For Engineering

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Which of these colleges have the best overall engineering program (including good facilities, undergraduate research opportunities, teachers, etc):</p>

<p>University of Michigan
Lehigh
Carnegie Mellon University
University of Virginia
UCLA</p>

<p>Not considering academics, the colleges I would most like to attend in rank (1-favorite; 5-least favorite) would be:</p>

<p>University of Michigan (3)
Lehigh (5)
Carnegie Mellon University (4)
University of Virginia (2)
UCLA (1)</p>

<p>So considering my preferences, which school would be best suited for my intended major?</p>

2

<p>In terms of engineering, the ranking would probably be:</p>

<p>1) UMich
2) CMU
3) UCLA
4) UVa
5) Lehigh</p>

<p>Depending on cost/specific discipline of engineering it will change, but it seems like UCLA/UMich are good fits.</p>

3

<p>Money wise (which is a pretty big factor in my decision), UCLA gave me more money than UMich (by the way I’m out of state for all the public schools). And Virginia gave me more money than UCLA. So basically UMichigan cost me pretty much full OOS price. Is the better education worth that much extra money?</p>

4

<p>Also if anyone can tell me what UCLA engineer rank is, that would be helpful.</p>

5

<p>If you like UCLA environment and it’s cheaper for you, go there. </p>

<p>UCLA engineering is not as strong as UMich, but you’ll still get a fantastic education and you aren’t missing any opportunities.</p>

<p>That being said, UCLA will be much more widely recruited by Socal companies and UMich will be more widely recruited by midwest companies. If you want to eventually settle in the East or Midwest, UMich may be a better choice.</p>

6

<p>So UCLA engineering (Electrical Engineering) is comparable to UMich but not as good right? I’m out of state for all these public colleges though so they all cost roughly the same amount. Financial aid-wise: Virginia>>>>UCLA>>UMich. Michigan gave me pretty much nothing. UVa is not really a engineering school but they did give me the most aid. I’m really torn right now. UCLA and Virginia are both schools I would like to attend for reasons other than academics, but academics (engineering) is still very important factor. Any more advice?</p>

7

<p>Did you visit both UVA and UCLA?</p>

<p>UMich is best out of these three for engineering. But, having to pay full cost eliminates it from consideration when you have your other cheaper options. </p>

<p>If you want to be an engineer, you can get a good job graduating from any of your choices. Engineers are not paid a huge premium if you graduate from a more respected program, so the extra cost for Michigan doesn’t make it worth while.</p>

<p>I say, if you prefer East coast living, go to Virginia. If you prefer California and the West, choose UCLA.</p>

8

<p>Thanks so much, but I still have one question. For engineering is UCLA better or UVa, or in other words which school is more respected.</p>

9

<p>UVA’s engineering is definitely not its strong suit, but is not a bad program…(see ranking below) UCLA engineering is more respected. How much of a premium is UCLA over UVA?</p>

<p>USNWR Engineering Rankings:
Best Colleges Specialty Rankings: Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs
Ranked in 2009</p>

<p>1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA 4.7927
2 Stanford University Stanford, CA 4.651
University of California–Berkeley Berkeley, CA 4.6615
4 California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA 4.5134
Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA 4.5155
University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL 4.4503
7 University of Michigan–Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI 4.4032
8 Cornell University Ithaca, NY 4.2766
9 Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA 4.1905
Purdue University–West Lafayette West Lafayette, IN 4.1875
11 Princeton University Princeton, NJ 4.0718
University of Texas–Austin Austin, TX 4.1459
13 University of Wisconsin–Madison Madison, WI 3.9663
14 Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD 3.8859
Northwestern University Evanston, IL 3.9231
Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA 3.8715
17 Pennsylvania State University–University Park University Park, PA 3.828
Rice University Houston, TX 3.8047
Texas A&M University–College Station College Station, TX 3.8103
University of California–San Diego La Jolla, CA 3.7622
21 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY 3.6868
** University of California–Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA 3.68**
University of Maryland–College Park College Park, MD 3.6798
University of Washington Seattle, WA 3.6784
25 Columbia University New York, NY 3.5833
Duke University Durham, NC 3.5866
University of Minnesota–Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN 3.6494
28 Harvard University Cambridge, MA 3.5091
North Carolina State University–Raleigh Raleigh, NC 3.5322
Ohio State University–Columbus Columbus, OH 3.4943
University of Florida Gainesville, FL 3.5029
University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 3.5466
University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA 3.497
** University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA 3.4615**
35 University of California–Davis Davis, CA 3.3736
University of California–Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA 3.3648
University of Colorado–Boulder Boulder, CO 3.4294
38 Arizona State University Tempe, AZ 3.2514
Brown University Providence, RI 3.3291
Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH 3.2632
Iowa State University Ames, IA 3.2781
Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA 3.2632
Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN 3.3072
Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis, MO 3.2516
Yale University New Haven, CT 3.2771
46 Dartmouth College Hanover, NH 3.1709
Michigan State University East Lansing, MI 3.2118
University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN 3.1734
49 Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey–New Brunswick Piscataway, NJ 3.131
University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 3.1412
51 Auburn University Auburn University, AL 3.0182
Clemson University Clemson, SC 3.0244
Colorado School of Mines Golden, CO 2.9639
Drexel University Philadelphia, PA 3.0225
Tufts University Medford, MA 2.9669
University of California–Irvine Irvine, CA 3.0126
University of Delaware Newark, DE 3.044
University of Massachusetts–Amherst Amherst, MA 3.0062
University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA 2.9682
Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester, MA 3.0248
61 Boston University Boston, MA 2.94
Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO 2.8773
Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, IL 2.9182
Kansas State University Manhattan, KS 2.8926
Northeastern University Boston, MA 2.9349
SUNY–Stony Brook Stony Brook, NY 2.9161
University at Buffalo–SUNY Buffalo, NY 2.8571
University of Illinois–Chicago Chicago, IL 2.9281
University of Iowa Iowa City, IA 2.9438
70 Michigan Technological University Houghton, MI 2.8025
Oregon State University Corvallis, OR 2.7714
Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester, NY 2.7778
University of Kansas Lawrence, KS 2.8169
University of Rochester Rochester, NY 2.7817
University of Tennessee Knoxville, TN 2.7922
University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT 2.7778
Washington State University Pullman, WA 2.7867
78 Missouri University of Science & Technology Rolla, MO 2.6923
Polytechnic Institute of New York University Brooklyn, NY 2.7442
Syracuse University Syracuse, NY 2.719
Texas Tech University Lubbock, TX 2.6757
University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH 2.7338
University of Connecticut Storrs, CT 2.7315
University of Missouri–Columbia Columbia, MO 2.6857
University of North Carolina–Charlotte Charlotte, NC 2.6913
86 Brigham Young University–Provo Provo, UT 2.6391
Clarkson University Potsdam, NY 2.6338
George Washington University Washington, DC 2.5564
Louisiana State University–Baton Rouge Baton Rouge, LA 2.5578
New Jersey Institute of Technology Newark, NJ 2.6164
Oklahoma State University Stillwater, OK 2.6312
San Diego State University San Diego, CA 2.551
Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX 2.5882
Stevens Institute of Technology Hoboken, NJ 2.5705
University of Houston Houston, TX 2.5775
University of Kentucky Lexington, KY 2.5742
University of Nebraska–Lincoln Lincoln, NE 2.6026
University of New Mexico Albuquerque, NM 2.6187
University of Oklahoma Norman, OK 2.6412
100 University of California–Riverside Riverside, CA 2.5231</p>