<p>Hi I'm a student wishing to go into engineering, more specifically computer science (which may change of course, but I'll probably stay in the engineering field.)
I applied to Stanford REA, but well, it's a reach school for everyone. I'm contemplating on my regular list, but I just had a disagreement with our school's counselor. </p>
<p>I'll certainly be applying to good engineering schools like MIT, CMU, Cornell, and after that, I thought about applying to other schools famous for engineering like Georgia Tech, Michigan or Illinois,
but my Counselor thinks it's best to apply to the Ivies. He basically deleted the last 3 schools I mentioned from the list to include HYP and other Ivy schools.. Saying that with my scores I should apply to the ivies, and that undergraduate engineering is similar wherever you go(?).</p>
<p>I know that the Ivies have great reputation and more than excellent education regarding humanities and natural sciences, but I don't know much about engineering. Which school has nice engineering programs? Should I stick with my original choice?</p>
<p>Do you need aid? IF so, then an OOS publics like GT, UMich, and UIUC may not be affordable. They don’t give great aid to OOS students.</p>
<p>What are your stats? </p>
<p>How much will your family pay?</p>
<p>I think Cornell and maybe Columbia are known for eng’g…I don’t think the other ivies really are, but I could be wrong. But, your GC is right about eng’g being rather similar at all good schools with ABET accreditation.</p>
<p>That said, you should have a couple of financial safeties…schools that you know you can afford and will accept you. Which schools are your financial safeties?</p>
<p>I don’t need aid as a must factor, but oh about that, I didn’t know. Thanks. We’re not rich so it’s definitely cheaper the better…</p>
<p>And my stats are good enough to apply to the ivies. In terms of test scores it’s nearly perfect, I made Android apps and games and stuff but I lack academic research papers (hoping to compensate that with good grades). </p>
<p>Moreover if engineering programs are indeed pretty similar, are there any college reputation factors when you try to find a job? Would graduating from GT look better than doing so from Dartmouth?</p>
<p>There are no guarantees you would actually be admitted to any Ivy. What they look for is more than stats and can be affected by the rest of your app, geographic diversity and other loose ends. Plus, the competition is fierce, from other top performing applicants. It is always good to have diversity in your list. If this were next March, and you were choosing among colleges that accepted you, her advice might be more valid. Best wishes.</p>
<p>Of course there’s no guarantee, I know that they’re all reach schools at the least. I’m just curious if going there would be better than going to lesser known but great engineering schools, for future opportunities.</p>
<p>I can tell you that any degree from Georgia Tech is going to be worth gold when looking for a job here in Georgia. I’m sure GT’s reputation extends at least regionally, and somewhat nationally, but I am not qualified to speak about national reputations. GaTech uses TAs extensively, and ramps up the pressue on entry level engineering courses on purpose, to weed out students. (I’m sure this happens at most engineering schools.) GaTech has very strong engineering and computer science departments. </p>
<p>What part of the country would you like to live in after college? And what engineering schools are well respected in that area of the country?</p>
<p>Where you want to live during college (how far away from your home?) matters, as does size of campus, how many undergrads, urban campus?, greek life?..Rank, prestige, and job prospects with that college’s name on your diploma are not the only things to consider.</p>
<p>It sounds like maybe you haven’t had an honest discussion with your parents about exactly what your family can afford to pay for your college tuition. Without an accurate financial picture, the other factors really don’t matter. The worst thing you can do is fall in love with a school you can’t afford to attend. I encourage you to find out what you can afford, and then use that as an initial filter for choosing where to apply. From there, your list will be shorter and you can consider other factors.</p>
<p>You do need to dig into what, say, Dartmouth actually offers versus GT. This has to be a reasoned decision. Look at programs, additional opportunities, courses, profs, etc. You said he deleted GT, Mich and IL. All very good schools. Not “lesser known” for engineering. They’ll work you hard, offer you an excellent background. This isn’t about “gotta go to a Ivy or I’m sunk.”</p>
<p>Anyone who hires engineers knows the great engineering schools. Your career as a working engineer is likely short, however, on average to age 35, so that’s when an Ivy degree can kick in, especially at management levels.</p>
<p>Your GC shouldn’t have deleted the other schools, he should have added the Ivies and told you to apply to them all. </p>
<p>If you’re doing Ivies, definitely consider UPenn, which has a decent computer program (they were one of the inventors of the thing), plus access to Wharton for some business classes would make a pretty powerful combo.</p>
<p>Yes, Harvard, Yale, and Princeton are great schools and have strong computer science departments, but they are reaches for anyone, regardless of their stats.</p>
<p>There are a couple issues here. One is that you should apply to the schools that you are interested in. It’s fine for your GC to suggest alternatives, but you should be the one deciding on the list. The other is that with the changes your GC made, you have a very reach-heavy list. You should go with your instincts and include some schools that are excellent but not as hard to get into. Georgia Tech, Michigan, and Illinois sound like a good start.</p>
<p>OP. I congratulate you on being one of the most sophisticated high school students who has a razor sharp understanding of college admissions and engineering/CS fields. Your list of schools is OUTSTANDING and well thought out…YOU are far more knowledgeable than your guidance counselor will ever be…as a matter of fact, if you look at most GCs academic backgrounds in this country…MOST if not all went to very mediocre schools/community colleges…with very little understanding of what really matters/important in the world of CS/engineering fields…they have as much knowledge as the uneducated street layperson…</p>
<p>…if you get one of the prized precious admissions to Stanford REA…then, this will all be moot…but, if not… UIUC, Michigan, Georgia Tech are great choices to have in the regular round along with MIT, Carnegie, and Cornell…</p>
<p>…Good luck on Stanford…hope your dreams come true!</p>
Exactly. You’ll be there for 4 years, plus you want to go to a school where the kids that attend tend to be the kind that you’d want to be friends with. If just about everyone is big on Division-I football and the greek scene dominates campus social life, you’re may not have the greatest time if you aren’t into those things. Or, of course, conversely.</p>
<p>To a greater extent than most other majors, engineering is the same no matter where you go because programs are ABET acredited and that specifies the minimum that anyone getting the degree must study. The list is so long it covers most of your 4 years. There are differences, though, in reputation. Its much harder to get into Stanford than San Jose State 20 miles away, and few employers are going to see engineers from the 2 schools as substitutes. So reputation plays some role, but not as much as in most other majors.</p>
<p>You need to think about career path, too. I think at the Ivies and similar schools most kids graduating with engineering have gone to jobs on Wall Street where analytical skills are in demand and they like to recruit from top schools. If you actually want to work as an engineer you might be better off at a school where that’s what the grads do. More employers are likely to recruit there, you’ll see more examples of kids in the years above you getting internships and the like, there will be a larger alum network of working engineers.</p>
<p>Actually, Silicon Valley hires tons of San Jose State grads and I don’t know that they’re treated any differently than the Stanford grads after a year or two. It’s more what you do on the job that counts. </p>
<p>Apple actually hires more people from SJSU than Stanford.</p>
<p>Have you discussed with your parents what they are willing to contribute, and run the net price calculators on all of the schools? Better to figure out now than find out in April that you have no admissions to schools you can afford.</p>
<p>The first and most important school for your application list has to be a safety that you are assured of admission and assured of affordability.</p>
<p>Also, CS is not the same as engineering in some respects, although it may be under the engineering division at some colleges. For example, ABET accreditation is sufficient to indicate a decent quality CS major (although some may be better than decent or a better fit for a given student’s academic interests), but not necessary in that there are good CS majors that are not ABET accredited (e.g. Stanford and CMU; however, there are also some very poor CS majors that are not ABET accredited).</p>
<p>Note that four of Apple’s top 5 are local to its headquarters (SJSU, Stanford, Berkeley, SCU). The fifth (UT Austin) is local to an operations center that they are expanding.</p>
<p>Also, if you want to look into other areas of engineering, note that some of the Ivy League schools like Harvard, Yale, and Dartmouth have rather limited offerings of engineering majors compared to many other schools. Dartmouth engineering is also a 4.3 to 5 year program for the ABET accredited major.</p>
<p>^^moreover…if you are NOT from Illinois, Michigan, or Georgia…you may want to apply to Berkeley, Caltech, or Harvey Mudd…in lieu of one or all three schools…especially if you have the academic credentials (it seems like you do…since you are applying to Stanford) and you ultimately want to be close to where all the action is…Silicon Valley/California…</p>
Then you should have your state flagship (which presumably has a good Comp Sci program) on your list - not out of state public Us where you won’t get any $.</p>
<p>That’s the real key to Silicon Valley - be local. Start-ups aren’t going to pay to move you and there’s so much local talent, they don’t need to import much. Even if you get a great degree elsewhere, you’ll often need to appear to be local (i.e. move on your own) in order to get a job.</p>
<p>Caltech and Harvey Mudd are not within a driving day trip for recruiting from Silicon Valley. A flight to the Los Angeles area is more convenient than a flight elsewhere, but still is not as advantageous as being in a driving day trip.</p>
<p>^^I included those two schools along with Berkeley because of their strengths in CS/engineering…and they are very similar to MIT and Carnegie in more ways than one…</p>
<p>…it would really help to know where the OP is applying from…because if he is from Illinois he should apply to Illinois, if from Michigan he should apply to Michigan, if from Georgia he should apply to Georgia Tech…</p>
<p>…if from California…then he has so many more top choices…</p>
<p>I am surprised by any counselor deleting a student’s requests. Are you in a private school?</p>
<p>Most of the Ivies are in single digit admit numbers which makes them reach schools. Irrespective of your counselor trying to get you to apply to all Ivies, you personally need to ensure you have some matches and safeties.</p>
<p>Most state schools offer reasonably good engineering programs and also work out as safeties for someone who might be considered Ivy caliber by their counselor. So it is important that you apply to some State schools.</p>