<p>I've been browsing these forums trying to see what kinds of schools my son would be interested in. He has the credentials to have a decent shot at getting into any of the top colleges, but I want to make sure he keeps all of his options open. What are some of the top undergraduate focused universities which specialize in electrical engineering/computer science?</p>
<p>MIT and Caltech are top universities known for engineering.</p>
<p>My son just went through this process last year -- his favorites were Stanford, Rice, Princeton, Johns Hopkins, Cornell, Wash U and Carnegie Mellon. Other good schools that fit the bill are Duke and Northwestern. My son ended up choosing Rice - great small department, personal interaction with faculty, lots of research opportunities, residential college system, collaborative atmosphere, and a laid-back student body.</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon has a really good computer science program while MIT and Caltech and at the top for engineering.</p>
<p>Georgia Tech</p>
<p>MEE-chigan, UT, but yeah, MIT is tops, Caltech is ... different, meaning the people that go there are difft.</p>
<p>Collegedad52, what are your son's grades/standardized test scores like?</p>
<p>hmmm...if he feels like maybe attending a less than "elite" school, try Baylor University (known for their engineering department, top in TX)</p>
<p>collegedad, if your son is applying this year, I hope he has thought about his options enough to have his standardized testing planned. Some of the schools being discussed here require specific SAT II subject tests. In the case of Carnegie Mellon, one applies to different divisions of the university for computer science (SCS) or engineering (CIT). In theory, the two divisions have slightly different SAT II requirements. (In practice, they may be more flexible.)</p>
<p>You mention "keeping all his options open". Very wise. I know a lot of kids who found the competition keener than they expected, and ended up with less than wonderful options in April. Make sure he includes some schools a notch down from those his stats seem to qualify him for. Those are the schools that may offer him a merit scholarship, if that is important to you, or him.</p>
<p>Especially in the engineering department, keeping options open is the key. Everyone usually ahs amazing math SATIIs. In my opinion, if not the toughest, engineering is one of the toughest to get into the best programs. A guy I know got a 36 (twice) only missed a couple problems on the SAT, amazing gpa, all 5's on Aps, nice ec's, and still couldn't get into MIT. But he is looking very forward to Caltech :-)</p>
<p>What grade is your son in? My dream school since 7th grade changed junior year.</p>
<p>try VA Tech (probably one of the safest school sout there now) and has a rockin' engineering programme</p>
<p>
[quote]
My son just went through this process last year -- his favorites were Stanford, Rice, Princeton, Johns Hopkins, Cornell, Wash U and Carnegie Mellon. Other good schools that fit the bill are Duke and Northwestern.
[/quote]
this pretty much sums it up for elite private engineering universities... though i've never heard washu mentioned in tandem with the other schools listed.</p>
<p>MIT and Caltech obviously also, if he is really outstanding.</p>
<p>for publics... Purdue, University of Illinois (Urbana), VTech, GTech, Berkeley (!), Michigan (many of these have already been said)</p>
<p>and yes, remember about the SATII thing other have been talking about.</p>
<p>California Institute of Technology
Carnegie Mellon University
Cornell University
Georgia Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Northwestern University
Princeton University
Purdue University
Rice University
Stanford University
University of California-Berkeley
University of California-Los Angeles
University of California-San Diego
University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
University of Texas-Austin
University of Wisconsin-Madison</p>
<p>Georgia Tech is probably easier to get in than Cal Tech or MIT
Cornell I don't recommend, although its reputation and all that is decent, its major power is hotel management and other business administration, not engineering.</p>
<p>Depending on what he's looking for in a college VTech might make a good safety school (if his scores are really that high) and I'd strongly recommend it to any engineer. It's not easy to get in to but if he's got 1400s or something he's probably fine. You've got to look at what sort of college he wants though; big, small, city, rural, etc.</p>
<p>"Cornell I don't recommend, although its reputation and all that is decent, its major power is hotel management and other business administration, not engineering."</p>
<p>I_fate, where did you get this faulty information? Cornell is an Engineering powerhouse. It is considered as good as Carnegie Mellon, Georgia Tech, Michigan and UIUC in Engineering.</p>
<p>Cornell is a very good engineering school. Not sure where I_fate was getting that from.</p>
<p>RPI has some very cool programs</p>