EECS -- MIT, Stanford

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I am trying to choose between MIT and Stanford given my specific interests.</p>

<p>The area that interests me most is what MIT website lists as "Area 1 : Systems, Communication, Control and Signal Processing". That is listed as a graduate level research area. Which track do MIT undergrads in EECS typically take for their undergraduate study if their interest is in eventually doing graduate study in "Area 1"?</p>

<p>At Stanford, CS and EE are separate departments. Are the topics of "Systems, Communication, Control and Signal Processing" more closely aligned to the EE department at Stanford rather than the CS department? I am a little hesitant about majoring in EE itself since I am not that interested in hardware stuff. Can one specialize in the equivalent of MIT's Area 1 at Stanford without having to take a lot of hardware related courses (I won't mind a couple)?</p>

<p>Am I correct in assuming that one can focus on Area 1 at MIT without having to take many hardware related courses?</p>

<p>Any comments about the relative strengths of MIT and Stanford in this area?</p>

<p>Any other suggestion/advice to a prospective undergrad wishing to specialize in this area will also be helpful.</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

2

<p>You should probably post this in the respective MIT and Stanford boards. </p>

<p>You are talking about two of the very best EE departments. If you are lucky enough to get into anyone of them, there is enough depth and breadth in course offerings for you to study pretty much anything in the field. At MIT for instance, undergrads can take grad classes if they wish.</p>

3

<p>“Systems, Communication, Control and Signal Processing” fall squarely in EE, not CS. That’s true everywhere. So maybe you do want a CS dept that’s historically an offshoot from EE, where you can focus a bit more on the CS side without the full EE curriculum.</p>

4

<p>I’ll add that most graduate courses at Stanford are open to undergrads. You can major in EE or CSE if that’s what you’re interested in.</p>

<p>[url=&lt;a href=“Stanford University Undergraduate Major in Computer Science”&gt;Stanford University Undergraduate Major in Computer Science]CSE[/url</a>]</p>

<p>Since it’s already an individually designed major, you can even modify it to what you like.</p>

<p>In the end, they’re both excellent for your interests (probably the two best schools), so your decision should really come down to fit. Are you going to visit both?</p>

5

<p>You’ve got to make the decision based on the school, not based on these specifics. You’ll be able to study whatever you want at whatever level you want at either school. You have to make an overall choice of where you want to be for four years.</p>

6

<p>If you are firmly in the EE side of things, you may want to check whether PE licensing is needed or desirable in the area of EE you are interested in. If so, you’ll want to get an [url=&lt;a href=“http://www.abet.org%5DABET%5B/url”&gt;http://www.abet.org]ABET[/url</a>] accredited major. Stanford’s EE major is ABET accredited, but its CSE major is not (ABET accreditation is not generally an issue in CS jobs). MIT’s EECS major is ABET accredited.</p>

7

<p>I think Stanford CSE is equivalent to MIT course 6.2
[MIT</a> Course Catalog: Course 6-1, 6-2, 6-3](<a href=“Welcome! < MIT”>Welcome! < MIT)</p>

<p>I would not worry about ABET. If I hold a Stanford CSE degree, I would not work for any company that think ABET is important.</p>

8

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<p>It sounds like the OP is a little more CS oriented, but you can’t be sure. If you really are a CSer, I don’t think you can beat Stanford CS - that’s where a lot of the SV bigshots come from. But that’s just my impression - I am not a CSer. For an EE ABET is a nice thing to have. But with a Stanford CSE degree, well that holds a panache of its own so you’ll most likely not have any problems finding meaningful employment.</p>

<p>I’ll just relate my own experience and hope it’s not too much of a tangent. I’m an EE, and my area of academic concentration (albeit not at such prestigious schools) was pretty much exactly "“Systems, Communication, Control and Signal Processing”. For many years I worked in the private sector in these general areas, where almost nobody had a PE license. In fact, some folks had never even heard of one. Most PEs by far are Civil engineers. </p>

<p>Now, through a twist of fate, I work for the government in the energy sector. For this job, I needed the license. I never would have imagined this before I got the job, which is the best of my life in many ways. I was sure glad my school was accredited.</p>

<p>When I took the licensing exam they allow you to take it in your area of concentration. Almost everyone I know of took it in Power, but I took it in Electronics, Comm and Control.</p>

<p>So I guess what I’m saying is, in general the EEs who need PE licenses work in Power/Energy or other heavy industry (refinery, chemical processing plant, etc.) But you never know which direction you will be heading in life, and ABET accreditation is certainly something to think about just in case.</p>

<p>I’ll also add (to confuse you further) that from my experience, in the general subject area "“Systems, Communication, Control and Signal Processing”, if you are talking digital rather than classical, a lot of this is really mathematics (z-transforms, discrete FTs, difference equatons, numerical methods) and CS for implementation. You could probably get a PhD concentrating in DSP without ever seeing a semiconductor chip.</p>

9

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<p>Yes, in CS/CSE, ABET accreditation and PE licensing are generally not issues in employment. And Stanford is both highly regarded in CS and local to “Silicon Valley”, an excellent combination for on-campus recruiting (Berkeley is similar in this respect). MIT is highly regarded enough for companies to travel there to do on-campus recruiting, but not all companies travel for that purpose.</p>