<p>Hi
I've been admitted to UCLA‘s engineering school and CMU's mellon college of science. I'm having real hard time deciding which one to choose.
UCLA is in a great city, nice weather, and I heard a lot of people say that its students are more outgoing than CMU's. However, I am concerned about its class size, accessibility to TA and professors and research opportunities, since UCLA is such a large school... and I think big state universities usually put instate students in front of internationals like me when it comes to research opportunities etc.
CMU is a relatively small school, which i prefer. However, I know CMU got great CS and engineering programs but I'm not sure about its science programs(I'm inclined to study physics if I am going to CMU). Does anyone know the strong suits of CMU's MCS?</p>
<p>I am planning to go to grad school and looking forward to an engineering career. So research opportunities, course difficulties(how difficult it is to keep high GPA) and job opportunities are my top concerns. </p>
<p>HELP ME CHOOSE`~~~~~~~~
Thanks a LOT.</p>
<p>I’m confused. Why are you asking about MCS? isn’t this an undergraduate decsiion? You want an engineering career but you are going to study Physics? </p>
<p>Sorry for any confusion. I just want to know how good is MCS and its job opportunities.</p>
<p>BrownParent: MCS is the Mellon College of Science within CMU that he was accepted to (where he would study physics for undergrad).</p>
<p>OP: These are both great choices. You don’t really need a graduate degree in engineering to work in engineering unless there’s something that you want to specialize in. Therefore, why do you want a physics undergrad prior to getting a engineering grad degree if you’re planning to work in industry afterward? Both of these schools are great academically with excellent reputations. You might want to think about the difference between being in physics at CMU vs. engineering at UCLA, private vs. large public, Pittsburgh vs. LA (with its accompanying weather), and “east coast” (sort of east coast, PA anyway) vs. west coast. Are you interested in research or internships – you might want to think about that as well. If you end up not wanting to go into grad school or not having high enough grades or the $$ for grad school – your job options might be more limited with an undergrad degree in physics vs. engineering. IMO, for the same price, I think that private > large public but I also think that being able to study and get a degree in my preferred major would trump all of the other variables.</p>