Berkeley vs UCLA vs Rice vs JHU vs Duke...

<p>vs Columbia vs RPI vs Carnegie Mellon</p>

<p>Aaarrrgggghhhhhhh!!!! Which one for EE/CS??????? Lots of money from Duke but nearly all loans from Berkeley - others have not made the awards yet...</p>

<p>Go with the financial aid, they are all in the same ballpark. That said, Berkeley is out (no money) if the others come through and are the same: 1) Columbia (you can't beat an IVY of this caliber) 2) UCLA (L.A.) 3) Duke 4) Carnegie Mello 5) JHU 6) Rice and 7 RPI</p>

<p>They're all great schools and you really can't go wrong. You should make your decision based on fit. My son is a freshman at Rice and chose last year among 8 schools (some of the same ones you're deciding between). He's majoring in ECE and he just plotted out a plan to add CS as a double major. He's really happy with the engineering program at Rice and he's gotten involved in CS research as a freshman. It's a very collaborative, laid-back environment that's academically challenging, and he finds the best thing about Rice is the inclusive environment fostered by the residential college system.</p>

<p>In academic terms, these colleges all inhabit similarly lofty positions at the top of the list nationally. Congrats on your acceptances.</p>

<p>As for the actual choice, can you provide a little more insight into what you are looking for and also how much you have thought about the size and campus culture of these colleges. My kneejerk reaction would be Duke, but I wonder what the consistent thread is amongst these schools that led you to them in the first place? </p>

<p>As for rankings, I think that I would place them as follows:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Duke, Rice, Columbia</p></li>
<li><p>Johns Hopkins, Carnegie Mellon, UCB</p></li>
<li><p>UCLA, RPI</p></li>
</ol>

<p>
[quote]
As for rankings, I think that I would place them as follows:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Duke, Rice, Columbia</p></li>
<li><p>Johns Hopkins, Carnegie Mellon, UCB</p></li>
<li><p>UCLA, RPI

[/quote]
</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Engineering:</p>

<ol>
<li>Berkeley, CM</li>
</ol>

<p>2 and below. The rest</p>

<p>...1) I picked these schools to have choices-----HA HA HA - careful what one wishes for;
...2) I agree with the Berkeley and CM higher ranking then the others....but the money is a lot to have in loans.</p>

<p>The question I have is: is Berkeley so much better then the rest, that it is worth taking the loans???</p>

<p>By better, I mean not ONLY the EE/CS part but the cross discipline opportuniites, potential for grad school, exposure to industry etc. </p>

<p>Climate/culture/and-since-I-am-in-NJ-why-would-I-NOT-want-to-go-to-CA wise, Berkeley is so much better than the rest - so what do you think......</p>

<p>It's not worth taking the loans to go to Berkeley if you can go somewhere else for less. </p>

<p>It actually might be "worth it" in the long run to take the loans and go to Berkeley for EECS, but it isn't worth the risk that it will be worth it. If you know what I mean.</p>

<p>^ Sink or swim?...</p>

<p>UCBChemEGrad: Sorry, my friend, but you lost me......</p>

<p>Haha, sorry...Berkeley has a reputation for being a "sink or swim" place. There is not much hand-holding for undergraduates and it is a competitive environment. In other words, some students "sink" and ultimately fail out or "swim" and are successful academically. </p>

<p>However, I find engineering students to be very supportive of each other.</p>

<p>Since you got into a lot of top schools like Duke, Rice, and JHU, I think you'll do just fine and be able to "swim" at Berkeley. :)</p>

<p>Berkeley EECS is a top program and with its location near Silicon Valley it is very highly recruited. If you want to do EECS, there is no better place IMHO (except Stanford). You won't get as much care and feeding at Berkeley as you would other schools, but the degree will take you far.</p>

<p>What are your career goals?</p>

<p>Right now...PhD.......Research orientation not too much into Corporate life style.....</p>

<p>If you want to do engineering career-wise, I wouldn't go into too much debt. There is very little premium paid for grads from top programs.</p>

<p>Since you're considering a PhD, I don't think I'd consider Berkeley then for undergrad...reputation for grade deflation and don't take out too much loans for undergrad. </p>

<p>Save the money for grad school...Berkeley should be a top choice for your PhD. :)</p>

<p>California is a nice place to live... if you're an orange. I tried it for a year. Didn't think it was worth the cost of living. ;)</p>

<p>Berkeley's huge. Do you want a ginormous school?</p>

<p>As an alum, I'm allllways going to pull for Rice... It offers such an amazing undergraduate experience. Every single person I've ever met there has just been fascinating and a lot of fun to talk to. It's work hard/play hard, and offers incredible opportunities. There's a lot of collaboration between the students and faculty there (as in, go grab a slice of pizza and, when you're old enough, a beer with them), which is really pretty unique, and the campus is amazingly gorgeous. Sooo many trees. Azalea bushes everywhere, and they all explode into bright pink blooms around this time of year. Beautiful architecture. If you're an EE/CS, you're going to be taking your classes in one of the funkiest, most colorful buildings you've ever seen... Definite plus over most other brick-box engineering departments.</p>

<p>Placement is fantastic. They graduate a smaller number than most other schools, but their grad pack a heck of a punch and get employed at some incredible places. Grad acceptances are fabulous, too. </p>

<p>It's just a great place.</p>

<p>Berkeley EECS is a head above the rest.
Cousin only got a BS in EECS, mentored MS in EE from Columbia, despite him being younger.</p>

<p>Don't know about the EE side at CMU, but Mellon CS is <em>drool</em>.</p>

<p>If a school is not offering satisfactory aid - cut them, and that does include Berkeley. If a school seems to have a major flaw - cut them. You have too many choices to be picking on a 'maybe'.</p>

<p>IMO - CMU, Duke, Rice, and JHU would make the best grouping, as it seems like you want better weather and a top program. CMU seems to offer the best program, having excluded Berkeley due to the aid, but does come up short weather wise. The others offer very good programs, and an improvement in the weather. Try to visit as many as you can and judge from there.</p>

<p>...have been great......thank you.</p>

<p>Houston is nothing compared to the SF Bay Area. Flat, hot, sticky, and tons of bugs...there's a reason why it's cheap.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Houston is nothing compared to the SF Bay Area. Flat, hot, sticky, and tons of bugs...there's a reason why it's cheap.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>1) Not as flat as Illinois...!
2) We have central air conditioning <em>everywhere</em>.
3) Humidity is good for the skin, and only lasts a few months.
4) Mosquitos aren't as bad as you might think, actually. As for creepy-crawlies, just try not to live on the first floor and you'll be fine.</p>

<p>Springtime is actually quite gorgeous around here. It's technically a tropical area, so gardens just explode around this time of year.</p>

<p>But yeah, Houston really is the sticking point when it comes to convincing people to go to Rice. In fact, at all of our out-of-state college fairs, we give out two viewbooks: one is a general guide to Rice, and the other is entitled "Houston: It's cooler than you think!"</p>

<p>It's really a nice city. People just dog it a lot, like Milwaukee (also a nice town).</p>

<p>Berkeley. Me thinks that the opportunities in terms of proximity to industry as well as grad school, are just too hard to beat by the other schools...... I mean it just "seems" that it would be easier to get into Grad school or industry from Berkeley from just being there. Some guy/gal from Duke/Columbia et al would have to compete with the "locals" from Berkeley..... or this just sounds like rationalizing all those loans???</p>

<p>BTW, I will visit Duke and Berkeley and will have tons of opportunities to question and see...</p>

<p>Another BTW, I am DEFINITELY NOT into the whole party/frat scene. Duke seems to have that reputation - something I will definitely check out. I suppose one can stay away from all that "garbage", but I just find it very "icky" that Duke would allow all of that "buffoonery".........</p>