<p>Hello,
As indicated by the title, I luckily got into all four of the colleges for engineering (still undecided but leaning towards mechanical). I will be visiting them in the upcoming month but I would like to know your opinions about these colleges beforehand. Which are better academically? Socially? More research opportunities? What makes any of them better than the rest?
Thank you!</p>
<p>-1 for Caltech
+1 for Stanford</p>
<p>Stanford is known internationally, enjoy working wherever in the world you want. Caltech (I have been told) is all 2400/4.0/geeky kids. All engineering depts will have this, but at Caltech its sort of an extreme.</p>
<p>Lol…well what if I told you my love for math and science is unparalleled at my high school? I suppose you are right though. I love academics but Stanford just sounds way more social than caltech.</p>
<p>I probably worded it incorrectly. There is nothing wrong with a love for math and science.I just heard at Caltech is more like soulless work drones, rather than actual people. Its a great school, but probably just not as enjoyable as Stanford.</p>
<p>It really depends on your personality.
Holistically, I think Stanford is the better choice. Stanford seems to offer more than just the academics.
Harvey Mudd would be my second choice because you’d have access to the other Claremont schools.
Caltech is Caltech. And you really have to love, breathe their purpose.</p>
<p>Stanford
CalTech
Harvey Mudd
UC Berkeley</p>
<p>JohnAdams probably has the order correct – although UC Berkeley overall has by far a better international renown than Harvey Mudd or CalTech. That said, if an international “name” isn’t necessarily what you’re looking for, you certainly can’t go wrong with any of these choices. But Stanford does seem to have the upper hand overall. Congratulations.</p>
<p>These are all outstanding choices. If one is significantly cheaper, there is no reason to pay more.</p>
<p>Otherwise, I would visit and see which atmosphere is most appealing to you. I would probably nominate either Stanford or Berkeley in terms of being well-rounded, but they all have their pros.</p>
<p>I’m assuming you are California resident, since 3 of 4 schools is in California.
With in-state tuition, I would rank</p>
<h1>1 Cal (Cal engineering is on par with Stanford if not better, it’s not worth the extra $ to go to Stanford. I think the only engineering school that’s worth $38K/year of tuition is MIT)</h1>
<h1>2 Stanford</h1>
<h1>3 Harvey Mudd</h1>
<h1>4 CalTech</h1>
<p>Assuming cost of attendance is not an issue, Stanford would be my first choice. Of the remaining three schools, all of which are equally (albeit differently) awesome in their own right, I would recommend chosing based on fit.</p>
<p>Stanford would be the best overall</p>
<p>I believe Stanford is the best choice because it strikes an excellent balance in every respect.</p>
<p>I don’t think there are any appreciable academic differences between these schools, at least in the rigor of their program. I would be much more worried about what kind of environment you want socially, ie big school vs small school, well rounded (normal) social culture vs quirky, nerdy culture (I kind of take offense to “soulless work drones”). Visiting should make your decision pretty clear.</p>
<p>For the record, laypeople probably wouldn’t consider anyone in engineering at any of these schools as particularly social or normal.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone! Your comments are really helpful. Stanford seems to in the lead! I suppose I should clarify somethings:
Firstly, I prefer relatively small schools where I can easily participate in discussions and interact with the professors. For my undergraduate, I want to go somewhere where I can gain as much knowledge as possible so I can later use it for research. I plan on spending every summer at a research laboratory. This leads me to another point: I want to be a researcher in the future so the whole “research experience” is a key factor in choosing what I college I want to attend. I did receive the Regents’ scholarship from Berkeley so I understand that this gives me better research opportunities but I still feel like Caltech’s SURF program guarantees all of its students with research positions.
I am not sure if I am going to have the same research opportunities at Harvey Mudd. As for Stanford…well it is Stanford they offer everything I guess.</p>
<p>Stanford is not relatively small, although you will get the research. However, if you really want close interaction with faculty and discussion, you might want to consider Harvey Mudd more strongly. I have a friend whose brother is there, and the research that he’s doing is absolutely incredible. He raves about the small classes at the same time – a combination of praises I thought wasn’t likely to be found anywhere.</p>
<p>how about that 3:1 student/facultry ratio at CalTech?</p>
<p>well it seems like everyone has a different opinion so I just have to go and see which campus suites me the best. As of now I am thinking:
- Stanford
- Caltech
- Berkeley
- Harvey Mudd</p>
<p>I feel that Harvey Mudd just isn’t known internationally and Cal’s undergraduate program won’t give me the same academic experience as Caltech’s or Stanford’s.</p>
<p>liu02bhs: all four college are actually in California!</p>
<p>v0w-Will you be attending Prefrosh Weekend at Caltech and Admit Weekend at Stanford? That may help you decide.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>USNWR undergrad Engineering program rankings:</p>
<p>1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA 4.9
2 Stanford University Stanford, CA 4.7
2 University of California–Berkeley Berkeley, CA 4.7
4 California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA 4.6
5 Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA 4.5
5 University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL 4.5
7 Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA 4.3
7 University of Michigan–Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI 4.3
9 Cornell University Ithaca, NY 4.2
9 Purdue University–West Lafayette West Lafayette, IN 4.2
9 University of Texas–Austin Austin, TX 4.2 </p>
<p>;)</p>