<p>My friend asked me this: How come Stanford engineering is usually ranked as number 2 or 3, is seen as very prestigeous, and its sengineering alumni are seen as strong when the workload they are put under is very small compared to other top engineering schools?</p>
<p>i couldn't explain to my friend how this is so...</p>
<p>What do you mean by workload is very small? Stanford has some unbelievably difficult engineering courses, so I don’t know what you are talking about. Not to mention Stanford engineers have started up HP, Cisco Systems, Google, Yahoo!, and Sun Microsystems, and many more. Over 4,500 companies were founded by Stanford students in fact.</p>
<p>I apologize for the way I asked the question, just noticed how inappropriate 
My friend is applying this year and is asking for my help (i was admitted to Stanford and others so he is asking me how i made my choice). He insists that Stanford’s engineering workload is significantly less than Caltech. To be honest I don’t know, so I am asking if this be the case, then how come stanford is ranked higher than caltech and seen more prestigious while Caltech grads may be stronger in solving complicated engineering problems?</p>
<p>Perhaps he is wrong? perhaps stanford is as hard or even harder? he thinks stanford is the easy way out so if he’s wrong tell me…</p>
<p>PS: i know about the firms Stanford started, and they aer impressive. However, my frinds is not a potential computer science major. Probably materials, chemical, electrica ,mechanicl, or bioengineering… he wants to know how these compare to other top engineering schools, particularly Caltech (he wants to be in california)</p>
<p>Unless someone studies at both schools at the same time, it is not possible for one to judge workload at one school vs other.</p>
<p>Caltech is more focused since it is a very small school. However, they are not ranked as in any of the engineering departments as Stanford.</p>
<p>We know the rankings and we are not questioning Stanford’s quality, ughghghghgh! He simply asks if the workload at Stanford engineering is comparable to Caltech? and if the materias covered in both institutions is comparable. Caltech has the reputation of being hard, you know (he got this notion from quora)</p>
<p>I’m a recent admit at Stanford and I’ll be going into engineering, and I haven’t really heard about how hard it is, BUT I think I know where Caltech’s reputation comes from in relation to Stanford. When I was visiting colleges, talking to current students and admit officers etc. I got the impression that students at Caltech were MUCH more focused on their work whereas at Stanford things were a bit more laid back. I don’t know if the students at Caltech are centered on their work because it’s more difficult, or that’s just the kind of students they are. In reality they could be the same, but Stanford students know how to have a bit more fun. </p>
<p>Also, who cares if you’re friend thinks you’re taking the “easy way out” by going to Stanford. (Which you’re not, btw) I guarantee you’ll enjoy yourself more, here with us Cardinals on the Farm, than you would at Caltech. ;)</p>
<p>Caltech and Stanford’s main difference is class size. At Caltech, it’s 200 students per class, and each will have outstanding qualifications. This means that a lot of the rigor is just from trying to compete with these elite students, many of who are dedicated to becoming top notch engineers. </p>
<p>Compare that with Stanford which has 1700ish students per class in every field imaginable, then there is definitely a sense of “dilution”. A lot of Chem/Math classes will have non-Engineers. However, the classes themselves are probably just as tough as any elite university. So, maybe the curves might be nicer. But I think you’ll end up doing the same amount of work overall.</p>
<p>I personally equate Caltech and Stanford similarly in terms of prestige. It’s just people nationwide know about Caltech less than Stanford. Both are excellent schools for engineering, regardless. And as far as the material covered in a degree, there is just so much room for choosing where you want to go with electives and concentrations and tracks for majors, the material is not really even comparable between individual students, let alone comparing entire universities.</p>
<p>In the end, personal workload comes down to how much the person takes on, what he wants to achieve, and how much work they are willing to do, regardless of where they go. University doesn’t really matter in this instance.</p>
<p>Would it be hard to major in bioengineering and complete the premed requirements… like first quarter is taking
PWR1
CHEM31A
IHUM
CME100 </p>
<p>an extremely hard load… I wanted an easy to medium-ish load first quarter… would majoring in humbio be alot easier?</p>
<p>^ Just take PWR1 a different quarter if you are worried…</p>
<p>I DO recommend taking 3 classes your first quarter, so drop PWR. You can petition to take it in winter or spring</p>