<p>hey everybody,</p>
<p>I'm interested in engineering and/or business. I've got into a bunch of schools but i think i've narrowed it down to princeton, cal or carnegie mellon. I realize that Princeton obviously holds the prestige factor over the rest of these universities but in regards to engineering it is ranked significantly lower thane ither cmu or cal. Plus it'll cost me bout twice as much since i don't qualify for aid. I'm not sure whether to outweigh presitige or education. Like would an interviewer after college rather pick an undergrad engineerign from princeton or berkeley? I'm so lost, please help...</p>
<p>Please help me guys :(</p>
<p>if you're interested in engineering and/or business, i see no reason why you're even CONSIDERING any school other than berkeley....</p>
<p>honestly now, berkeley is top three in the nation in both engineering AND business- so what better place to possibly dbl major at? also take into account the location of the school...berkeley is in San Francisco, Cali. Princeton is in....Princeton, NJ...come on, need i say more?</p>
<p>hehe, sorry to all my Princeton ED friends....but I gotta rep my school- you know how that works :D</p>
<p>Princeton.</p>
<p>Princeton is unranked in business solely because it DOES NOT have an undergraduate business program, just like Harvard, Yale or Stanford. Princeton engineering is quite strong, with most of its departments being ranked in the top ten (USNews). Additionally, since the university hopes to bring Princeton engineering to the ranks of that of MIT and Stanford, they have been pouring money into it.<br>
Aside from Princeton's natural advantage of a superior undergraduate education (Berkeley is after all an underfunded and very very large school), Princeton has much much better graduate school acceptance rates. If you pick Berkeley because you like the location more, thats fine, but academically, Princeton should be an easy choice.</p>
<p>Don't forget about the undrgraduate focus that princeton has.</p>
<p>How big an issue should class sizes be?</p>
<p>not a big issue, princeton is a small-sized university with 1200 per year. most classes are small and majority of them are under 20</p>
<p>ORFE is really good for both engineering and business.</p>
<p>I'm in a similar situation...trying to decide between Caltech or CMU with Caltech at twice the cost since I don't qualify for need-based aid. Caltech really only holds the "prestige factor" over CMU, and I'm not sure if that outweighs the extra cost. I'm going to decide based on my upcoming visits, and I would suggest doing the same with your colleges if you haven't already... Quite a tough decision.</p>
<p>IMO in most schools freshmen and soph Engineering classes are huge, they tend to become smaller (<20) for the last two years.
Berkeley has one of THE BEST engineering programs in the nation. The facilities are top notch, and definitely better than Princeton's Enginnering facilities.</p>
<p>And P'ton doesn't have an undergrad Business major, so ....
if you're dead set on Engineering/Business then choose Berkeley, but if you think you'll most probably change your major/field then choose Princeton, because of its unmatched reputation & prestige in nearly all the other fields.</p>
<p>Good points cool dude, but if i may add, undergraduate business programs are fairly useless. An economics/finance major coming out of Harvard, Princeton or Yale will almost always get top billing over a Berkeley undergrad when it comes to getting positions in I-banks, etc. There are many companies (I believe the example im thinking of is disney) that recruit out of Harvard, Princeton, Stanford (none of which have undergraduate business programs) and thats it.<br>
Additionally, Berkeley is currently a better engineering program but there are tons of kids here that picked Princeton over MIT, Caltech, Berk, Stanford, etc. The engineering program here is smaller and that has its benefits too. In terms of facilities, Princeton's would easily match up well with Berkeley (taking into account Princeton's smaller size of course) simply because Princeton has more money to spend. Princeton is currently trying to bring their engineering school on par with that of MIT, Stanford and the like so they are literally throwing money at it.<br>
While I agree that Berkeley is an amazing school, I just feel that Princeton would offer more for the undergraduate. And as for CMU, I really feel that this should be a Cal vs. Princeton debate.</p>
<p>Yea, its pretty much turned into pricneotn vs cal. Main thing i'm seeing right now is just the general life on campus. I know Cal has its own unique culture but does PRinceton also has that. I mean other than doing stuff in class and work, what do people do to have a good time. </p>
<p>I think education wise there isn't much difference after talking to people. Just maybe class sizes, like how big a difference does it make being in a smaller class size at princeton vs a bigger class size at cal.</p>
<p>Class sizes make a huge difference. The personal attention from a professor really cant be beat (plus it makes getting grad school and internship recs easier!) I can't speak for Cal but Princeton tends to have pretty small classes aside from the major intro ones. Theres a lot to do at Princeton for fun. The eating clubs have parties every thurs/sat night, theres a university sponsored residential college nightclub on fridays and tons of other activities that are always going on.
To be honest, I think Princeton (for me at least) should be an easy pick over Cal. Lots of students here have picked Princeton over engineering powerhouses such as Stanford and MIT and if engineering is your main focus, that alone shouldn't turn you to Cal. The money on the other hand, is an entirely different concern. Princeton is going to be more expensive as you said and you should see if the difference between the two is worth it. Personally, if Princeton is twice the price of Berkeley, I'd say you're better off going to Princeton and if money is still a concern, try to graduate in 3 years (it isnt that hard, 3 year grads are rare only because most people want to stay the whole 4 years). Now if Berkeley was completely free, I'd find it harder to recommend Princeton but if its double the price, Id say the balance tends to tip in favor of Princeton. Plus, you can always go to the fantasmastical Berkeley grad schools later.<br>
AND WHY ARENT YOU HERE FOR PREFROSH WEEKEND?!?!</p>
<p>Thanks for the help. Yea unfortunately i got school stuff to do over april Hosting, otherwise i'dve loved to come. I'm coming over our spring break though, on monday the 18th. I think i'm definitely leaning toward princeton. Hey pimpdaddy, do you have AIM? perhaps i could talk to you sometime.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>I think the environments at Cal and Princeton are different enough that a mere visit would be able to tip the scale precipitously in one direction. So yes, visit!</p>