<p>I am confused. As I thought I had a solid list of schools I am applying to, I am having second thoughts. Double majoring in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering during undergrad. Then, I plan on going to grad school straight out of college and starting the PHD program to become a professor. Well, after hearing that for profit schools like U of Phoenix are accredited, I have doubts on what schools are actually reputable. Obviously, looking for just accreditation won't cut it. What schools would be ideal to do research at and to get into a PHD program with? Other than CMU, UCB, UCLA, those are the obvious ones on my list.</p>
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UC San Diego
UC Berkeley
UC Los Angeles
UC Santa Cruz
UC Davis
UC Irvine
UC Riverside
Rochester Institute of Technology
Bradley University
Kettering University
Carnegie Mellon University
Polytechnic Institute of New York
Illinois Institute of Technology
Cal Poly Pomona
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Rensselaer Polytechnic
Worcester Polytechnic
Florida Institute of Technology
Stevens Institute of Technology
St. Olaf
Case Western Reserve University
<p>In the more traditional engineering fields (chemical, civil (especially), electrical, and mechanical), [url=<a href=“http://www.abet.org%5DABET%5B/url”>http://www.abet.org]ABET[/url</a>] accreditation in the field can help you sort out more reputable versus less reputable schools.</p>
<p>In some newer fields like computer science or bioengineering, some of the best known top schools in the fields have not pursued ABET accreditation, because it is not generally an issue in employment (unlike in civil engineering, where it is important in getting a Professional Engineer license which is important for a civil engineer’s career). However, less well known schools often do get ABET accreditation in those fields, in order to indicate validation of the quality of their programs in those fields.</p>
<p>However, ABET accreditation is primarily concerned with undergraduate education, so it may not be as directly helpful with searching for graduate programs (and a school can have an ABET accredited undergraduate program and not have any graduate program at all). But if a school lacks ABET accreditation in a more traditional engineering subject that you are considering graduate study in, you may want to investigate further why that is.</p>
<p>Note: “____ engineering” is not the same as “____ engineering technology”.</p>
<p>It is perfectly OK to ask each institution on your list about their grad school placement. They should be happy to tell you how many students from each major field go directly into grad school, and where, each year. </p>
<p>You also might ask this in the Grad School Forum. Re-frame your question a bit, and use a title along the lines of “Which undergrad program will get me into a Ph.D. program at X, Y, or Z university”.</p>
Cal Tech accepted 9/134 transfer students last year, MIT 18/459. It’s nice that you have a positive mind set but you have a <7% chance of transferring to either of those institutions. Make sure you like where you start.</p>