Schools with similar academic rigor

<p>Now not all of us will get into MIT, unfortunately :(</p>

<p>So I thought it would be appropriate to start a thread highlighting other schools with comparable academic rigor, so that we can be well prepared for graduate studies at MIT ;)</p>

<p>I know the first school that comes to everyone'e mind is Caltech, but unfortunately I haven't applied to Caltech, Berkeley or Stanford. So how are the other schools (especially for EECS)? How are CMU, UMIch & UIUC?</p>

<p>Plz do weigh in, any info regarding these good Engineering schools (and others) is very much appreciated :)</p>

<p>I talked to a CMU undergrad, and the materials there are not easy. Something to note is that CMU is really into robotics (it offers a minor on that), and has many labs (the robotics institute, for instance).</p>

<p>UIUC has a great program I hear, but I can't really comment on it because I haven't talked to anyone who went (or is going) there.</p>

<p>UMich is not that hard, especially in the field of Computer Science. But really, that comment was from a visting CS professor who taught there for a year only, and is currently teaching a CS course at a local american university here in the UAE. </p>

<p>I heared this once: "Your choice of undergrad school will certainly affect your chances of getting into a great grad school," and those 3 are regarded very highly by Grad Schools (MIT included).</p>

<p>I would say: CMU > UMich > UIUC</p>

<p>Just my 2 cents.</p>

<p>One class at CMU:SCS offers bonus points for showering...</p>

<p>People know that when you graduate from CMU you are a hard worker, and the university is only getting better. It is truly a great school.</p>

<p>But one disadvantage of CMU is that it offers no financial aid to international admits at all. :-&lt;/p>