Northwestern vs JHU vs Carnegie Mellon vs Cornell vs Berkeley

<p>I will study EECS or Computer Engineering.
I really like Northwestern but somehow I heard NU's EECS is not as good as the schools listed above. Do the undergrad programs really make much difference?</p>

<p>I know Berkeley's EECS is strong but I don't like the big class size. So unless someone strongly recommends Berkeley EECS, I want to rule that out. I heard Carnegie Mellon's CIT is very good but its living environment is quite dull. </p>

<p>If someone can tell me how good or bad NU's EECS is, I'd really appreciate it.
Also how big is the margin of quality between these schools?
Even if Berkeley's EECS program is better than NU's, is it so good that I should sacrifice small class size and great living environment? And same for the other school?</p>

<p>Please advise.
thank you!</p>

<p>Similar question here too.</p>