<p>One would think employers would place a higher regard on Cornell eng. grads then. Actually their average pay of just under $50,000 is right in line with Michigan and Wisconsin and a little less than at Illinois.</p>
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gohox writes: I wonder, does UT really have a better engineering reputation than Rice down in Texas? Im from the midwest so I wouldn't really know. To put it this way, if cost was not a factor, would a prospective engineering student select UT over the more prestigious Rice?
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<p>For engineering, more than almost any other major, there are few if any differences in what you'll learn at schools in the same tier. A school in a better tier will attract stronger students which allows the classes to teach more and proceed faster, but within the broad tier you learn the same material. Why? Engineering programs, unlike disciplines such as poli-sci or econ, are acredited by a national board called ABET. Every school that is acredited teaches the same subjects. So an engineering education at school A is more similar to school B than for any other major. You'll see people split hairs about this school is better than that, and as regards to engineering they're just wasting their breath.</p>
<p>So how to decide? Pick a school based on cost, class size, location, type of students it attracts, etc., factors that matter to you in picking a college that fits. If you don't mind larger classes then UT will teach you exactly what Rice will. If you prefer a smaller environment (and can afford it) and its a fit for you, pick Rice.</p>
<p>UT Honors Engineering is really good (you should be able to get in here if you are Rice Material).</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone who has responded in this thread. It's all been very helpful and informative.</p>
<p>GShine,</p>
<p>Your accusation do not materialize. If I intend to say that engineering schools other than the first 5 schools I mentioned suck, I would have explicitly said it, but I didn't, did I? Look, I know I am splitting hair here, but everyone else doing the same thing here in this forum right?</p>
<p>Now when you said the top 10 engineering schools are the same, why don't you say similarly for the top 15, 20, 25, etc. When you claim that UIUC is as good as Cornell, others will claim UT Austin is as good as UIUC, Syracuse is as good as UT Austin and so on. Do you get my point ?</p>
<p>barrons, not only you need to count the top students who proudly respond to the salary survey, but you also have to consider the general trend of the bemployment rate. How do you think the employment rate of Cornell engrg grad compared to UIUC engrg grad ?</p>
<p>I'd bet they are similar. Same for UM and UW. Last I heard was that pretty much everyone who wanted a job found one--the market is very good. Do you really think the response rates are all that different--I don't.</p>
<p>gohox-
You are comparing one school (UT) that is ten times the size of the other (Rice). One gets public funding (UT) one does not. UT guarantees admission to any Texas resident in the top 10th of their HS graduating class, yet only 53% of the students at UT are in the top 10th, whereas 86% of Rice's undergrads were in the top 10th. One dorm alone at UT houses more students (2987) than the entire undergraduate population at Rice (2822). If you want to study Petroleum & geosystems engineering or aerospace engineering, go to UT, as Rice does not have them. However, despite this, Rice has a strong relationship with the Johnson Space Center. Many of the engineering undergrads at Rice picked it over UT.</p>
<p>UT Honors Engineering is very good. It is my third choice after Stanford and MIT.</p>
<p>"I'd bet they are similar. Same for UM and UW. Last I heard was that pretty much everyone who wanted a job found one--the market is very good"</p>
<p>Barrons, where did get the news, I actually heard that the engineering job was pretty poor last year. And no, I don't think UIUC employment rate could be the same as Cornell's, in the first place, most academically 'better' students would choose Cornell over UIUC for engineering.</p>
<p>I pretty much agree with mikemac here.</p>
<p>My opinion: after MIT, Cal Tech & Stanford, the graduates of the next 15- 20 or so programs are probably in pretty much the same position regarding both education and employment. I would guess that the higher up in the SAT pecking order you go, the fewer of the graduates actually become practicing engineers, as opposed to PhDs in various related fields.</p>
<p>For another thing: over my professional career some of the brightest people I've worked with have been graduates of the University of Illinois engineering school.</p>