Does prestige of undergraduate school matter in Engineering?

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>I've noticed that schools like Dartmouth and Notre Dame and some Ivy League schools get shafted in these undergrad engineering rankings, whereas less prestigious publics like UC San Diego and U of Illinois do quite well. Are the programs at these latter schools really better than those at the former schools? I would think that since the students are overall smarter at the former schools that their engineering programs would be more competitive and thus better, but I guess I'm wrong? Basically, I'm wondering if it would be better to go to Dartmouth/Notre Dame/Harvard/Princeton or UCSD if one wanted to study something like chemical engineering...what do you guys think who have experience with this?</p>

<p>Another thing, since it's harder to get into a school like dmouth/nd/harvard/princeton than illinois or ucsd, i would think the students would do better and get better jobs after graduation, in general. or does the department really contribute a lot to how undergrads do after graduation?</p>

2

<p>Are you serious that you would debate whether to go to Harvard or UCSD for engineering?</p>

<p>To answer your question about the undergrad rankings, I don't know too much about the specifics, but I believe the criteria those rankings use favors the big public schools more. That's why you'll see UC Berkeley outrank CalTech in some rankings.</p>

3

<p>It's not so much that prestige doesn't matter in engineering, but more that there's a different set of prestigious engineering schools that typically doesn't include the Ivies.</p>

<p>The Ivies don't get "shafted", it's just that typically, engineering's not at all a priority. Engineering's pretty hands-on, and I think a lot of the more "prestigious" programs look upon engineering as a trade rather than a profession.</p>

<p>(begin lengthy, eight-page discussion... <em>now</em>!)</p>

4

<p>Some of the Ivy's have a limited engineering program. If they don't offer what you want to study, why bother going there even if it's Harvard or Yale?</p>

5

<p>I'd say that UIUC is considerably more prestigious than Brown or Darthmouth in pretty much every engineering circle. It's similar with a lot of specialties within engineering. Like, going to Caltech, I get respect for being here, but most materials people out there know that the schools program in MSE is actually pretty weak.</p>

<p>I guess it's kinda similar to how lots of people view the various well known LACs. They might not carry the same "Wow" factor on the street, but to the people that are going to be hiring and concerned with those things, they are plenty well known and respected.</p>

6

<p>Places like Dartmouth, Princeton, and Yale tend to send most of their engineers into business sectors that often end up being more lucrative, but not actual engineering jobs. If you want to work at DOW chemical, a place like UIUC is the place. If you want to be a top consultant, biotech venture capitalist or go to grad school the Ivies will serve you far better.</p>

7

<p>I think if you want to go to a professional school the Ivies might serve you better, but if you want to go to grad school within your engineering discipline you'd probably be just as well off at any of the well known engineering schools.</p>

8

<p>Those rankings are not the same as prestige. They measure many things, such as expenditures per faculty member. So, in the end, big research schools like UCSD are ranked highly.</p>

9

<p>
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I'd say that UIUC is considerably more prestigious than Brown or Darthmouth in pretty much every engineering circle. It's similar with a lot of specialties within engineering. Like, going to Caltech, I get respect for being here, but most materials people out there know that the schools program in MSE is actually pretty weak.

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<p>That's a good point. There can be different levels of prestige in different areas. Johns Hopkins is prestigious for it's biomed and medical programs. Juilliard is highly respected for performing arts programs.</p>

10

<p>I wouldn't think twice about accepting admission to an Ivy... engineering power-house or not. Rankings are the last thing you want to worry about when considering an Ivy--the wow factor is just too immense for it to be a wrong decision. Thats just my opinion though.</p>

<p>My order of preference in selecting schools (as far as rankings are concerned) is "overall prestige/ranking" and THEN "departmental ranking." This is particularly true for law school (I know, thats graduate level) where certain no-name schools have pretty high rankings in certain fields of law. Nevertheless, they have nothing on the T14, regardless of whether they displace the T14 on some subjective ranking.</p>

<p>The ivy league will open more doors for you, in most cases. I advise, however, to NOT select schools based on rankings... simply use them as a guide.</p>

11

<p>
[quote]
I wouldn't think twice about accepting admission to an Ivy... engineering power-house or not. Rankings are the last thing you want to worry about when considering an Ivy--the wow factor is just too immense for it to be a wrong decision. Thats just my opinion though.

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<p>So you're saying Ivy's are a fit for everybody?</p>

12

<p>i'm just waiting for sakky's usual reply on how getting into Ivy league schools will help in getting a job in consulting and investment banking, which has nothing to do with engineering.</p>

13

<p>Bah prestige of school means nothing in engineering. All engineering schools who are accredited teach you similar things. Those who manage to graduate are capable of doing their job. Fact is, anyone who gets an engineering degree is equally capable of finding a job as someone from a more prestigious school with the same degree. Granted those people have similar skills and knowledge.</p>

14

<p>
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So you're saying Ivy's are a fit for everybody?

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<p>Well, I was only expressing my opinion. I noted that I would not realistically choose my school based only on rankings, but that if it came down to rankings, I would go with an Ivy. This means that the school is "fit" for me and that I can actually pay for it.</p>

15

<p>Not every school emphasizes a lot on engineering. </p>

<p>If you believe you should go to the best school and you want to major in engineering, you can try MIT, Caltech and stanford.They are not inferior to the ivy schools in any way.</p>

16

<p>
[quote]
Well, I was only expressing my opinion. I noted that I would not realistically choose my school based only on rankings, but that if it came down to rankings, I would go with an Ivy. This means that the school is "fit" for me and that I can actually pay for it.

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<p>So you think it was silly of me to turn down Cornell (definitely the best Ivy for engineering) for Caltech in grad school?</p>

17

<p>
[quote]
Well, I was only expressing my opinion. I noted that I would not realistically choose my school based only on rankings, but that if it came down to rankings, I would go with an Ivy. This means that the school is "fit" for me and that I can actually pay for it.

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<p>Let me ask you a few questions. What do you expect to get out of college and what are your post-grad plans? While Ivy schools provide good connections to the financial industry, their connections to the engineering fields tend to be weaker than schools such as UIUC and other engineering powerhouses.</p>

18

<p>Hey ken285, I'll try my best to answer your questions:</p>

<p>1) What do you plan to get out of college?
Opportunities. A wide number of avenues that I can explore if I need to. And yes, I mean diverse avenues... ie, not all in engineering, or all in finance, or all in marketing, etc. A little bit of everything. Of course, this may mean that my opportunities in any number of fields will be relatively weakened because of having no particular concentration in one direction.</p>

<p>2) Post-grad plans?
I wish I knew. I know that I want to be able to make a difference, do something memorable and useful. Something I want to do (ie: work on problems that interest me). I want to have something that keeps me going. Presently, school and learning is the impetus for my life. I may not like going to class all the time, but I love thinking of the prospect of learning and progressing, and possibly finding something that I'm really really passionate about. This is what I want my post-grad life to be like too.
Probably, I will go to grad school, and possibly I will go for a PhD, because I think I would love to perform research. This is something I hope to be sure of in a few months. This could mean that I will enter academia and teach/research... though this is an uncertain path, at best. This could also mean performing research in industry.
Alternatively, I would like to establish my own business and invest all my energy into that. This would probably happen after going to grad school. This is an even more uncertain path, and I don't find it very realistic.
The most likely and least ideal possibility is that I will do what every other engineering major does: get a job. Maybe I'll like it, maybe I won't. I don't know, but chances are I won't want to be doing this for the rest of my life. But as a college student, I really don't think I'm mature enough to be able to realize what I will or will not like/need in the future.
Further, I may explore patent law, or business school, if and when I need or want to.</p>

<p>
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While Ivy schools provide good connections to the financial industry, their connections to the engineering fields tend to be weaker than schools such as UIUC and other engineering powerhouses.

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I agree, but I just don't see why this is a big deal in a market that values experience and skills more than education. If you HAD to pick one, it only makes sense to go with the Ivy degree... its not the best in engineering, but its a lot more worthwhile, otherwise. Of course, if you know exactly what you want (which I don't), and you know you want engineering, and don't need any type of insurance against not liking engineering, then it is probably in your best interest to go with UIUC, or similar. Otherwise, it couldn't hurt to go with the Ivy. And personally, I think anybody who is completely sure of what they really like before really even trying it may just be fooling themselves.</p>

19

<p>Racin, Caltech is an exception. It is for all intensive purposes an Ivy.</p>

20

<p>
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Racin, Caltech is an exception. It is for all intensive purposes an Ivy.

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<p>since when does the de facto definition of "Ivy" = top-notch school? I don't like these statements because there are plenty of excellent schools that aren't "Ivies." Sure, the Ivies are all great, but they are only a subgroup of the larger group of truly excellent, top-notch schools.</p>

<p>Anyway, back to the topic, I'm wondering if you guys would agree that overall prestige/reputation of a school would trump a relatively lower ranking of the school's engineering program.</p>