<p>Hi guys,</p>
<p>I was looking at the USNews Undergraduate Engineering Specialty Rankings for Schools offering a PhD, and when I reached the civil engineering part it read:</p>
<p>Undergraduate Engineering Specialties: Civil
1 University of California--Berkeley Berkeley, CA
2 University of Illinois--Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL
3 Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA
4 University of Texas--Austin Austin, TX
5 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA
5 Purdue University--West Lafayette West Lafayette, IN
7 Stanford University Stanford, CA
8 Cornell University Ithaca, NY
9 University of Michigan--Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI
10 Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA
11 Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA
12 Texas A&M University--College Station College Station, TX
13 University of Wisconsin--Madison Madison, WI
14 Northwestern University Evanston, IL
15 North Carolina State University--Raleigh Raleigh, NC
16 Pennsylvania State University--University Park University Park, PA
17 Princeton University Princeton, NJ
18 Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA
18 University of Florida Gainesville, FL
20 Clemson University Clemson, SC
20 Iowa State University Ames, IA</p>
<p>For some reason, UCLA isn't even on this list.</p>
<p>I know that rankings are rather subjective, but can someone tell me whether the reputation of UCLA civil engineering is good? Or is it only limited to SoCal? I've heard that it is a tough undergraduate program, just slightly less tough than Berkeley... but I need to be sure that people won't look down on a UCLA civil engineering degree.</p>
<p>The National Research Council ranks UCLA Civil Engineering as #14 among PhD granting institutions, which ranks it above many of the schools on the US News list. </p>
<p>[NRC</a> Rankings Overview: Civil and Environmental Engineering - Faculty - The Chronicle of Higher Education](<a href=“http://chronicle.com/article/NRC-Rankings-Overview-Civil/124715/]NRC”>http://chronicle.com/article/NRC-Rankings-Overview-Civil/124715/)</p>
<p>Thanks! But which ranking is most trustworthy, or most suitable for comparison regarding the undergraduate program?</p>
<p>Forget the rankings, decide which one you want to go to based upon your own wants and needs. What type of civil engineering are you interested in? UCSD doesn’t have “civil engineering”, but instead specializes in structural engineering, while UCLA’s department encompasses structural, environmental, geotechnical, and hydrological/ water treatment.</p>
<p>[Home</a> — UCLA Civil and Environmental Engineering](<a href=“http://www.cee.ucla.edu/]Home”>http://www.cee.ucla.edu/)</p>
<p>[UCSD</a> Jacobs School of Engineering](<a href=“http://www.jacobsschool.ucsd.edu/about/]UCSD”>About | Jacobs School of Engineering)</p>
<p>If you are most interested in structural engineering, then UCSD would be a good choice for you. If instead, you want a broader based civil engineering education, then UCLA would give you more flexibility.</p>
<p>Visit the schools, talk to the professors, and then decide based upon what you find out. The answer you are looking for can’t be found in a simple-minded numerical ranking, especially between two UC’s with similar student scores.</p>
<p>Well, i’m not so sure yet, but i’m mainly interested in structural and transportation. I’m an international student though, so it wouldn’t be very practical for me to visit any schools before making any decisions…</p>
<p>It’s just that based on my limited and probably biased understanding, when you compare UCLA with schools like Cal or Michigan, UCLA seems to have a less reputable civil engineering degree. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love the feeling of UCLA as a school, but I just wanted to know how a civil engineering degree from UCLA would compare to peer schools in civil engineering like say, Penn State or Wisconsin.</p>
<p>If you want to get a job in California, then you’re way better off with a UCLA degree than a Penn State or Wisconsin degree.</p>
<p>alicantekid, the problem is I don’t really know where in the US I want to work in. Unemployment rate high in California right now though?</p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry about the unemployment rate too much with an engineering degree from UCLA. </p>
<p>However it’s true that the rate is higher in California than in the rest of the United States (by 2%).</p>