<p>My son aplied for Engineering (undecided)-accepted into Duke, Cornell, CMU,U Mich,G. Tech & Penn State Hons. Confused-he prefers Duke, but from what we see Duke's engineering ranking is lower than the other schools, but Overall rank better. Please Advise. Is big class size at U Mich a problem?</p>
<p>Is rank the only deciding factor? Kind of narrow focus.</p>
<p>These are all good schools. Maybe SOME thought should be put into cost (which doesn't appear to be an issue here) and location. Why location? Think of where S wants to live after graduation. On campus interviews will generally attract local companies so maybe going to school geographically where you want to live after school might be a good idea.</p>
<p>Georgia tech is probably best of all these.</p>
<p>Input about area he wants to live in afterwards is good-we did not think about that. Sorry, I forgot to add that at this point he wants to double major in Engr and Economics. Cost is not an issue. Being residents of PA we will have to pay high out of state fees for U Mich.
How much does the " prestige factor" of the university matter for jobs/future grad studies etc. Alexandre please comment if available.</p>
<p>Hi ukrishna. As a Cornell student, I'd say Cornell is a really good fit. The engineering is extremely strong, and we have a pretty strong economics department in the College of Arts and Science, or Applied Economics and Managment through CALS. I recommend that, if possible, you come to Cornell for the Cornell Days program. Your son should have received information about the program already. Basically it's a time for accepted students to take a look at the campus, and they have all sorts of programs.</p>
<p>Double majoring in engineering and economics probably won't fit in a four year schedule. Engineering has a certain amount of classes that needs to be taken as part of ABET national accreditation. </p>
<p>Cornell does have a 3-2 program though, where you can get a B.S in engineering and BA in economics in 5 years.</p>
<p>There are some big differences in the nature of the schools in question. Does your son enjoy big time sports programs (or is he the type that might). If so, CMU drops off the radar and Cornell does for everything but hockey (which has a rabid following on campus). My son had similar choices and ended up selecting Cornell. He is getting a terrific engineering education in my opinion but be forewarned the class sizes at Cornell are quite large. I went to Michigan engineering too many years ago and never had nearly as many students in my primary engineering classes as does my son at Cornell - but things may have changed with time at Michigan as well. Despite the large class sizes, I am still very impressed with Cornell's engineering program - at least in ECE.</p>
<p>Quick note - for Duke, we have quite a few engineering majors who are doubling in Econ, all within 4 years. There are also 5-year programs to get a Masters in Engineering Management.</p>
<p>Thanks to all for the input. We are visiting both Duke and Cornell on the " campus days" next week and that should help my son decide. Will keep you posted of his decision.</p>
<p>Just my 2 cents worth. In engineering more than any other endeavor, prestige is worth next to nothing and performance everything. Engineers are highly practical. They have jobs to do building physical things that require teamwork. People hiring fresh engineers are interested in GPAs first, particularly in technical and math courses, as a measure of how valuable the candidate will be to the organization. </p>
<p>A high gpa from a state u. engineering program will be the door opener in that state. Unless it is MIT, attendance anywhere else will be a question mark on your resume. If it is MIT, questions will be raised as to whether you will fit in with the team, and be satisfied with day to day engineering work.</p>
<p>The one exception I can think of is Hewlett-Packard. Back in the day, HP would interview only MIT, Caltech and Cal engineering grads. That worked for a long time. Now of course they have merged with Houston-based Compaq, and probably look at a lot of UT and TAMU grads.</p>