<p>Hello everyone, </p>
<p>I know a lot of people are going to say UCB simply because of the ranking, but I really just want to consider how everyone's overall experience at each of these schools were. Cost is not a big factor. I've visited UCB and UCLA and I'm planning to visit the others this week. I just want to know if job opportunities or competitiveness when applying to a top grad school like MIT will be affected by what school I go to. </p>
<p>Sooo what are your guys's thoughts on the pros and cons of each? </p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>I have no experience in any of these schools but UCB is the clear leader for both grad and job opportunities. Engineers all over the world recognize and GREATLY respect UCB and this will increase your chance of getting into top grad schools like MIT. UCLA, UCSD and UCSB are not even close in terms of strength of engineering research, job positions, reputation or grad school acceptance (considering only top grad schools, I’m sure any of these strong UC’s will get you some grad school acceptance).</p>
<p>UCSB has a 5 years BS ChemE/ MS Materials. Their interdepartmental Materials program is top notch and might have even passed Berkeley by now in ranking. </p>
<p>[UCSB</a> Materials Department](<a href=“http://www.materials.ucsb.edu/index.php]UCSB”>Materials - UC Santa Barbara |)</p>
<p>Looks like they are #1 now for public institutions. </p>
<p>Even the NRC (National Research Council) ranked them #1 across the board in 2010, higher than any US institution including MIT, Caltech, and Berkeley </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.materials.ucsb.edu/pdf/MATERIALS_program_ranks.pdf[/url]”>http://www.materials.ucsb.edu/pdf/MATERIALS_program_ranks.pdf</a></p>
<p>In short, UCSB is a great school for ChemE and should get a serious look when you get there if you are at all interested in Materials.</p>