<p>Our son was admitted SCEA to Harvard. He expressed an interest in electrical engineering in his essay. He just received acceptance to the school of engineering at UC Berkeley, as part of the Regents Scholarship application. We live in northern California and he applied to Stanford and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and recently submitted his Regents Scholarship application to UCLA engineering. Truly, not expected. When he told me about Harvard, I actually thought he was joking and would not congratulate him until he showed me the e-mail.
Although our family feels extremely grateful for this embarassment of riches, I think our 17 year old son feels a bit overwhelmed with the possible options. And, given his quite limited exposure to engineering, it is not clear if he will definitely major in engineering after all. Math, physics and chemistry are strengths for him but his passions are really jazz guitar and tennis. He played with Legos for a couple of years but was never the type of kid who liked taking apart and putting together things. My husband and I see him as less tech-y and more possibly suited for something like engineering/ business management (I think there is some sort of major like that at Stanford.) He will visit UC Berkeley for an overnight stay at the end of February and likely visit Harvard in mid-April. We have heard Harvard has been pouring much energy and resources in the past 5 years into its engineering department, but it seems its greatest strength is providing an excellent liberal arts education. I think if he got into Stanford, given its longstanding reputation in engineering and proximity to Silicon Valley and great tennis weather,that might provide more clarity. But of course that is not a given. Can anyone with experience in undergraduate engineering education make some comparisons between these schools, especially Harvard, UC Berkeley and Stanford, but also UCLA engineering and Cal Poly? Would any program be significantly more intense/cut-throat or more theoretical versus practical? (He also applied to USC engineering and Northeastern, and is a National Merit finalist so there would be almost certain merit money there.) Rather than muddle the issue with financial aid concerns, please just address their relative merits irrespective of cost. Also, he has seen the Harvard, UCB and Stanford campuses and rather likes them all so far (although he found the Stanford tour the most appealing). Thanks ahead of time for any comments!</p>
<p>Is his goal to work in engineering, or investment banking? Of the schools you list, Harvard would rank last in the former, first in the latter.</p>
<p>The EE and ME degree programs at Harvard are brand new, and not expected to be ABET-accredited for some years. The Engineering Sciences (Bachelor of Science) degree program there is ABET accredited.</p>
<p>[Electrical</a> Engineering ? Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences](<a href=“http://www.seas.harvard.edu/academics/undergraduate/electrical-engineering]Electrical”>http://www.seas.harvard.edu/academics/undergraduate/electrical-engineering)</p>
<p>This is a wonderfully tough situation! Super congrats to your son, and as a Golden Bear, I’d love to convince him to come here. However, as someone who transferred after one year because she hated the school she attended, I want him to be happy with his choice.</p>
<p>In my humble opinion, the most important aspects of choosing a university (when they are all very well ranked and regarded) aren’t necessarily the academic aspects (although ucbalumnus makes some really good points). Look at the surrounding cities-- could you see yourself there for 4 years and possibly more? Does the snow, humid, and generally strange east coast weather deter you in any way? Do you feel that you can fit in with the student body? Do they have the extra-curricular opportunities that will enrich your college life and possibly afford you networking opportunities post-graduation? Those are really the questions I would bring to the forefront at this point. To try and get a REALLY good feel for the school, I would try and stay with a friend overnight, or spend a good amount of time before/after the tour looking around and possibly speaking to students who aren’t scripted by the admissions committee. Try and get to know what the current student body is like as opposed to other admits/prospective students. These are all things I wish I had done/considered before I moved back east to a “very prestigious” university and subsequently transferred to Berkeley because it was better in all the aforementioned questions.</p>
<p>Good luck to you and your son!</p>