Hello!
I have recently been admitted to the following colleges so far in electrical engineering:
University of Illinois Urbana Champaign
Purdue
University of Michigan Ann Arbor
UCSB
SLO
UCLA
My top 2 are Michigan and UCLA. I live in Los Angeles area and UCLA is currently $15k cheaper but please disregard the price tag when giving me recommendations.
I am currently leaning towards Michigan since I am very interested in participating in their solar car team.
Which would you guys recommend? Which one has better teaching? (I learn so much better with good quality teachers) Which one has more resources, labs, etc. Also, if there are any other colleges on my list such as SLO that I should consider, please let me know!
Thanks!
Michigan’s main advantage is that it is easier to declare or change major, assuming initial admission to the engineering division. But the extra cost is not trivial, especially if it is debt. Also, it is stingy with transfer credit if you took college courses while in high school that you want to transfer.
Michigan also has no minimum GPA for any engineering program, apart from the 2.0 required to remain in good academic standing once you are admitted to engineering.
@ucbalumnus @TooOld4School Thanks for the replies! Yea, right now I am just trying to see which is the best fit for me. I know that cost will be an issue and am trying to have Michigan increase my grant (I am visiting for campus day and will talk with financial aid).
Which school has the better reputation in terms of companies hiring students from those schools?
They are both excellent. UCLA recruiting will be focused more toward the west coast, Michigan to the central and east. Many consulting and wall street firms , as well as the usual engineering and manufacturing companies recruit at Michigan engineering. One consideration may be that Michigan classes tend to be more available than those in the UC system, I never had any issue getting the classes I wanted in the semester I wanted, but sometimes the schedule is not exactly perfect.
A lot of students switch engineering disciplines, when compared to what they originally intended. At Michigan you don’t declare your major until the 2nd semester of your sophomore year, or sometimes first semester of junior year. That is why I think it is important to be able to switch. For example, you might be involved in a student project or research that might change your mind about which discipline to pursue.
I would also carefully look at how well each college will support you. Each one is going to be different. At Michigan there is a combination of peer, TA, and professorial tutoring/office hours, plus each department has a lounge manned during business hours by grad students who are there to help the undergrads with their problem sets. Every class I took had multiple review sessions before each exam. Professors would often stay after class for 20-30 min to give us some direction on difficult problems. Another interested feature at Michigan is the honor code, which was implemented in the early 1900’s by engineering students. Exams are unproctored, and the professor leaves the class and waits outside or in their (nearby) office. The idea is that engineers will be working on their own and the school trusts them to be honest and accurate.
Michigan excels at research, with just about every sort of lab and machines available to students. The student projects are pretty incredible too, some (e.g. solar car) with budgets in the millions of dollars. Michigan has the 2nd highest research budget in the country. There are also corporate sponsored research projects where engineers can apply their knowledge toward real products and problems.
On the flip side, being near your family shouldn’t be discounted either. You will miss many family events if you are 2000 miles away. UCLA is an awesome school too, and the $60K+ difference is close to a year’s take-home pay for a starting EE.
@TooOld4School Wow! Thanks so much for this detailed response! Very helpful. Michigan’s solar car team is something I would be really interested in participating in since I would like to work in the automotive industry of fuel/energy efficient vehicles. So would you say that Michigan has a more hands-on approach to teaching engineering compared to UCLA?
Regarding “hands on”, check the curriculum for how many courses have design projects (these will usually be more work, though). All engineering curricula will have both engineering science and engineering design, but in varying amounts, and introduced at various class levels.
Of course, there can also be extracurriculars like solar car, concrete canoe, etc. at colleges.
If you are interested in the auto industry, I’d lean toward Michigan. The latest initiative is driver-less vehicles, and Michigan has a test site close to campus where much of the development takes place. Ford, in particular, has a lot of cross campus initiatives. You might lean toward material sciences (closely related to chemical engineering) where new material (including battery) development is taking place. I don’t know much about UCLA’s focus in those areas but I would carefully look at what is happening there, certainly the west coast focus is more on electric vehicles.
I say this as a computer professional. With Electrical Engineering, you could easily go to any regional state university and find a comparable job out of college. After 2 years of work experience, you would be making the same relative money as the MIT graduate, because the entire industry is driven by experience. Quite literally, it DOES come down to cost, because it’s really the only objective measurement left. It’s like comparing a Toyota Camry for selling for 25k to a Honda Accord selling for 50k. They’re different cars with unique features, but equally comparable. Objectively, it would make no sense to buy the Honda. Unless your parents are willing to pay the tuition difference, you’re best choice is UCLA.
“I live in Los Angeles area and UCLA is currently $15k cheaper but please disregard the price tag when giving me recommendations.”
“Unless your parents are willing to pay the tuition difference,…”
Michigan
@coolguy40 @rjkofnovi Thanks for your response. I actually just got a scholarship from Michigan which makes UCLA and Michigan the same price. Would that change which school you would recommend? I am very much leaning towards Michigan at the moment.
Go to Michigan followlifesflow. Michigan is amazing in Engineering and will not cost you any more than attending UCLA. This is a great opportunity for you to get out of Dodge and explore another part of the country.
Hail! There truly is a Michigan difference.
Just be aware that Michigan engineering is on a separate campus (bus ride away).
But so are UCLA football games.
^^^5-10 minutes bus vs 50-100 minutes car.
@followlifesflow That’s awesome! In fact, that actually could sway it. Academically, both schools are a toss-up. If the tuition costs the same, then the other factor would be the cost of living, which pretty much sucks in CA, unless you’re planning to live at home and commute to school. That would be a huge cost saver. In Michigan, you would need to work and go to school to pay for that stuff…in sub-zero temperatures! 
20 degrees in Michigan is much different than 20 degrees in the desert. The moisture and wind chill factor makes it feel much colder than it is. You’ll probably get laughed at by all the northerners up there for the first winter, but you’ll get used to the cold, or die of hypothermia…one of the two.