does the ABET matter??

<p>hi all
what if a school is not accredited by the ABET ?? does that mean it sucks??
what if it is accredited ?? does that mean it's good??
next year I am going to CSU "Cleveland state university" and it's accredited by the ABET for engineering majors , and the MIT is accredited either!!!
does that mean CSU is just like the MIT ???!!</p>

<p>what do you think??
because I have a feeling the CSU really sucks ,and I can't apply to any other university in Cleveland ,can't apply to Case Western Reserve due to the high tuition & because I have to live with my uncle for the first year,so I can't go to another city.</p>

<p>ABET accreditation means that it meets a basic standard for quality. It does matter because you have no idea whether or not the school is good if it isn’t accredited.
As for whether or not CSU is just like MIT, the answer is surprisingly “partially.” Obviously MIT is the better school, but not because of the core curriculum. What you learn at your classes at CSU would be the same as what you’d learn in your classes at MIT. The real advantages of MIT are in the opportunities it offers. But if you just need to learn, any ABET school is pretty much the same. Same or similar textbooks teaching the same basic concepts.</p>

<p>thanks very much Neo.
you made that clear enough for me.</p>

<p>While I agree with what NeoDymium said, I am going to add two other differences between the schools - tempo and structure. </p>

<p>Even where classes are nominally the same, different schools will teach the material to different depths and at different speeds - an electromagnetics course at CSU may skip most of the derivations and special cases, and may end relatively early, while the same class at MIT will have you deriving the formulae yourself, investigating every nook and cranny of the material, and edging into material reserved at other schools for grad-level courses. This is the tempo issue. This is why so many promising students at top-tier schools fail or transfer out - not because of the “extra” opportunities but because of the rigor of even the basic coursework. I did my undergrad at PSU (ranked in the top 25 or so) and am at UIUC now (ranked in the top 5-ish) and looking at nominally identical classes I can see some big differences. I imagine the difference between CSU and MIT is even greater. Remember, however, that ultimately you will still get a quality education regardless - most of the extra rigor at top schools is to help prepare you for those “opportunities” that NeoDymium was talking about, and not needed to simply work as an engineer.</p>

<p>Also realize that schools provide different amounts of structure for their students. The “better” schools tend to be a lot looser, allowing and even expecting a lot more independent work from their students. Many core MIT classes are almost self-taught, with the professor just there to provide a little help here and there. Contrast this with most schools where classes are rigidly structured and even formulaic. Some people prosper in one environment over the other, and the looser structures favor those going into grad school - there is no real advantage as far as industry is concerned.</p>

<p>thanks a lot cosmicfish.
I have a question for you:
can I move to other college like the “ivy league colleges” after spending 1 or 2 years at CSU ?? I am not talking about the admission process , I mean can I do that while I haven’t taken what students have done in MIT?? the opportunities you have talked about above.
or it doesn’t matter about the bachelor degree and it does matter where you have to do your master ??</p>

<p>Most schools will accept transfers (I do not think MIT does, but I only said most), but it is not usually a good idea unless there are some unusual circumstances - you may wind up having to repeat some classes, and may find yourself unprepared in certain areas. I would recommend sticking with your initial school, challenge yourself there while maintaining a high GPA, get into whatever research opportunities you can find, and then - if you are interested - focus on getting into a good grad program.</p>

<p>Ivy leagues don’t have transfers. Technically speaking they “do”, but the acceptance rate is wayy lower than that of being admitted freshman year. It matters only to a certain degree where you get your degree from. Gpa, internships, people skills are more important IMO. And from what I’ve heard it matters more where you get a master degree from than undergraduate. Internships are highly significant in finding a decent job later, and of course these are MUCH MUCH more easily available to students at UIUC, Gtech, MIT, Stanford, etc. I assume we are speaking of engineering?</p>

<p>I don’t think you really have to worry about transfer.
In industry, pedigree is worthless in the long term (it’s about what you can do). In academia it isn’t, but you will ALWAYS have to go to grad school to get anywhere in academia. You won’t be at any disadvantage going to grad school at a top 3 from a school of average quality.</p>

<p>why the ivy league universities don’t accept transfer students?? I know that"Technically speaking they “do”. but why they don’t accept transfer students usually?? even if the student have a high GPA?? or the student is a good athletic ??
is California institute of technology considered as ivy league??
there is something which is unclear for me guys>>what do you mean with Grad school??
if I am getting my bachelor degree I will need 4 years to do that , can’t I get my master unless I go to grad school?? and how many years should I spent for grad school??
I’m sorry for this question but I always hear the word “grad school” and I don’t know the difference between it and the undergraduate ?:D</p>

<p>Undergraduate is the bachelor’s degree. Grad school is anything past that, but it usually refers to the PhD degree.</p>

<p>

In most cases they simply do not see it as worth the trouble, and/or have a sufficiently unique or difficult course of study that they expect transfers to struggle coming in part-way through. For those that allow it, you generally need to show that you would not just be an acceptable student, but an exceptional one - otherwise they think you will likely fail in a new and more rigorous system.</p>

<p>

Technically no - the Ivy League is an athletic conference of 8 old and elite schools in the northeast US. However, “Ivy League” is often used as synonymous with “elite” or “top tier”, and CalTech is certaily both. So yes, as one of the finest technical schools in the world you could consider it to be comparable to the Ivy League schools.</p>

<p>

“Grad school” refers to a program of study that awards a degree and requires an undergraduate (aka baccaleureate or bachelor’s) degree for entry. This includes programs that award masters and doctoral degrees, but is sometimes taken to exclude programs that award “professional degrees” like MBA’s, JD’s, and MD’s. Please note that most grad programs (and all grad schools I am aware of) are attached to and run in conjunction with undergrad programs and schools. For example, Penn State awards the BS, MS, and PhD degrees in electrical engineering, but only those students actively working on the MS or PhD degree are said to be in grad school.</p>

<p>

There are some programs that allow exceptional students to work on a BS and MS as a single course of study, typically lasting about 5 years, but I do not recommend them - faster in this case is not always better. Otherwise, you will need to finish your BS before starting your MS, and doing so will require a new application and admissions process at the grad school, even if they are the same institution.</p>

<p>

The mean for a masters in engineering is about 2 years full-time, although I have heard of people racing through in a single year (very rare!) or taking as much as five years (not recommended or common). A PhD typically takes at least 4 years past the BS degree, 5-6 years is more common but the exact length depends on too many factors to be certain, and can vary wildly between schools.</p>

<p>thank you every 1 for this great replies.
and thank you cosmicfish for this helpful reply.
now every thing is clear for me.</p>

<p>best regards;</p>

<p>thank you every 1 for this great replies.
and thank you cosmicfish for this helpful reply.
now every thing is clear for me.</p>

<p>best regards;</p>

<p>Let me add that I went to CSU for electrical engineering about 30 years ago. At CSU you will learn more of the practical aspects of engineering. It will set you up for working in the field as a service engineer, creating software as a firmware engineer, or creating and troubleshooting mechanical systems. </p>

<p>At a school like case, you will learn how to architect the firmware system. You’ll learn how to evaluate future semi conductors for products. Case is more focused on the theoretical aspects.</p>

<p>In general, if you are a hands on person cleveland state would be a good choice. If you are more cerebral case might be a choice.</p>

<p>But, let me suggest other alternatives. Ohio state has an excellent engineering program that ranks with case, and receives much higher research grants than any school in ohio. Osu is more theoretical than CSU but not as much as Case. If you need to stay closer to home I’ll also suggest Akron, which like CSU is geared more practical and also has a good engineering program. Finally there is Cincinnati but it is much further, and costs more than osu and isn’t rated as high.</p>

<p>thanks a lot jjw6455.
I guess CSU has developed a lot since 30 years :D.
anyway,I want to spend my first year at CSU and then move to another college like Case,or Ohio State university >>I love OSU due to its high ranking but I can’t go there in my first year because I have to live in Cleveland for the first year.</p>

<p>best regards;</p>

<p>Is there a reason you don’t want to just wait a year until you can go where you really want, maybe get a job, see some of America? I understand that it seems like an unpleasant option compared to getting a start on things, but transferring can be really difficult. I would talk to the admissions departments at the schools of interest and discuss your options.</p>

<p>why would the transferring process be that hard??
I can’t go for case western in my fresh man year due to the high tuition.
I hope to spend 1 year at CSU and then may get kind of financial aid to help me affording Case,that’s why.</p>

<p>Transferring is hard because programs like to take you through their degree program a certain way and build up your repertoire of classes in a certain general order and make sure classes cover a given set of material. If you come into a program at year 2 or 3, there is no guarantee that you will be able to jump right it, so the transfer standards are usually quite stringent because the very best students are the most likely to be able to switch gears like that. This is especially the case when it is between two institutions that are not generally considered peer institutions like CSU and OSU.</p>

<p>Financial aid for transfer students is usually much lower than for incoming freshman. It would probably be worth your while to talk to the FinAid office at Case and get some idea of what kind of aid might be available before you get your heart set on transferring there. (Case is more generous with aid than many other schools.)</p>