I have finally narrowed my college list down to 7 schools

[villageidiot111]

How about NDSU?

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: 3cho

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!

You had friends in EE/CS become bankers? Don't you need some financial background for that? I recall that GS and a few others were recruiting on my schools' engineering career fair, although it was for IT and software development, not banking positions.

 

[IAteYourMother]

Uhh... why is Olin on that list if you have a bunch of other larger engineering schools? Your experience will be so much more different at Olin than at any of those other schools because it's so tiny. If you don't mind the social and learning environment in either case, then never mind what I just said. Although full tuition is hard to turn down...

However, you have a really diverse set of schools you're applying to... do you have an idea of what you're looking for in a school?

Anyways, if you get in, definitely pick MIT.

 

[Rumpltzer]

Originally posted by: 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.

Yeah, the OP has a f*cked up list of schools. I mean, if he thinks he can get into MIT, then he should have Berkeley, Stanford, UIUC and Michigan on the list. Even if he doesn't want to go to California, UIUC and Michigan as cold as hell and not in California.

BTW, with all this talk about ckt design, he should probably consider analog RF instead of digital... I mean, assuming he doesn't want to live in India while making US$20K when he graduates.


I went to Illinois for undergrad and grad school (EE). It was the best school that I could afford out of high school (I paid my own way). I think I got an excellent education, and I think it mattered when I began looking for a job. It helped a lot that I had internships (four during my four years of undergrad) at AT&T/Lucent/Bell Labs and Motorola and then a summer at Intel between masters and PhD.

What mattered the most, though, was that I had a very successful graduate carreer and people who interviewed me already knew me and had read my papers... and that I didn't write trash papers while I was in school.


Good luck with your decision OP! Oh, BTW, I only applied to two schools (UIUC and Florida) when I was in high school. I'm not sure what the point of applying to seven school might be.

 

[darthsidious]

Originally posted by: Special K


You had friends in EE/CS become bankers? Don't you need some financial background for that? I recall that GS and a few others were recruiting on my schools' engineering career fair, although it was for IT and software development, not banking positions.

Yeah, that's very common, atleast at MIT. A lot of EECS grads end up going into some kind of i-banking, and a lot of hedge funds and banking concerns recruit at MIT, from EECS (more CS), math and other technical majors. A lot of EECS majors who wanted to make major bucks or were tired of CS took them. Many of these positions will involve some programming as well, but they are banking positions for the most part.

To OP : I went to MIT, and it was a blast. If you're the kind of person who fits in that kind of environment, you'll have a great time. There is a lot of work to do, but people have fun too, and you get to hang around with some really smart, passionate, motivated people. But make sure it's the right place for you. Some people come to MIT, realized it wasn't right for them, and were somewhat miserable through college. Be sure that it's right for you, and visit the campus atleast once before deciding.

 

[Analog]

I went to Cornell's grad school, Electrical Engineering FTW.

 

[darthsidious]

Originally posted by: Rumpltzer


Yeah, the OP has a f*cked up list of schools. I mean, if he thinks he can get into MIT, then he should have Berkeley, Stanford, UIUC and Michigan on the list. Even if he doesn't want to go to California, UIUC and Michigan as cold as hell and not in California.

BTW, with all this talk about ckt design, he should probably consider analog RF instead of digital... I mean, assuming he doesn't want to live in India while making US$20K when he graduates.


I went to Illinois for undergrad and grad school (EE). It was the best school that I could afford out of high school (I paid my own way). I think I got an excellent education, and I think it mattered when I began looking for a job. It helped a lot that I had internships (four during my four years of undergrad) at AT&T/Lucent/Bell Labs and Motorola and then a summer at Intel between masters and PhD.

What mattered the most, though, was that I had a very successful graduate carreer and people who interviewed me already knew me and had read my papers... and that I didn't write trash papers while I was in school.


Good luck with your decision OP! Oh, BTW, I only applied to two schools (UIUC and Florida) when I was in high school. I'm not sure what the point of applying to seven school might be.

I think it doesn't matter whether OP chooses analog or digital design - he should pick whichever he's good at/likes, and focus on becoming very good in it. Great digital designers are just as hard to find as great analog designers. Just try not to be a part of the mediocrity - which are the jobs that get outsourced first. And to put this in perspective, I am actually an analog designer, so I'm not promoting my own area.

I agree, OP should be thinking about UIUC, Berkley and Stanford if he wants to do Engg.

 

[NatePo717]

Originally posted by: 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.

Graduating RIT this winter with a ME degree. Just have to finish up my senior design project and take 3 more classes

 

[BChico]

Originally posted by: daniel1113
I'm a Lehigh grad. What major(s) are you looking into?

What class? Class of '06 Engineering here.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

do we need a refresher on what 'NO PARTICULAR ORDER MEANS'? geeesh

anyways, looks like you have a decent list. obviously MIT is in a class of its own out of that list. dont worry too much about the decision until you have some acceptances. dont be afraid to branch out - there are other really good engineering schools out there, and college is the time to try out new scenery.

 

[daniel1113]

Originally posted by: BChico

Originally posted by: daniel1113
I'm a Lehigh grad. What major(s) are you looking into?

What class? Class of '06 Engineering here.

'07... I graduated with my IBE degree in the spring, and am completing my civil engineering degree right now.

 

[RESmonkey]

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

Win!

 

[bonkers325]

Cornell is a shitty campus town just like RPI

 

[RESmonkey]

7 schools = a lot. I applied to 2, got in 1, waiting for the other.

 

[elmro]

SUNY Buffalo

 

[moshquerade]

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!

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.

My vote is for Cornell especially for their engineering school. Even Newsweek thinks they are the "Hottest Ivy".

Hottest Ivy: Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., emphasizes problem-solving as well as scholarly debate
By Jay Mathews | NEWSWEEK
Aug. 20-27, 2007 issue

Unlike the other Ivies, Cornell is a land-grant college emphasizing problem solving as well as scholarly debate. The university boasts a world-class engineering college and top-flight liberal arts, science and fine arts. The hotel school is considered the world's best. Cornellians, proud of the variety on campus, point to the president, David Skorton, a cardiologist, jazz musician and computer scientist who is the first in his family to have a college education.

article here

 

[MotF Bane]

Originally posted by: Special K

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.

Do you happen to know what schools that they recruit from?

 

[imported_nightfox]

Originally posted by: elmro
SUNY Buffalo

How is that for engineering? I'm thinking of applying there as well as RIT, RPI, and others.

 

[imported_nightfox]

.

 

[darthsidious]

Originally posted by: MotF Bane

Originally posted by: Special K

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.

Do you happen to know what schools that they recruit from?

MIT has tons of recruiters from Intel, almost zero from AMD. We have a lot of other semiconductor companies coming on campus, and your resume will get noticed if you apply. One of my friends works at AMD in austin, and he said AMD stopped recruiting at MIT becasue too few people were ready to move down to austin.

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: darthsidious

Originally posted by: MotF Bane

Originally posted by: Special K

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.

Do you happen to know what schools that they recruit from?

MIT has tons of recruiters from Intel, almost zero from AMD. We have a lot of other semiconductor companies coming on campus, and your resume will get noticed if you apply. One of my friends works at AMD in austin, and he said AMD stopped recruiting at MIT becasue too few people were ready to move down to austin.

I guess you're right. The most recent list I have says:

Carnegie Mellon University,
Cornell University,
Stanford University,
University of California at Berkeley,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,
University of Michigan,
University of Texas at Austin
Purdue University

 

[markgm]

My choice was between Carnegie Mellon and Drexel, Drexel gave me a better financial aid package. Good luck with your choice.

 

[Parasitic]

You spelled Berkeley wrong. As an alum I cannot tolerate that.
RPI's undergraduate body seems all right...the curriculum is pretty applied and requires the use of computers extensively.
Although there does seem to be not much going on in Troy, but what do I know, I'm just a grad student.

Did you look at Columbia?

 

[PowerEngineer]

I graduated from RPI many years ago. I received a very decent engineering education (comapred to the comtemporaries I worked with), but the name of the school probably didn't help open many doors for me. Out of your list, I'd say only MIT would do that (and CalTech would too).

Yes, I imagine that Troy still sucks. That said, it's probably not that much worse today than many of the other last century industrial cities in New England. It shouldn't really be the deciding factor anyway.

My brother works for AMD and was recruiting at RPI earlier this month.

From your list then: MIT...............................Cornell, RPI........

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Originally posted by: Parasitic
You spelled Berkeley wrong. As an alum I cannot tolerate that.
RPI's undergraduate body seems all right...the curriculum is pretty applied and requires the use of computers extensively.
Although there does seem to be not much going on in Troy, but what do I know, I'm just a grad student.

Did you look at Columbia?

My uncle who's a Cal alum spelled Berkeley wrong the other day. I have so many idiotic Davis friends who spell it wrong still. It's like wow, are you really that retarded considering you're from the Bay Area to begin with?

Anyways, I'm biased towards the West Coast, but I don't understand what's with the plethora of East Coast schools that don't even rank on the top engineering schools.

I may have applied west-coast heavy, but I had MIT, Cornell, CMU, Georgia Tech in my list. Purdue was another possibility, but I was iffy on it. UT Austin? USC? Berkeley? UCLA? Washington? UIUC? All great schools.