<p>Hopefully a Cornell alum can shed some light and remove some doubts I have.</p>
<p>Is Cornell's engineering program regarded well in the engineering community? Compared specifically to UIUC, what's the difference?</p>
<p>I'm instate for UIUC, so everyone goes there and I've never held it in much regard. Cornell, on the other hand, is an Ivy so it's held very high generally. But how is their engineering program?</p>
<p>In terms of teachers, rigor, research opportunities, job placements, name/prestige which in your experience is more recommended?</p>
<p>While we're on this topic, could we include UMich and Carnegie Mellon into the discussion as well?</p>
<p>It probably depends on the specific area you’re going into. You can get a rough estimate of how well a program is regarded by looking up Cornell’s graduate rankings in that area. However, almost all of the engineering programs at Cornell are good enough to allow you to go as far as you can. People often underestimate the importance of personal drive. Cornell can give you as easy a pitch as any other top science school, but you still have to swing the bat.</p>
<p>UIUC is good, but definitely not Cornell tier. You will have to decide whether the extra cost of Cornell (if it does cost more than UIUC) is worth it. And this, of course, is an intimately personal decision.</p>
<p>If you forced me to rank these, though, I’d say CMU, Cornell, UMich, UIUC, in descending order starting from best.</p>
<p>If you look at the most recent (2011) UNSWR rankings of Best Undergraduate Engineerings Programs they actually rank them as follows:</p>
<p>UIUC
UMich
CMU
Cornell</p>
<p>The interesting things was they were all in a row numbers 6th through 9th.</p>
<p>I know this is only one ranking, the point really is that UIUC is an oustanding engineering school and is certainly on a simlar tier with the other schools mentioned. </p>
<p>As mxmmstudent says, it does come down to your specific area of interest.</p>
<p>They are all excellent engineering schools. Depending on your financial situation, the cost between going to UIUC and Cornell for you could be dramatic.</p>
<p>UIUC also has a very good reputation with recruiters.</p>
<p>My son is a rising senior and looking at the engineering programs at Cornell, Michigan and Illinois. Our state university also has a strong engineering program, so we are looking at the same type of choices.</p>
<p>I actually had an interesting conversation recently with a college buddy who is a senior VP for one of the BIG boys in Silicon Valley. </p>
<p>In their recruiting of BS graduates (engineering, CS), an “average” Cornell graduate is considered as on a par to a “top” UIUC/GeorgiaTech/… graduate. And they are paying $100K to start!</p>
<p>Program-wise I will speak for CS and aerospace engineering. I was Cornell CoE, MechE</p>
<p>At Cornell, there is a general consensus that CMU’s CS program is the best. I personally have no idea why and I haven’t ever had an opportunity to judge nor do I have the ability to judge the quality of CS programs. But that’s the word on the campus. On the other hand, the word is also that CMU’s other programs are lacking. No idea why, never met any CMU’s. I’m Canadian and I had never heard of CMU before I came down to the states. </p>
<p>For aerospace engineering, you might have a more dedicated program at UIUC. They offer AE as a major while Cornell offers only a joint “mechanical and aerospace” department and your degree would be MechE. The student support group (AIAA) at UIUC has been established for a few years now while Cornell’s has just been set up a year ago.</p>
<p>Cornell has some pretty crazy Professors heading the aerospace intiatives/research/project teams (see Prof E. Garcia and Prof. M. Peck). Also for fluid research (Prof Williamson), combustion (Prof Louge), and two new hires (Prof. Pepiot & Desjardins). There’s the design/build/fly, CUAir, and 2 satellite teams (I think both of them are about to be completed within the next year though…)(also, this list of project teams expands a lot more if you include the MechEs). I have yet to hear a student at Cornell who wants to do research say that no Prof wants them.</p>
<p>In terms of employment I have no clue how to compare. I feel that this is because UMich, UIUC feed to the mid-west industries. Cornell is recruited heavily by companies that have offices in the east coast. For CS and ECE, all the biggest tech companies recruit at Cornell. </p>
<p>Cornell has the strongest engineering program from the Ivies and as mentioned before is ranked alongside the other schools you’re comparing. Cornell’s other colleges are arguably much stronger though compared to other schools’ deparments and our engineering program requires a liberal arts treatment for graduation so you might find this aspect more fulfilling here. It still amazes me how much one semester of an intro-to-something-not-in-engineering sticks in my mind.</p>
<p>Direct comment to the OP: If you’re instate for UIUC, I’m assuming you’re well accustomed to the midwest. Try for Cornell and gain some east-coast experience! That geographic move in itself is a great learning opportunity</p>
<p>thanks for all the input! I’m looking specifically at electrical/electronics engineering. Regarding this, how would the rankings, experience change? </p>
<p>thanks for all the input! I’m looking specifically at electrical/electronics engineering. How would the rankings, experience change regarding this? </p>