<p>I am an incoming senior who is looking into Engineering as a major. Yes I know different schools have different strengths in different fields of engineering, but for now I am trying to get a holistic view. I am really interested in Princeton, because it is so well-rounded. But I also want MIT and CalTech as well. I am not 100% sure on engineering, so Princeton appealed to me at first. But all these Engineering school rankings seem to make Princeton Engineering seem so inferior. So is going into engineering at Princeton really worth it? Or I just focus on MIT and CalTech even if I may change my mind later on my major</p>
<p>Princeton engineering and Cornell engineering are the only two ivy league schools definitely worth it for engineering. Princeton has a great engineering major. That said, it can compete with MIT and Caltech but MIT/Caltech definitely has a bigger name in the engineering fields. (I don’t know what you mean when you say engineering schools rankings seem to make princeton engineering inferior because it doesn’t)</p>
<p>Well every time I look at the undergrad engineering rankings, I can never find princeton in the top 10. It is always Carnegie Mellon, Berkeley, MIT, Caltech, Stanford, Georgia tech, etc. I never see any Ivys in there</p>
<p>You don’t need to go to a top 10 program to be successful in engineering.</p>
<p>You might be careful with the Cali schools in the future. Their public system is coming under a lot of financial stress. BTW, do you play tennis?</p>
<p>Of course, but as any prospective engineering major, I am always looking into schools with a great environment for me to thrive at. You can argue that anyone can be successful almost everywhere, but then what is the point of organizations such as College Confidential?</p>
<p>So you’re saying that you can only thrive in a top 10 engineering program?</p>
<p>That sounds… vain.</p>
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<p>You don’t have to be in a top 10 engineering program to thrive. That is ridiculous. You are as successful as you make yourself. Work hard and you will acheive just as much as any of the “top 10 programs”.</p>
<p>You guys are way to easy to get off topic. I never said I would not be successful at a non-top 10 school. My point is that the quality and the effectiveness of Princeton’s Engineering Program often alludes me because of its absence from names one would usually associate with strong Engineering schools.
If you guys want to argue that Princeton Engineering is great, that is FINE. I am only here to learn, not to argue about off topic things. If you guys want to have a productive discussion, why don’t you actually answer the original question of “whether Princeton Engineering is worth it” instead of attacking me. Tell me about Princeton engineering.</p>
<p>I think Princeton’s tradition in math (i.e. John Nash) make its math-intensive engineering programs (such as EE) especially strong. In my research area (communications theory), Princeton has some well-known faculty.</p>
<p>Princeton’s and Cornell’s engineering programs are really good. Often Princeton’s EE program does make it into the top 10 grad programs. I think it did last year but no this year. Anyway, I really think it is absurd not to apply to someplace like Princeton because their engineering program is not top 10. Apply if you think you would be a good fit there.<br>
It is obviously one of the best overall schools in the nation, and you may very well find the rest of the place has loads to offer if you want to be Ivy league and still be an engineer.</p>
<p>If you want to go onto grad school, Princeton engineering will be as good as any other program. The top 5 to 10 grad engineering programs don’t just take from other 5 to 10 undergrad programs, they take from all over and often don’t want to have too many students from any one undergrad program. In other words, they want some diversity in the undergrad institutions from which they take thier students. As lon the the undergrad school is generally “good”…which priceton obviously is…you’ll be considered.</p>
<p>It is definitely worth it. Princeton is top 10 in many fields in engineering and it is definitely top 15. They have very strong name recognition if you decide to not become an engineering but rather become an I-Banker or whatever. They are arguably don’t have the engineering name recognition of MIT, Caltech, or UC Berkeley, but they really own in theoretical fields of engineering and this name recognition is mostly a consequence of size.</p>
<p>The entire rank-obsession of college confidential kids is really irritating, but I don’t see how you can “benefit” by only focusing on two schools. Applying more broadly will no doubt increase your chances of geting in.</p>
<p>No I am not only looking into two schools. I was just using MIT and CalTech as examples. Of course I am applying to safeties and other Ivys. </p>
<p>But thanks for the info. Princeton seems to be a very well-rounded place, and I guess that is what I love about it the most. I heard their pure-science majors are very top notch. Perhaps, if I get in, I’ll major in a pure-science and then go into Grad Engineering after…</p>
<p>^You should consider Stanford. It combines the engineering strength of MIT, the Californication of Caltech, and the well-roundedness of Princeton. And although you MAY get an inferior engineering experience at Princeton than at say MIT or Caltech (due to most likely the fact that Princeton is much more well-rounded) I doubt it will matter much. </p>
<p>Anyways, it would make sense to save most of these questions until later. You probably won’t get into every school you apply to, and hopefully by the time you are a 2nd semester senior and have spent a lot of time researching and stuff on CC or whatever, you will have a better idea about what you want.</p>
<p>how is Columbia university in the world of engineering for mech? I was thinking for doing mech then aero or mech at stanford/princeton for grad.</p>
<p>I would say that Columbia’s engineering in general is bellow Cornell and Princeton for sure. Definitely not as good as Berkeley, MIt and caltech for undergrad.</p>
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<p>How are you able to judge Columbia’s engineering program when you can’t yourself judge Princeton’s engineering program?</p>
<p>Because I have visited Columbia’s engineering and it was not that impressive compared to my visit to Berkeley. Other people from this thread has already stated that Princeton and Cornell’s engineering is the strongest in the Ivy League</p>
<p>oh i know that the columbia mech eng does not surpass those schools but i like it b/c of the great core that leads to well roundedness and the ability to change my mind and go law or business and new york is 5 stars.</p>
<p>true true. That is what I am looking for too. Flexibility.</p>