<p>Still waiting on two schools, but for the moment NU, JHU and CMU are the lead choices for my son who is leaning toward a major in Mechanical Engineering.</p>
<p>We will be re-visiting schools as we get all decisions and prioritize, but anyone have opinions about how these three schools compare to one another?</p>
<p>In terms of engineering I would think JHU would be the best, but I mean all those schools are top notch.</p>
<p>This is third or fourth hand, but I’ve heard that for a kid who is interested in the ME side of robotics CMU is excellent.</p>
<p>Really? I always think of JHU as more of a biology place and CMU for engineering. I can’t really compare schools as the only one my son considered (for computer science) was CMU. We met a bunch of engineers at the accepted students weekend who were very enthusiastic about the program. </p>
<p>BTW US News and World Report has CMU #5, Northwestern #20 and Johns Hopkins #27 for engineering overall.</p>
<p>Ebhbmom,
You definitely need to visit the campuses to get a feel for the academics, culture, and location. D2 is at CMU and just returned from visiting a high school classmate at NW. She is also an engineering major and prefers CMU. D1 was accepted to grad school at JHU…but decided that Baltimore was not for her and opted for Boston College. It is a matter of preference. Good luck!</p>
<p>I can’t speak for any of them personally… although CMU is a fan favorite since I grew up in the 'burgh. </p>
<p>However, on the Johns Hopkins thread, you might be interested in a recent thread about professors, general atmostphere and somethng to do with the food.</p>
<p>No one really looks at the “overall” ranking of graduate engineering school. Not to mention some schools significantly overstated their % faculty as NAE members. To the extent of using graduate ranking, most people look at department rankings. Different schools have different strength. CMU is strong in computer/EE. But other than that, their other departments are not top-10 and certainly not #5. It’s also surprisingly weak (relatively) in sciences.</p>
<p>Both CMU and NU are #12 in mechanical engineering while JHU is #18. Not much difference right there. </p>
<p>I am not familiar with what the undergrad programs entail at CMU and JHU. At Northwestern, there’s a unique and innovative first-year curriculum called Engineering First. You get to work on real world projects for real world clients in a team of 3 or 4. You also take 4 quarters of “engineering analysis” that integrates math, physics, and other engineering fundamentals starting in the fall of freshman year instead of just taking pure sciences like in most other schools. So you get exposed to engineering early and get a much more integrated approach for learning mechanics, linear algebra, and differential equations…etc.</p>
<p>Disclaimer:
DS '06 BS ME and HCI. Carnegie Mellon gave DS very much appreciative merit grant even though we were 100% efc. A few nice opportunities since then. </p>
<p>My first high tech job was with a Carnegie Techer '66. Took a chance on me. We did early development on digital cable, working units in '84. We were unfortunately 10 years too early. Because of this grad, we were able to have this wonderful son. </p>
<ol>
<li>Weather is fairly similar to pacific northwest.</li>
<li>Good air connections and multiple pathways to home. </li>
<li>Far enough from mom and dad. </li>
<li>Suburban not city. Located in area populated with mansions. Next to huge city park and golf course. Next to Carnegie Museum, Carnegie Library, Carnegie Hall of Pittsburgh. Next to Pitt. SAFE.</li>
<li>Beautiful surrounding masonry buildings. We are west coasters, everything is woodbased or concrete. </li>
<li>The name Carnegie is recognize worldwide. Carnegie Mellon is not as well known but well known amongst hiring managers. </li>
<li>Son and roommates found student positions with professors. Some where paid, his was not. His position was with a ME professor who became his advisor and mentor, who became a Young Teacher Presidential Scholar and then a MacArthur Fellowship (Genius Grant) winner. </li>
<li>He has friends from around the world. CMU has a high proportion of foreign students who are full payers and sharp. </li>
<li>CMU encourages the arts, clubs, and activities outside of their majors. </li>
<li>GUARANTEED HOUSING, all 4 years. Some are better than others but all are in easy walk distance. </li>
<li>A car is not needed or recommended. Bus transportation in 02-06 was good. </li>
<li>A fairly large number of his class continued on to advanced degrees. CMU has a 5 year program towards a masters. Most students enter the workforce fairly easily and find that there is not a need to get advance degrees. DS wanted more HCI design experience and got a full fellowship towards a MS-Computer Science. </li>
<li>Branch campuses in Australia, Qatar, Oakland, NYC. Other relationships with colleges outside of US. </li>
<li>One of his roommate has quit his job (is he crazy in this economy) to start his own. DS’s advisor made DS an offer that he couldn’t refuse, again no pay but he gets to be employee #1. Robotics. DS has finished 3 post MS internships and was looking when advisor made the offer. </li>
<li>CMU plays an intelligent game of enrollment management. It is the undergrad school of John Nash.</li>
</ol>
<p>The three schools are pretty much academically equivalent. Each has its own feel, though, and each is located in a distinctive city or metropolitan area. Unless he has a clear favorite already, visiting again would be a good idea. But really, I don’t think he can go wrong.</p>
<p>And congratulations to your son! Those are three really interesting and impressive choices.</p>
<p>DS’s final choice was between two of these schools…he did not apply to Northwestern.</p>
<p>Can he visit, or even revisit? I urge him to do this, if time and of course $ permits. Summer before senior year we toured and son interview at both CMU and JHU. But he was probably half asleep those times. Spring of senior year it was actually his suggestion to revisit the two schools. Visits, revisits especially for the procrastinator like him, are suddenly much more informative when the pressure’s on and time is short.</p>
<p>This time it was overnights at both, early April, just a few days apart which was ideal. He picked CMU easily…the next person might choose JHU. Stayed for 5th yr masters…it was all positive. </p>
<p>These three schools are indeed too close to call academically…each will get your son where he wants to go. It’s the other factors—campus culture, weather (all three not great, but JHU winters aren’t as bad as CMU which aren’t as bad as NW), Pgh vs Balt vs Chi, on and on, that could tip the scales in your son’s case. </p>
<p>Isn’t it nice to know he can’t really go wrong no matter what the choice?</p>
<p>Yes, it is very nice to know that there are no bad choices. He just needs to decide which fit is best. For the moment, there is slight leaning toward Northwestern, but we’ll be visiting all the schools again…and they are sure to look different to him now. It’s one thing when you are thinking about “applying” and something else altogether when you know you are in and have to decide about “attending.”</p>
<p>Thanks for all the great advice and info.</p>