<p>I can't decide between Cornell Chemical Engineering and Carnegie Mellon's Electrical Engineering. Both are really great!</p>
<p>My take: Cornell is an Ivy League school, and as much as I don't want to admit it, Ivy League status does hold some weight (however, I'm not going to dwell on this). Cornell has a great overall engineering program (the ChemE isn't ranked that high though), and actually may end up being cheaper for me than CMU. Carnegie Mellon's Electrical Engineering also has a great overall engineering program and has an AWESOME Electrical Engineering program. I've heard that the engineering workload at Cornell is pretty hardcore... am I right?</p>
<p>Another thing I'm considering is ChemE vs EE. I've been told that job prospects for EEs are better than those for ChemEs (?). I haven't had much experience with computers, but I did find the electromagnetism and circuits units from high school physics very interesting (which probably have little to do with college-level courses but is worth mentioning). I am pretty good with chemistry though. I looked through some past forums regarding EE vs. ChemE, learned a few things from them, but additional insight would be wonderful: if possible, share your thoughts about job prospects, salaries, and what exactly do ChemEs and EEs do...</p>
<p>I realize I may get some biased answers here, so I posted a similar post in the CMU forum... Any advice is much appreciated!</p>
<p>My sense is that CMU is probably more hardcore. Maybe not in terms of the material, but in terms of the amount of time students study. I think at Cornell you will find engineers will be a bit more engaged with extracurricular activities. </p>
<p>Out of curiosity, does CMU limit you to ECE or can you switch majors with ease? Because I know at Cornell you don’t have to declare until sophomore year. I think one of the benefits of Cornell is that it will offer more options in terms of other things to study if you have interest (e.g. food science, nutrition, etc. which can be importance to a chemical engineer) or fancy (English, psychology) </p>
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<p>The job prospects for both are good. Worry about what you are interested in and the jobs will follow you.</p>
<p>For a sense of what students do with their degrees you can see the postgraduate reports here:</p>
<p>You are not limited to ChemE if you were to come to Cornell. I entered Cornell as an intended EE major and ended up declaring OR as my major. You can major in EE if you feel that better suits your goals. Cornell’s EE program is top-rate. As strong as CMU’s.</p>
<p>All engineers are required to take physics and chemistry their first two years, so that may help guide you in what you ultimately major in. </p>
<p>Either way, my advice is for you to first choose your school, and then consider your major later. Cornell and CMU are both fantastic engineering schools, and ChemE and EE at both are well-respected by recruiting companies and graduate programs. </p>
<p>I was faced with a similar choice - Cornell vs CMU (along with a couple of other schools). I chose Cornell and was glad I did.</p>