MIT Vs UC Berkeley (Civil ENgineering)

<p>I applied to UC Berkeley, UIUC, UT Austin, MIT, SUNY Buffalo, Columbia, UCLA.</p>

<p>Till this moment I am admitted to MIT, Buffalo, Columbia, UCLA and I am waiting replies from the other 3.</p>

<p>When I applied I had as first choices MIT and Berkeley. (MEng Structural in both)</p>

<p>Should I get admitted to Berkeley which I doubt, which am I to choose between those two?</p>

<p>Berkeley Meng is 2 years and MIT is 1 year. Does anyone have experience from these academic programs and what connections to the industry each school has right after graduation?</p>

<p>I think Berkeley has a very top structural program. MIT's civil program is not bad either, as it's the top 5 school in the nation, but personally I haven't heard too much about their structural program. so program wise i think berkeley is better. but of cuz MIT get a bigger name if that concerns you. but then again the cost of MIT is almost twice as much as Cal.. however if you stay 1 year at MIT and 2 years at Cal then it's pretty much the same. assuming you don't get financial aid from either of them and you are a CA resident.</p>

<p>You should definitely visit the school and talk to the professors there. get a feel of the school. i think that's very important. there are many factors. personally i don't like the living area of berkeley. i been there several times and still don't like the city. i haven't been to MIT so i don't know what its like there.</p>

<p>you will have plenty of connections to the industry coming out from either one of the schools. they are both great schools. but of cuz if you live in west coast there will be more Cal ppl and in the east coast more MIT guys.</p>

<p>I am too picking between two very good schools. berkeley and stanford for structural engineering. i am going to their visitation days tomorrow and friday to check out the department and hopefully i can decide after it!!</p>

<p>If I may ask, how come you pick MENG instead of MS??</p>

<p>Berkeley is the number one school for civil eng'g. Most of the books for CE are authored by Berkeley grads, faculty or scientists/researchers. MIT isn't really far behind though. </p>

<p>Since this is for grad school CE, I would say go for Berkeley. If this was for undergrad though, MIT would probably the better choice.</p>

<p>I picked MEng because I don't want to pursue a phd at this point so I wanted a professional degree to enter the industry. I am from Greece and the northeast is more adjacent to Europe, that along with the fact that there are many big cities around make me lean towards MIT. I know Berkeley has the best structural program in the nation but California sounds too far away... Well I was asking because I don'y know many people who have graduate from those schools. I guess graduates from Cal get more job interviews from LA or SF, and the ones from MIT more from Boston or NYC. I know you can have job opportunities in many places from both schools but I will be an international student with no means traveling all around america. So by picking a school sort of defines where I will settle. And here comes the next question... what's a better place for a structural engineer...west or east?</p>

<p>Hey, UCB has a MS program for one year and the MEng is two years, y didnt u applied to that program. My friend did it one year over there. And UCB is the best school to do civil next to UIUC. Hey, i also applied to Buffalo and got in, did u got info on fin. aid. Btw did u heard anything from UIUC, I've applied there but i havent heard anything, n when did ur application was completed. </p>

<p>MIT is not the best in term of structural, i think, maybe in environmental and transportation.</p>

<p>i from the east and there are good companies here The TT Group, LERA, GMS, MRCE, Skidmore, WSP, WAI these companies are big in east (NYC) and theres a couple of big one in the boston area. Cali i dont know the market there but they have companies over there that are in here. But i heard that a UCB grad (Masters) had a tough time looking a for job in cali, Cali itself is on thin ice in terms of economy. My buddy works here in the jersey. Cali is also harder in terms of being a engineering then the east coast b/c of earthquakes. </p>

<p>But do u wat to do bridges or bulidings? </p>

<p>Because bridges is totally different market.</p>

<p>Hi man. Don't worry about UIUC, I emailed them and was told that they will send admission offers next week.
Personally I didn't apply for the MS in UCB because my statement of purpose would be weak mentioning that I am not interested in pursuing a phd. At least thats how I am seeing things.
Thank you for the insight on the East scene!
In which schools have you applied and from which have you heard from so far??</p>

<p>i only applied to buffalo, uiuc, rutgers, and stevens...i was about applied to ucsd and lehigh but the price tag was to high n also ucb but i hard it was to hard to get in so i didnt applied..i got in all three, jus waiting for UIUC...it will be either uiuc or buffalo</p>

<p>I have the same problem with schools...I'm deciding between Berkeley and MIT but Berkeley is winning. I still do not know what I want to do afterschool but will finding a job on the east coast be more difficult if I were a Berkeley grad if I had wanted to? I'd most likely stay on the west coast though...</p>

<p>I’ve been accepted by UIUC, Lehigh, and Buffalo for an MS in structural engineering. What are your opinions about the structures programs at these schools?</p>

<p>chabos4,
You must have done something amazing to get into MIT.
Can you please share…?</p>

Hi,

Chabos4 because I am in the same situation now as were you some years ago (the only difference is that I have applied for a geotechnical engineering degree) and I have been admitted to MIT+ UCB + UIUC , could you tell me what you have decided back then and any opinions/ experiences?