As someone who loves learning about and working with circuits—but knows little about what being an EE actually entailsI was wondering if you could help inform my decision in choosing between Northwestern and some of the more well-known state schools like UIUC or UMichigan.
I think Northwestern would be the best fit for me socially, but in terms of the strength of the EE department I have a hard time ignoring the #4/#5 ranking of UIUC/UMich compared with NU which is not ranked among the top undergrad EE programs at all. I always read about the fact that companies go out of their way to recruit at UIUC, yet I struggle to find evidence of the same at NU. Overall, I just get the sense that, among EEs, UIUC is the more well-known school than NU.
Obviously as a high school student I have no way of knowing how much of the above actually matters… Thus, I would really appreciate any perspective/opinion you might have about the advantages of attending McCormick over a large state school like UIUC.
I also get the impression that a graduate of McCormick might be more likely to get a job on the business/management side of engineering, whereas a UIUC grad would be more prepared for more of a technical design job involving more work with the circuits and schematics themselves (which—at this point—I think I would enjoy more). Do you think this is an accurate stereotype?
First, if you are in-state for either UIUC or Michigan, they are an obvious choice over Northwestern for engineering.
Second, rankings you see are dominated by the research reputation of the departments, and are not aligned much with quality of undergrad education. I would say that either of these three schools will prepare you very well for engineering design kind of jobs.
In looking at placement information, do consider the fact that Northwestern has much smaller engineering student population (about 400 per year, as compared to nearly 1600 for each of UIUC and Michigan). Electrical engineering at Northwestern is actually very small - around 20 students per year or so … see
I think advantages of Northwestern are in better faculty to student ratio, more emphasis on undergraduate education, and in recruiting from consulting/finance side. Both Michigan and UIUC will provide you with excellent technical preparation and the degree will be highly weighed by engineering recruiters.
It’s undergraduate engineering. I would go with the best fit that is affordable for your parents. We are in-state for UIUC, but looking OOS for more affordable options, saving $ for potential grad school. Still, fit is important. Don’t worry about undergraduate rankings.