<p>I'm wondering which one of these is more valuable (will get me into better grad school/more well known amongst employers). I'm not sure what I'd get my masters in. Either something related to Computer Engineering or Business, again, not sure yet.</p>
<p>UNDERGRAD:
Let's say I could go to Northwestern - a very well-known, prestigious school. Everybody knows Northwestern. However, I wouldn't exactly say that their engineering program is the most well-known. But people still think you are a freakin' genius b/c you got into a very competitive school.</p>
<p>OR</p>
<p>I could go to Purdue, who is not known to give exactly a world-class education, but engineering employers recognize it as a top school.</p>
<p>Would it be more beneficial to go to Northwestern - a well respected/high-class school amongst all Americans, or Purdue - a well respected school amongst Engineers?</p>
<p>Let’s be realistic about this. Both schools are great and will give you a “world class education”. Worrying about rankings first is misguided, but to worry about them for these two schools is just vain.</p>
<p>In other words: I could go to Yale for Computer Engineering (****, they might not even have CompEng for all I care) or I could go to Purdue for Computer Engineering. Which one would I choose from a strictly academic standpoint?</p>
<p>Go for the rankings in your major. In engineering and the sciences, the rankings actually mean something (though not <em>as much</em> as many people think). The main thing they mean is that they open doors for your first job/grad school and help you make valuable connections.</p>
<p>And yes, employers and grad schools are more impressed with an undergrad engineering degree from Rose Hulman or Harvey Mudd (schools that most people have never heard of but which are big names in engineering schools) than an engineering degree from Yale or Harvard, whose engineering schools are good but not nearly as highly ranked from an engineering standpoint. And then there are superschools like CalTech, MIT, Cornell, Stanford, etc., which are highly ranked in engineering <em>and</em> most other disciplines.</p>
<p>consider your future 5-10 years down the road</p>
<p>Go to northwestern and your undergraduate education becomes your point of pride. which is awesome (though northwestern isn’t exactly going to illicit responses that Harvard and Yale would). </p>
<p>Or got to purdue, now your undergrad will not be a point of pride to general society, however,when you graduate and land a job at Google that will become your point of pride. </p>
<p>My conclusion, don’t just take purdue for it’s worth as a school, consider it’s value of what kind of life it will give you upon graduation…you could become a freakin astronaut, you see what I’m saying?</p>
<p>If your intent is to be an engineer and work in a technical position, Purdue is a better option. If you intent is to get an engineering degree then work in a completely unrelated field (such as business, management consulting, finance, law, medicine, etc), go to Yale.</p>
<p>engineering employers and graduate schools will not fall for “the trick” of prestige. however, the engineering job market is just not that tough to break as long as you graduate with a decent gpa. the demand for engineers is great while the supply of people successfully graduating is fixed. if you do decent academically, you WILL get a job.</p>
<p>so then why prestige? a generally prestigious school will open up more doors to jobs that are much better than engineering jobs. and that makes it totally worth it.</p>
<p>engineers are generally the grunts of a corporation, who slave away to design a product for a basic salary while the company retains IP rights and then makes all the profit. it is a rather embarrassing fact of our economy that the middlemen between engineers and the patent office (patent lawyers) often make twice as much money as the inventors themselves. this doesn’t even account for the rest of those that take a slice of the value pie created almost solely by the engineering staff: managers, sales people, marketing, support employees, etc. and let’s not forget the capitalists and shareholders!</p>
<p>the better opportunities are in the business world through entry level jobs in banking, consulting, etc. after a few years of that, you can actually join up as a corporate manager and start bossing engineers around for much higher pay. those fields are also more likely to have pay-for-performance compensation systems where the upside is practically unlimited.</p>
<p>the exception to this general rule of thumb is if you 100% absolutely want to be a tech nerd for the rest of your life. you might want to get into the best possible grad program, or work at the latest and greatest tech companies as an engineer. in that case, you should probably go to the better engineering school.</p>
<p>There are no straight forward answers, to your question or the countless others like it. </p>
<p>You say 10K more, is that per year? Where do you want to live/work when you graduate? Do you think youll be able to do well at any of these schools?</p>
<p>All these things make a difference. Purdue will give you access to some of the best engineering jobs out there, but youre going to have to be at the top 10% of your class to land one right out of school If youre in the top 50%, have good internships, etc., youll still probably have options nationally but theyll be somewhat less. Definitely the bottom 50% will take regional Midwest jobs when they graduate. </p>
<p>If youd like to be out in California when you graduate, the safer bet is to go to a cali school… If youre talking 10K/year more and your family really doesnt have that kind of money, you might want to consider staying in cali.</p>
<p>I am set on Computer Engineering - but the problem is that I don’t know which type of job I want when I’m in the real world. I could get a very tech oriented job, such as Software Developing or I could go down the route of selling consulting work to companies. If the latter (if I understand correctly), then I’d want to go more to a place like Northwestern/Yale, get the engineering degree, then get MBA or w/e at a good business school.</p>
<p>I don’t feel like I’m in a position to make a decision like that yet, so I guess I will opt for the high-ranked tech schools (UIUC, GaTech, Purdue, etc…) rather than the general prestige schools (Duke, Northwestern, U Chicago, etc… [just throwing out random examples that I’d have a shot at getting into])…</p>
<p>Bankers (investment), consultants (business), and lawyers (all) should all seriously consider letting me pack their parachute if they ever decide on a little skydiving expedition. PM me if you know someone interested.</p>
<p>Theyre reeeeal sweet thats all they need to know.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>A. I never said anything was wrong with them, just that maybe they might need a parachute packed.
B. If there is something wrong with them, skydiving should help fix the problem.
C. If you go the ibanker route, dont forget to PM me.</p>
<p>You can still be a grunt engineer but you are SO accomplished or such an expert that you are hired as an “independent” consulting engineer billing at something like $100-$150/hour. Sure those managers are “bossing” you around, but what do you care? You are probably making more money than them.</p>
<p>…and you have ZERO folks reporting to you which means ZERO performance reviews to give which means (most likely) you are working max 7 hours, 59 minutes a day.</p>
<p>But as we’ve discussed before, money isn’t everything. Accumulating the most things is an goal for only some people. For others, the stress, work load, hours, and risk associated with being the “middle man” just isn’t worth it. </p>
<p>One of the best engineers I’ve ever known spent 40 years as a “grunt”. He repeatedly turned down promotions. One time I asked why, and he said, “My joy in life is spending time with my kids and grandkids. As an engineer, I can come in at 7 and leave by 4. As a manager, I would come in at 7 and leave at 7. Those 15 hours per week with my family is worth more than they could ever pay me.”</p>
<p>“One of the best engineers I’ve ever known spent 40 years as a “grunt”. He repeatedly turned down promotions. One time I asked why, and he said, “My joy in life is spending time with my kids and grandkids. As an engineer, I can come in at 7 and leave by 4. As a manager, I would come in at 7 and leave at 7. Those 15 hours per week with my family is worth more than they could ever pay me.””</p>