<p>Dartmouth vs Berkeley in engineering especially Electrical Engineering/Computer</p>
<p>I overall think that Dartmouth is a better university, and overall I like it better than Berkeley, however it's not known for its engineering. While Berkeley's ranked as the 3rd best undergrad engineering college and the 2nd best for EE/CS in the U.S. by U.S. News. I know I shouldn't focus just on rankings but it says a lot about how good their program is. I'm in state so I get in state tuition, however money isn't much of a factor.</p>
<p>Since you like Dartmouth better, I recommend Dartmouth. It is a possibility that you might want to switch out of engineering later on, just like so many other engineers, and at that point, you might regret your decision to choose Cal. Besides, ask yourself if you wish to pursue engineering jobs post graduation. If you just want to study engineering courses but not pursue jobs in engineering firms, it won’t matter which school has better engineering ranks.</p>
<p>If money isn’t a factor, in the end, do what you want. Berkeley EECS is as good as it gets, academics-wise, but if you prefer the Dartmouth lifestyle, go to Dartmouth.</p>
<p>EE-CS double is, IMO, Cal’s toughest major. But, it also has the most jobs after college. Dartmouth’s engineering program is a 5-year deal if you want to earn the BSE. (Dartmouth does provide finaid for the 5th year, if you qualify for need-based aid.) While the engineering degree from D is not close in ‘prestige’, you will end up a much better writer since you’d have to run the liberal arts gauntlet at Dartmouth.</p>
<p>For any other major, I’d say Dartmouth’s LAC-like experience wins easily (assuming money is not an issue). But, EE-CS…hmmmmm</p>
<p>Choosing Berkeley for EECS, then being miserable because you really want to be in the Dartmouth environment, is self-defeating. Seriously, if you want to be at Dartmouth, I don’t see how you are going to thrive at Berkeley.</p>
<p>Go to Dartmouth. Enjoy the environment. After a year or so, it will be easy for you to know whether or not you need the academics of Berkley, and will be able to transfer there (or elsewhere).</p>
<p>Bear in mind that Dartmouth has outstanding travel abroad programs, as well as alum connections for getting post-grad jobs.</p>
<p>ucbchemegrad, i think this person is in the situation where he wants to go to Dartmouth, but isn’t so sure only bc of the engineering rank at Dartmouth compared to UCB. It is clear that this person will be happier and better off academically at Dartmouth than UCB. Besides, u can’t go wrong by going to Dartmouth in the first place.</p>
<p>well, it seems like this is one of those threads asking for opinions as to whether to pick a school solely based on the major or based on the entire school. OP thinks that D is better school than UCB overall, but is worried about the engineering program, in which case I think that going to the top notch engineering program is only necessary only if this person is seeking to get an engineering job post graduation. Althogh Berkeley is good in other fields other than engineering, this person seems to prefer Dartmouth as a whole.</p>
<p>On a pure pragmatic level: If you want to actually be an engineer in a operational capacity (like working at google or boeing), its hard to pass up Cal which is focused on helping alums get these jobs. If you want to go to cs or engineering grad school, high finance, or elite consulting then Dartmouth is hard to pass up.</p>
<p>All the person said was he/she wanted to major in EECS.</p>
<p>Berkeley is just as good of a school as Dartmouth…but it’s entirely different.
IMO, if the OP wants an EECS degree, Berkeley would be the best option due to variety of classes, access to cutting edge research, proximity to Silicon Valley, etc. There is a reason it’s ranked highly. </p>
<p>If the OP wants to go to a small school in a rural environment, with small classes, very limited engineering offerings, and needs his/her nose wiped and hand held, Dartmouth is the better choice. Just good luck trying to find top EECS jobs when you’re in New Hampshire.</p>
<p>What irks me, is that if this had been an MIT vs. Dartmouth thread, everyone would be urging the OP to go to MIT. Just because it’s Berkeley, people think it’s chopped liver.</p>
<p>They are, but its not at the same rate. Dartmouth is right up there with Yale when it comes to high finance and consulting. </p>
<p>As for actual engineering jobs, I agree with you. Berkeley is probably more recruited than all the Ivies in this area. the question is whether this is a path the OP wants to pursue.</p>
<p>kinda off point, but I gotta ask the OP: do you have a connection to Dartmouth? On other threads, it appears that you are in-state and were rejected by UCSD & UCLA, and accepted to Cal as a spring admit (which means lower end of their admissions pool), but yet received a likely from Dartmouth (which means high end of their pool).</p>
<p>btw: not sure I understand an earlier post…were you accepted directly into the College of Engineering AND for a EE-CS major? If not, you should know that transferring into CoE (from Letters & Sciences) is extremely difficult; and transferring majors within the CoE is not necessarily easy either.</p>
<p>I’m sorry for the late reply I had to go to school.</p>
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<p>I have no connection to Dartmouth, however the most probably reason for my rejection from UCSD and UCLA was my GPA. In the UC System the school system is factored in, and since I come from an Elite private school (ranked top 100, 7 people matriculated to Harvard last year in a 85 person class), it is really hard to get the 4.0 GPA’s that Berkeley and the UC’s have come to expect. Dartmouth on the other hand takes into account the rigor of the highschool, and thus I was much more competitive.</p>
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<p>I was excepted into the College of Engineering and in the EE-CS major, in Berkeley. I don’t really mind being accepted as a spring admit.</p>
<p>My main goal after college is to hopefully get a well paying job in the engineering field, however I’m unsure weather I’ll first go to grad school before looking for a job. My parents will probably pushing me to go to grad, however it will be left up to how I feel coming out of undergrad.</p>