Berkeley vs Columbia (vs Northwestern) for Chemical Engineering

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
1

Hi!

I’m currently deciding between Berkeley and Columbia (and maybe Northwestern) for Chemical Engineering. I’m an international student, not 100% sure on Chemical Engineering (I’d swap to Industrial/Financial Engineering or Economics if I didn’t like Chemical Engineering), but I want to pursue a job in industry rather than in the financial sector. Cost isn’t an issue

What are job prospects like for Chemical Engineers / where do they end up? Does going to Berkeley over Columbia (or vice versa) heavily affect jobs after graduating? How are Berkeley and Columbia considered in the US? Right now I’m really interested in working in either the food or energy sector (but this may change)…

berkeley:
pros:

  • very highly ranked for chemical engineering (top 3/5)
  • i prefer SF over NY
  • weather (I live in a tropical country)
  • better prestige for engineering? (not sure)

cons:

  • class sizes
  • professor / student interaction
  • I heard classes fill up quickly? (though I’m not sure)
  • prestige wise (personally I don’t really care, but living internationally it matters apparently), columbia is better overall

columbia
pros:

  • alumni network in my home country
  • professor / student interaction
  • very diverse
  • ‘ivy league’ (I honestly don’t care, but as an international it matters a lot here)

cons:

  • weather
  • I heard most engineers end up in the financial sector?
  • not as good for engineering
  • core (though engineers only take half) - i don’t really like the core requirements, i find them too restrictive

northwestern
pros:

  • I really like the curriculum - quarter system / not too restrictive / I’m more free to choose breadth subjects
  • people aren’t as competitive

cons:

  • not as prestigious (internationally) as the other two
  • weather
  • not as internationally diverse as the other two

Thank you so much!

2

Price differences, and do they matter to you?

If you may change major, investigate how difficult it will be the change to your possible other majors at each school. At Berkeley:

IEOR: requires admission to College of Engineering and major: http://engineering.berkeley.edu/admissions/undergrad-admissions/change-college
Economics: requires changing to College of Letters and Science and 3.0 GPA in prerequisites: https://www.econ.berkeley.edu/undergrad/prospective
ORMS: requires changing to College of Letters and Science and 3.2 GPA in prerequisites: http://ieor.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/inline/Applying%20to%20ORMS.pdf

3

Around 20k I think? My parents think there’ll be more value coming out of an Ivy/private school anyways… doesn’t really matter being completely honest…

Thank you!!

4

Berkeley’s chemical engineering program far outpaces Columbia’s, and you’re likely to get a better job in engineering from Berkeley. Columbia will give you better prospects in the financial sector, if you decide to go down that route.