I have offered admission to Rice and Cornell for mechanical engineering grad program, both are non-theses, that is to say I would like to find a job after graduation instead focusing on research. I know Cornell has a better reputation worldwide, but Ithaca is a relatively small town so I am not confident about my employment after graduation. (Also I am told that the northeast doest have as many mechanical engineering jobs as Texas).
On the other side, Rice in Houston my provide a lot more chances considering Houston has a focus on engineering industry. Rice has a great reputaion in the South but I dont know its reputaion among the east coast/north/south coast people. Cause people from the Midwest area (where I am at) tend to believe Cornell is way better.
In short, two questions. 1. How is the ME employment in Cornell 2. How is the reputation of Rice in Northeast/southcoast/other areas?
Thanks so much！！！
With all due respect, I think you are overthinking this. Your decision should really come down to where do you think you would want to spend four years. Both engineering programs will provide you with more than sufficient opportunities for employment after four years.
Secondly, the location of the school has little bearing on you post-graduation employment. Most graduates in engineering at schools like Rice and Cornell get jobs far far away from their colleges.
OP is considering grad school. Cornell is ranked #12 and Rice is ranked below 30 for engineering. It doesn’t matter where Cornell is located, employers come on campus to recruit. Cornell’s engineering school is very well respected across most regions.
I would pick Cornell over Rice for engineering, but both are great schools. If you are worried about people recognizing the school name, Cornell is going to have higher academic recognition that Rice nationwide, and globally.
I think undergraduate is probably a wash, but for Masters (I’m assuming MEng), Cornell is the better choice.
I wouldn’t say UG for engineering is a wash between Cornell and Rice. Cornell Engineering is know for its rigor. Rice Engineering is a much smaller school and its reputation is not comparable to Cornell’s. Rice has many great programs and it is ranked as a top 20 UG school.
Cornell is marginally more prestigious but I think you’ll probably get a “better” (more undergrad focused) education at Rice. If you want to work abroad go to Cornell. If you want to stay in the US, it’s a toss up but I’d lean towards Rice.
Are we still talking about engineering or college as a whole? Cornell’s CoE is very well known. It is one of the best engineering schools. Rice is not known for its engineering program.
As a Cornell engineering grad, I would say that Cornell’s engineering college is better known than Rice’s. How this translates into an overall undergraduate experience is something of an unknown. Rice has the residential colleges and is located in a nice part of Houston (albeit still in Texas). Cornell has the better weather (speaking as someone who grew up in the South and had his lifetime share of heat and humidity). Cornell has the better graduate education and this trickles down to undergraduates in many ways.