<p>I recently read a post about a graduate from Princeton University that had majored in engineering and he repeatedly stressed that the program is more conceptually based rather than grounded in practical application (like MIT, CalTech, etc). As such, he felt that his preparation at Princeton was geared more towards graduate research rather than entry into the workforce after 4 years of undergraduate. I was hoping to receive some feedback from anyone else who has any information regarding the quality of the engineering department at Princeton and if they would recommend it. (In comparison to other ivy-league programs). Thanks.</p>
<p>Since there's no one here to answer your question, try emailing the department rep or some other professors.</p>
<p>It might be true that Princeton focuses more on theory (I read it somewhere on their eng. site) and also places like MIT, Stanford etc have a much better engineering program than Princeton but among ivy-leagues princeton engineering program is best.</p>
<p>Yeah I read on the SEAS website that:
[quote]
...engineering at Princeton focuses not only on the "what" and "how," but also on the "why" aspect of the topic...
[/quote]
And that's precisely why I want(ed) to go to princeton. I'm not too up for entering the industry as research comes more naturally to me.</p>
<p>Speaking as someone in non-techincal engineering, ORFE, I have no clue abotu what is done in higher level classes in MAE, CEE, CHEM-E, etc...</p>
<p>I will say this...</p>
<p>I have spoken at length with both the Deans of SEAS and many departmental representatives, and what all of them stressed is that Princeton tries to provide an engineering education that is timeless and theoretical, not a pseudo-vocational school training. Their goal is for Princeton BSEs to be able to work in a very wide range of fields doing a wide range of things for a long time. They don't want to teach us the new new thing, and then have us replaced in 10 years by new graduates with knowledge of the new new new thing.
I suppose there are pluses and minuses to this approach; I chose Princeton because of its strong ORFE department and because it clearly has by far the best engineering, regardless of approach, of HYP.</p>
<p>Princeton's engineering is very theroretical. Caltech's engingeering is also very theoretical. MIT is a bit more practical. The two most popular things to do after graduating from either Princeton or Caltech in engineering are to go into finance or to go directly to graduate school. Finance is more popular at Princeton, and grad school is more popular at Caltech. An engineering job would be the third most popular option. Engineering at Princeton involves a lot of physics and/or math, more than at other schools. All of the Ivies, except to some extent Cornell, have very theoretical engineering departments. Most rankings would place Princeton second after Cornell of the Ivies. Princeton has a lot of groundbreaking research, and it is mandatory for most majors to participate in research. The difficulty of classes at Princeton is comperable to those at Caltech, although I believe Caltech has significantly more requirements. I did my undergrad at Princeton in EE and I am now in grad school at Caltech.</p>