<p>Hey Everyone, </p>
<p>I am looking at electrical and computer engineering and was wondering what schools have the best programs? </p>
<p>Second, can anyone comment on the relative engineering rigor between a state school such as Georgia Tech versus Cornell, Carnegie Mellon? They are ranked similarly, but I don't see how state schools can provide the same academic experience as more selective private schools. </p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>The best school is one that (a) you can get in and (b) you can afford and (c) has the rankings you want. </p>
<p>Having said this, a lot of good engineering ‘state schools’ like Michigan. UIUC, Purdue, Berkeley, VA Tech, and the like have tons of money to pour into programs, and can provide ‘the experience’. Now, if you’re looking for ivy covered walls, exclusivity, and brand name, sure, go brand name, but in reality it’s all about a combination of factors, not simply rankings.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>In what detail do you believe this to be the case?</p>
<p>State schools have much higher acceptance rates. For instance, Georgia tech has 52% acceptance rate</p>
<p>That’s probably 52% acceptance across all majors, not for EECS.</p>
<p>There is a lot of numbers behind a university’s quality - acceptance rate is one of them. Harvard EE is more like 7%, are you telling me Harvard EE is a better school than Ga Tech EE?</p>
<p>nrogals, GT has a higher acceptance rate but is still ranked right with CMU and Cornell. Cal-Berkeley is rated above all three and is more selective than CMU and close to Cornell. You have to look at the overall picture. College is more than just an academic rank. Do you prefer to be closer to home? Do you prefer a larger or smaller college? Do you want to be at Cornell which is in a more rural area (some people like Ithaca, some like me do not)? Also, go visit the schools if you can. I know my sons saw some schools and wrote them off without hearing another word.</p>
<p>Often the state universities have more course selection and better research funding. Don’t rule them out. Perhaps the peers won’t all be as high stats/motivation, but if so then you have a better chance to be top of the class. That gives better selection on research, internships, and jobs. Good luck!</p>
<p>I think you are a bit new to the school search. I would suggest, like many of the great people here have, that don’t look at the name. You might be very eager to go to a brand name university with a big price tag, but if you feel unhappy there, or its not as good as some other university you threw away because of the name, your future might not be as good as it could be, whether its grad school or a job.</p>
<p>UCLA and UC Berkeley are at the top. Georgia Tech and UIUC have fantastic programs too.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Acceptance rate is not a reliable indicator of admissions selectivity.</p>
<p>And using admissions selectivity means that you are judging a school by its worst students, rather than its best students (like PhD programs do), or by its students who complete a rigorous ABET-accredited engineering degree program (as engineering employers do).</p>
<p>So it is not a contradiction to find a good ABET-accredited engineering degree program graduating good engineers at a school with relatively low admissions selectivity.</p>
<p>Indeed, Harvard and Dartmouth are very selective, but are not generally considered top choices for engineering (due to small size and limited selection of courses and topics), including in comparison to various less selective state universities like Georgia Tech and Purdue.</p>
<p>
Define “academic experience” first and then we can talk. Until then, let me assure you: I have attended two public universities (for BS and PhD) and one somewhat-elite private (for MS)… and no one in industry OR academia cared about the private school. In the end, there are great engineering programs at private AND at public schools, and there are mediocre programs in both groups as well. As others have said, consider everything before jumping to a decision, and remember that the knowledge you have at the start of your academic career is much much less than that which you will have by the end of it - which is where many to most of us are now!</p>
<p>FWIW, in electrical engineering, in published rankings the top six have been pretty static for a while now, only shifting a bit between themselves: MIT, Stanford, CalTech (all private), Berkeley, UIUC, Georgia Tech (all public). You might not think that the publics can stand up, but everyone else does, including the faculty of those private universities who recruit grad students and faculty heavily from the publics just mentioned.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Okay, your point? Gtech is ranked up at the top for many engineering fields.</p>