<p>which one to choose?
I intend to major in Electrical Engineering. My parents suggest Rice, but it seems that UIUC, Georgia Tech, UT and U Michi are all better in EE. Really worried about Rice's size, as it may cause a disadvantage on alums, career fair and research experience( there seems to be more opportunities in GA Tech).</p>
<p>Rice would be my last choice of those since it’s private. But those are all very well ranked, so I would just decide based on money, location, campus, etc.</p>
<p>Is purdue, stevenson, rpi, ucla at the same level for-- engineering??</p>
<p>For the most part,yes, except for stevenson.</p>
<p>OP - of the schools you listed, Rice is probably the weakest in electrical engineering. The four schools you listed are all top engineering schools and offer fantastic prospects in the field. Depending on what you want to do, that may or may not mean much - top schools are mostly important for those who want to go to graduate school, although it does influence recruiting opportunities and often starting salary at least a little.</p>
<p>Rice’s size can be an issue - smaller department means fewer course selections and research activities, although it usually does not have a huge impact on recruiting. As an example, my alma mater (PSU) was large enough to offer students the opportunity to specialize in their senior year, and I was surprised when I met a graduate of a smaller school who was unable to do so and was therefore underqualified for a large number of entry-level jobs.</p>
<p>I would note that Rice is still a good school, just not AS good, and depending on your individual preferences and interests in may in fact be the better school for YOU. Are you interested in the higher pressures that usually accompany “better” schools? Are you okay with being a “number” in a large department, or being a person in a small one? Do you need the stimulation of city life to be happy (because unhappy people can struggle academically), or do you prefer peaceful country life, or somewhere in between?</p>
<p>Which is better RPI or Stevens I of Tech at Hoboken NJ in engineering? Both are expensive…</p>
<p>“Better” is a subjective term but RPI is much more well known than Stevens.</p>
<p>I just graduated from UT. I strongly recommend the computer engineering program here. World-class computer architecture and embedded systems faculty.</p>
<p>For EE, no clue. For CompE, I’d look at UT and Michigan from that list. Michigan might be a bit stronger at the moment due to some recent changes, but probably something of a wash.</p>
<p>Note: I’m at Michigan…</p>
<p>Illinois has a stronger program in CompE than UT. Illinois’ intro CompE class is based off of the same book as UT’s CompE class, but in Austin they split up the course into two courses because the students couldn’t handle it.</p>
<p>Source: UIUC grad student who went to UT for undergrad.</p>
<p>I don’t know how it ranks with Michigan, but my guess is that it is slightly stronger.</p>
<p>Ranking of Ill, UT and Michigan for undergrad CompE is a tricky thing. From an undergraduate viewpoint I can’t imagine the overall quality is much better one place over another–there is only so much time to do things. </p>
<p>Michigan has some extremely advanced undergraduate courses in CompE, but they are so much work that not many folks can take more than one. (I’m thinking of 470 and 427 in particular.) So while on paper I suspect we have a better chip-design program at the undergraduate level, it requires a great deal of focus to manage to take the classes in question AND anyone who does so probably wants an MS degree anyways, so rushing into them as an undergraduate doesn’t help all that much.</p>
<p>Yeah, I guess I don’t know what I am talking about wrt the Michigan/Illinois comparison. But while it is picking on a little thing, I do think that it is rather telling that the same intro course at UIUC was split into two at UT.</p>
<p>I would advise Georgia Tech if you want to work as an engineer. Because it has far fewer undergraduates, Rice may give you more research opportunities and tighter recs for grad school.</p>
<p>I think the difference between non-Rice schools (including GT) would largely come down to personal preference - as someone else noted, they are all top-flight schools and would all give you a great education. If you are interested in research, I would avoid Rice even more - not because of the size, but simply because the other schools are research powerhouses with tremendous opportunities even for undergrad. While Rice is a good school, I just don’t expect it to have the chances the others will.</p>