<p>The grading at Cornell engineering is hard but not unreasonable. The grading uses the full range from A to failure but the large majority of students do fine. I do not think engineering students are fiercely competitive with each other. The real challenge is managing time and workload. Students are friendly with each other. But you have to do the work yourself. Nobody else can learn for you.</p>
<p>I know a bunch of people that majored in some sort of engineering here (mechanical, electrical, environmental, etc., etc.). None of them had any trouble finding jobs- in fact, they all have very good jobs. But none of the jobs they got were "engineering" per se. One kid is doing private equity at Blackstone, one kid is some sort of exec at some engineering/consulting firm in NC, and one girl is doing some environmental consulting out of DC. </p>
<p>I think at Harvard, Yale, Brown, and Dartmouth, engineering isn't seen as well in the traditional engineering metrics, but recruiters respect the fact that you got into the schools, completed the some of the most quantitative majors at those schools, completed some of the most demanding majors at those schools coursework wise, and still completed a whole lot of liberal arts requirements. You can get jobs really easily as an engineering major, but not necessarily engineering. If you want research or want to be a traditional engineer, other unis may be a better fit.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I know a bunch of people that majored in some sort of engineering here (mechanical, electrical, environmental, etc., etc.). None of them had any trouble finding jobs- in fact, they all have very good jobs. But none of the jobs they got were "engineering" per se. One kid is doing private equity at Blackstone, one kid is some sort of exec at some engineering/consulting firm in NC, and one girl is doing some environmental consulting out of DC.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>This doesn't seem tremendously different all the MIT engineers who end up working at McKinsey or Goldman Sachs. </p>
<p>The fact is, these kinds of 'prestige' companies don't really care what you majored in. What they want is evidence of raw intellectual talent. The fact that you got admitted into a place like Yale or MIT indicates that you may have that talent (although it doesn't prove it - you still obviously still have to pass the interview). These companies are also attracted to schools with big brand names because it's easier to win consulting and bankig clients if the company can brag that they have a bunch of Yale and MIT grads, as opposed to people from no-name schools.</p>
<p>^^ </p>
<p>So are you saying that if I did my graduate studies in engineering at Yale or Princeton, I could still get one of those really slick engineering/consulting jobs that MIT students get? Could I get top i-banking jobs if I got like a masters in eng. at Yale (or pton or Harvard) like those MIT students get? Would I be making a mistake by choosing Yale,pton, or Harvard graduate engineering over something like Michigan or Cornell?</p>
<p>LOL. This is actually pretty interesting. I've always wanted to go to either MIT/Stanford/Cal-tech to get my masters in engineering but now I see that pton and Yale's engineering programs really do have a name out there.........:)</p>
<p>I don't think a masters in engineering would help for ibanking since they're entirely different skills. It won't hurt, but you won't get any leg up against bachlors.</p>
<p>Graudate Engineering Rankings:</p>
<p>Recruiter Assesment Score
1. Cornell (4.2)
2. Princeton (4.1)
3. Harvard (3.9)
4. Penn (3.6)
5. Yale (3.5)
5. Columbia (3.5)
5. Brown (3.5)
8. Dartmouth (3.4)</p>
<p>Non-Ivy: UIUC (4.4), Berkeley (4.5), Stanford (4.7)</p>