all past that point. Several of my close friends went to prestigious schools and they are very smart guys, and I supported their decisions to go there. I am not biased, which is why I said pick a school where you feel comfortable and see yourself being given opportunities. If that is MIT, then go for it, and if it isn't, that's fine too.

What IC design company are you talking about? I can't think of one that makes a more widely used or more well known product than Intel or AMD, and neither gives a shit where you went to college. I also interviewed with IBM, HP, LSI, and Analog Devices, all of which asked me but never mentioned it again and obviously didn't care. I didn't get or didn't take the jobs because I either wasn't qualified (wrong degree or wrong specialties) or I didn't want to do that for a living. I am yet to be hindered by my degree being at a "non-elite" school.

AMD and Nvidia, for example, only actively recruit from a select few schools. As I said in my post, being able to network with these companies face to face through career fairs and company-sponsored contests made it much easier to land interviews than simply submitting a resume to their websites. You just don't get those opportunities at other schools, as I found out for myself.

I agree that once you have a few years experience, the degree doesn't matter anymore. I would say that IC design is something of a specialized field within EE though, and I don't know how difficult it would be to transition into it if you never took any of the relevant courses and your work experience out of college was in something unrelated, even if would still be considered EE.

There are lots of fields within EE though, and what I said may not be applicable to all of them. I am only saying that in my field and in my experience, there was a tangible advantage to going to a higher ranked school in terms of job opportunities. Now in my case, that school was free. If you have to dish out $50k/year of your own money to attend Stanford, MIT, etc., then I think the decision would become more difficult.

 

[ed21x]

why not add Berkeley, Caltech, and Stanford, as these three, along with MIT make up the top 4 engineering schools.

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: ed21x
why not add Berkeley, Caltech, and Stanford, as these three, along with MIT make up the top 4 engineering schools.

he prod does not want to go to CA, i sure as shit wouldent

 

[sciencewhiz]

I graduated from RIT 3 years ago with an EE degree, in case you have any questions. I do completely agree with your assessment about RPI, I've heard that from numerous people, and I couldn't beleive how poor my friend's dorm was.

Intel, IBM, and Micron and Apple all recruited on campus at RIT, as did all the major defense firms.

 

[Eeezee]

Originally posted by: BradT
In no particular order:
1.) Olin College of Engineering
2.) RPI
3.) Bucknell
4.) MIT
5.) Lehigh
6.) University of Rochester
7.) Cornell

As you may have already guessed, I plan to attend an engineering school. Originally RPI was my top pick, but a tour of their school showed how terrible of a campus city Troy, NY is. Right now I have my heart set on Olin. It just seems to be a perfect match for me. Of course MIT is my dream school, but I will give it a try.

Are there any grads from these schools on here that would care to tell me a little about their experiences at these schools?

I will be finishing my tours of all these schools within the next month or two, but hearing about these schools from a student's perspective will certainly help in my decision.

Thanks!

Georgia Tech is on the same scale as MIT, but it has the highest suicide rate in the country (not that MIT is much better). If you go to either of these schools, be prepared for a lot of hard work.

University of Arizona is where I went (for a BS in Physics, not engineering, but fundamentally it should be similar). It's a really fun school, and the out of state tuition is cheaper than most schools' in-state tuitions (many California kids go there for this very reason). It's like a top 30 engineering school, and despite its reputation as a party school, all of the real idiots drop out their freshman/sophomore year anyway (or continue in the Business school).

 

[Nerva]

Originally posted by: MrDudeMan

Originally posted by: 3cho

Originally posted by: BradT
In no particular order:
1.) Olin College of Engineering
2.) RPI
3.) Bucknell
4.) MIT
5.) Lehigh
6.) University of Rochester
7.) Cornell

As you may have already guessed, I plan to attend an engineering school. Originally RPI was my top pick, but a tour of their school showed how terrible of a campus city Troy, NY is. Right now I have my heart set on Olin. It just seems to be a perfect match for me. Of course MIT is my dream school, but I will give it a try.

Are there any grads from these schools on here that would care to tell me a little about their experiences at these schools?

I will be finishing my tours of all these schools within the next month or two, but hearing about these schools from a student's perspective will certainly help in my decision.

Thanks!

the only school that should be ahead of cornell is MIT. you obviously suck at the picking.

cornell has an awesome engineering program too. the new nano tech lab cost like 700 million to built, or something. ithaca is a bit cold, so what. everywhere is cold on that list. unless you get into MIT, i would choose cornell, the name will open numerous doors later on as well. you will be in a very special club.

plus, ithaca has one of my all time favorite bars, Stella's!

None of the job interviews I've had were effected by where I went to college. Not a single one. As a matter of fact, most of them didn't even ask. I'm curious what this special club will do for someone other than giving them a reason to pat each other on the back more frequently? You are obviously biased for some reason, but 5 years after graduation no one gives a shit where you went to school. They care if you can do your job, not what school is printed on your degree.

Go to school where you feel like you fit in and have a lot of opportunity. You are kidding yourself if you think, as an engineer, that your school title will make a difference after you get your first job, and most likely not even then. No one will care where you went to school as it makes zero difference as long as you applied yourself. I went to a no-name school instead of going to Georgia Tech and I got a job at Intel doing exactly what I wanted to do. If you know your stuff you will get a good job - it's that easy.

like it or not, it does make a difference. also, it's better to go to a top school because you never know what you will do when you graduate. why pigeonholing yourself now and go to more or less pure play engineering school? the advantage with a school like MIT and Cornell is that companies in all industries will recruit there. so if you don't want to go engineering related job after graduating, you still have all the other companies who are recruiting there to consider. plenty of my friends who got their degrees in EE and CS became bankers. I would like to see that happening at RIT or RPI.

All I am saying is that a more prestigious school, you have better exit opportunities. there is no down side to attending a top school. So if you get into MIT, no questions. go there!

 

[TuxDave]

Originally posted by: ed21x
why not add Berkeley, Caltech, and Stanford, as these three, along with MIT make up the top 4 engineering schools.

I believe UIUC (Illinois) deserves the #4 spot.

MIT
UC Berkeley
Stanford
UIUC

 

[jaybert]

Originally posted by: MrDudeMan

Originally posted by: 3cho

Originally posted by: BradT
In no particular order:
1.) Olin College of Engineering
2.) RPI
3.) Bucknell
4.) MIT
5.) Lehigh
6.) University of Rochester
7.) Cornell

As you may have already guessed, I plan to attend an engineering school. Originally RPI was my top pick, but a tour of their school showed how terrible of a campus city Troy, NY is. Right now I have my heart set on Olin. It just seems to be a perfect match for me. Of course MIT is my dream school, but I will give it a try.

Are there any grads from these schools on here that would care to tell me a little about their experiences at these schools?

I will be finishing my tours of all these schools within the next month or two, but hearing about these schools from a student's perspective will certainly help in my decision.

Thanks!

the only school that should be ahead of cornell is MIT. you obviously suck at the picking.

cornell has an awesome engineering program too. the new nano tech lab cost like 700 million to built, or something. ithaca is a bit cold, so what. everywhere is cold on that list. unless you get into MIT, i would choose cornell, the name will open numerous doors later on as well. you will be in a very special club.

plus, ithaca has one of my all time favorite bars, Stella's!

None of the job interviews I've had were effected by where I went to college. Not a single one. As a matter of fact, most of them didn't even ask. I'm curious what this special club will do for someone other than giving them a reason to pat each other on the back more frequently? You are obviously biased for some reason, but 5 years after graduation no one gives a shit where you went to school. They care if you can do your job, not what school is printed on your degree.

Go to school where you feel like you fit in and have a lot of opportunity. You are kidding yourself if you think, as an engineer, that your school title will make a difference after you get your first job, and most likely not even then. No one will care where you went to school as it makes zero difference as long as you applied yourself. I went to a no-name school instead of going to Georgia Tech and I got a job at Intel doing exactly what I wanted to do. If you know your stuff you will get a good job - it's that easy.

In my opinion, it does make a difference which school you went through. Less so as you get more experience, but it still makes a different. At my current job, they actively recruit at MIT/Harvard/Yale/Dartmouth/Stanford. I would say 75% of the people who work there goto one of those schools. I didnt goto one of those schools, but still a top 15 school and am pretty sure I would have never even gotten an interview if I didnt go there. Is that a fair? Probably not...but for smaller companies who dont have the ability/desire to recruit at 50 schools, they need to figure out how to cut down the applicant pool, and more than not its going to be recruiting at top schools. If it makes a difference, this is at one of the largest hedge funds in the world, and I am doing software development for them.

I actually went to RIT before I transferred to Cornell. I can say that the #/types of companies that recruited at Cornell was MUCH more diverse than RIT. If you specifically want to work for an engineering company, the companies who recruited at RIT were probably very similar to Cornell. But if you want to work in another industry (specifically finance), Cornell provided many more opportunities. I started out in IT consulting, before leaving after a year and going to work for a hedge fund. The first job I might have been able to get coming out of RIT, but I am pretty sure I would have never even gotten an interview @ my current job graduating from RIT, let alone make an impression/get an offer. When I started looking to leave my consulting job, I was able to schedule interviews very easily at some of the top investment banks/hedge funds (ended up with offers @ 2 of the largest hedge funds, and obviously took 1 of them)

 

[Nerva]

Originally posted by: jaybert

Originally posted by: MrDudeMan

Originally posted by: 3cho

Originally posted by: BradT
In no particular order:
1.) Olin College of Engineering
2.) RPI
3.) Bucknell
4.) MIT
5.) Lehigh
6.) University of Rochester
7.) Cornell

As you may have already guessed, I plan to attend an engineering school. Originally RPI was my top pick, but a tour of their school showed how terrible of a campus city Troy, NY is. Right now I have my heart set on Olin. It just seems to be a perfect match for me. Of course MIT is my dream school, but I will give it a try.

Are there any grads from these schools on here that would care to tell me a little about their experiences at these schools?

I will be finishing my tours of all these schools within the next month or two, but hearing about these schools from a student's perspective will certainly help in my decision.

Thanks!

the only school that should be ahead of cornell is MIT. you obviously suck at the picking.

cornell has an awesome engineering program too. the new nano tech lab cost like 700 million to built, or something. ithaca is a bit cold, so what. everywhere is cold on that list. unless you get into MIT, i would choose cornell, the name will open numerous doors later on as well. you will be in a very special club.

plus, ithaca has one of my all time favorite bars, Stella's!

None of the job interviews I've had were effected by where I went to college. Not a single one. As a matter of fact, most of them didn't even ask. I'm curious what this special club will do for someone other than giving them a reason to pat each other on the back more frequently? You are obviously biased for some reason, but 5 years after graduation no one gives a shit where you went to school. They care if you can do your job, not what school is printed on your degree.

Go to school where you feel like you fit in and have a lot of opportunity. You are kidding yourself if you think, as an engineer, that your school title will make a difference after you get your first job, and most likely not even then. No one will care where you went to school as it makes zero difference as long as you applied yourself. I went to a no-name school instead of going to Georgia Tech and I got a job at Intel doing exactly what I wanted to do. If you know your stuff you will get a good job - it's that easy.

In my opinion, it does make a difference which school you went through. Less so as you get more experience, but it still makes a different. At my current job, they actively recruit at MIT/Harvard/Yale/Dartmouth/Stanford. I would say 75% of the people who work there goto one of those schools. I didnt goto one of those schools, but still a top 15 school and am pretty sure I would have never even gotten an interview if I didnt go there. Is that a fair? Probably not...but for smaller companies who dont have the ability/desire to recruit at 50 schools, they need to figure out how to cut down the applicant pool, and more than not its going to be recruiting at top schools. If it makes a difference, this is at one of the largest hedge funds in the world, and I am doing software development for them.

I actually went to RIT before I transferred to Cornell. I can say that the #/types of companies that recruited at Cornell was MUCH more diverse than RIT. If you specifically want to work for an engineering company, the companies who recruited at RIT were probably very similar to Cornell. But if you want to work in another industry (specifically finance), Cornell provided many more opportunities. I started out in IT consulting, before leaving after a year and going to work for a hedge fund. The first job I might have been able to get coming out of RIT, but I am pretty sure I would have never even gotten an interview @ my current job graduating from RIT, let alone make an impression/get an offer. When I started looking to leave my consulting job, I was able to schedule interviews very easily at some of the top investment banks/hedge funds (ended up with offers @ 2 of the largest hedge funds, and obviously took 1 of them)

yo, what year were you? where are you now? cornell was awesome.

career fairs at cornell takes up an entire aircraft hangar.

 

[jaybert]

Originally posted by: 3cho

yo, what year were you? where are you now? cornell was awesome.

career fairs at cornell takes up an entire aircraft hangar.

I should of been 05, but since I transferred and did co/ops at both RIT/Cornell, I ended up graduating as an 06.

Yea..the career fairs are nuts. They're actually split between multiple days as they have one dedicated for tech people (its pretty much tech companies + finance companies)

 

[daniel1113]

I'm a Lehigh grad. What major(s) are you looking into?

 

[thepd7]

Originally posted by: TuxDave

Originally posted by: ed21x
why not add Berkeley, Caltech, and Stanford, as these three, along with MIT make up the top 4 engineering schools.

I believe UIUC (Illinois) deserves the #4 spot.

MIT
UC Berkeley
Stanford
UIUC

UIUC is an incredible school for engineering but it seems he wants to stay in the NE. Otherwise why not UT Austin as well?

OP that's a good list if you are hell bent on the NE.

 

[Nerva]

Originally posted by: jaybert

Originally posted by: 3cho

yo, what year were you? where are you now? cornell was awesome.

career fairs at cornell takes up an entire aircraft hangar.

I should of been 05, but since I transferred and did co/ops at both RIT/Cornell, I ended up graduating as an 06.

Yea..the career fairs are nuts. They're actually split between multiple days as they have one dedicated for tech people (its pretty much tech companies + finance companies)

i went back to recruit for full time in october, 400 people showed up for our event. i am going back soon for interns.

and its not until i am on the recruiting side when i realized that my firm only targets like 10 schools and nothing more. so far, the only school that made it to my firm's list is MIT and Cornell.

 

[herm0016]

Michigan Tech. University. is up there too. most people do not know about us though. placement rate of over 95 % after graduation. our last career fair had over 280 different companies recruiting.