Help decide - UC Berkeley vs Georgia Tech for Industrial Engineering? The cost difference is very small.
Any inputs on what the biggest differences might be? How do co-ops, internship programs, jobs post graduation differ? Differences in academic program and nature of coursework? Differences in academic environment and level of collaboration? General university differences beyond the specific major? What aspects should be taken into account when selecting between these?
Different school sizes.
Different locales, weather.
Both are going to place well - and that goes beyond just these two.
You might check for class sizes.
Outcomes are easy to find online - and I wouldnāt worry about co-ops or internships. Youāll have access to both - but remember, kids, not the colleges, find internships although these two will lay out many opportunities for you - but many today are finding on indeed and linkedin - because even those companies that come or post on handshake will be posting on linkedin/indeed and will have many more applicants from - everywhere.
Ga Tech Career site is a bit wonky - just ask them for outcomes. Their data is also old - I think the new is firewalled. One phone call and theyāll send you a report Iām sure.
Here is UCB - you may have to reset the filters.
Note - UCB is in a very high COL area and that might inflate salaries - it certainly will on local jobs.
Good luck.
Bear Destinations - Career Center (berkeley.edu)
Georgia Tech Career Survey Report: AY 2019-2020 | Office of Academic Effectiveness (gatech.edu)
Georgia Tech is the top school in the country for industrial engineering. Berkeley is number 2. Very different campus cultures, sizes, parts of the country. Have you visited either? Georgia Tech will make it easy to switch majors if you want to. Not sure about Berkeley. Georgia Tech is collaborative. I have heard Berkeley is not but no actual knowledge.
Have you visited?
I canāt imagine the career outcomes are much different.
GT is collaborative. My son seems to be working on group projects every semester. Seniors do a group consulting capstone project.
You can co-op or not. Heās had an internship and a co-op. He came in with enough credits to graduate a year early. Itās made it a little easier to schedule classes and work around jobs.
Iām very impressed with the ISyE program. Youāll take a lot of math and CS classes. Look at the catalog. Itās anecdotal but he has friends in IE at other schools and heās mentioned that the depth and pace at GT is greater. Same with interviews.
A lot of ISyE students take CC classes for chem and physics if they donāt have AP credits. Donāt want to sit in the same sections as Aero and MEās.
The dorms are mediocre and the food isnāt great. A fair number of kids move off campus after freshman year. That said, thereās plenty of food off campus along with grocery stores. Lots to see and do in Atlanta.
UC Berkeley doesnāt have co-op. Students do summer internships. You have to temporarily withdraw from the university if you want to take a semester to extend an internship into a longer co-op term.
I would suggest looking closely at the curriculum and research areas to see which one fits interests best. Industrial engineering is a broad subject and schools specialize in different things. (My son was also interested in IE and we looked at a lot of programs)
Go to whichever you prefer. Since price is about the same Iād focus on fit.
Your post-graduation outcome will have MUCH more to do with what you accomplish during college as opposed to which one of these outstanding schools you attend.
Congrats on the acceptances.
I think you need to find someone who is physically in the program and ask all these questions. Both these schools are machines, but one or the other may be more so than the other. Let me illustrate with an example. Two years ago, I was told that UC Berkeley had 300 interns at Amazon AWS out of the 1500 they had. I know this is not industrial engineering. It is just an example. But this is an absolutely monster number. I am sure GT is great. But cannot place 10% of its (Soph+Junior) class into Amazon. Just saying. But you wonāt get this kind of color on CC. You need to speak with someone on the ground to really understand the texture of a place. Shake the grapevine loose, lineup 10 people each in your network at each of these schools, go down there and sit down and talk over lunch and dinner with all these people. Talk to faculty if you can. etcā¦
Funny that you say that, as we actually know a fairly recent Georgia Tech grad, industrial engineering major, working at Amazonš
I am just saying the OP should talk to people at these schools :-).
Absolutely. They are very different environments. I think most people would have a strong preference for one over the other.
For graduate not undergrad but the reality is, it really doesnāt matter. https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-doctorate-industrial-manufacturing
These are all great programs.
I would do a deep dive into each program. The reality is they will be similar but might have some differences.
My son went to Michigan and they increased their CS exposure since the employers were requesting it for IOE.
See what clubs/ activities each campus has. My son did projects with kids from GT, Berkeley, Stanford, USC and more and didnāt really see big differences actually and working with kids and one from GT.
You will also hear one school is a grind VS another.
Since you might want to transfer into another speciality is there one school that itās easier to do so in?
How are the alumni? At Michigan itās a real thing and they were more then willing to help my son when needed.
It actually might come down to who has the best pizza 
.
Try to Facebook students. My son talked to faculty but earlier in the process and that did help learn different things about the school.
Good luck m
My Masters is in Industrial Engineering. Iām too lazy to look, but I remember GT having all kinds of IE specializations. Check those out, see if Berkeley has specializations that interest you, and compare them. Otherwise, in this case, the school name on your diploma wonāt matter.
Iāve never been on the GT campus. Iāve been on the Berkeley campus many times. Be aware that Berkeley is a place that people seem either to love or hate, so make sure you visit before deciding to attend there.
Thanks! Yes, definitely trying to find people in the program, just thought to try my luck on CC as well.
Thanks, yes - have āheardā about the lack of collaborative atmosphere at Berkeley, but mostly from people who arenāt actually in Berkeley! Trying to figure out how true that is, and whether itās pervasive across programs, or specific to some majors/colleges, if at all.
Thanks! Would you mind elaborating on CC classes for chem/physics and why ISyE students do not want to sit with Aero/ME?
Why not reach out to the school and ask to speak to a student ambassador or even two.
IEās donāt typically use chemistry or physics much in their other classes or careers. Why kill yourself taking intro chem or physics at GT? Especially with ChemEās or MEās who use it and probably enjoy the subjects.
Youāll take the same math sequence as other engineers except maybe an upper differential class. Youāll also take stats/probability and some math classes for CS like Discrete. Look at the catalogs online.
It really is a top notch program. I would think a visit to both schools would help you decide pretty quickly.
You are lucky to have two top choices. Georgia Tech has been #1 in Industrial Engineering in the US for about 3 decades now. Itās known as the āGolden Gooseā major at GT. You can basically write your own ticket. And yes, I agree that the atmosphere at GT is very collaborative indeed. Iāve no personal experience at Berkeley but have heard from a high school alum who went there that the atmosphere was not a positive one. Iāve also heard from friends who live in SF that the same negative physical environment that has affected SF has carried over to Berkeley, even to the degree that there are homeless people on campus. In contrast, GT police would never let that happen. Atlanta is a major city with its troubles but Midtown, where GT is located, is full of upscale hotels, shopping and restaurants. Housing is also a huge problem at Berkeley ā you can read about that in this forum and in other places. Top schools both but very different vibes, it seems.
I know a lot of people who graduated from Berkeley, and they donāt seem cutthroat. I find it difficult to believe Berkeley students are any more or less collaborative than students at other schools.
It seems like my son has group projects every semester at GT. I wouldnāt call it cutthroat but itās not like theyāre holding hands and singing Kumbaya. For the most part itās worked out with a few bumps. Good preparation for the work place.