<p>So I'm deciding basically between U Mich and UCLA, with the outlying possibility of JHU and Northwestern as well...</p>
<p>I want to go into engineering, probably mechanical or electrical, but I'm not entirely certain yet. </p>
<p>I am a California resident, so UCLA would cost much less. However, I recently was granted a $45,000 scholarship to attend U Mich, which has made my decision more difficult. Nonetheless, UCLA should still cost about $40,000 less than U Mich. </p>
<p>Actually, I do not think I made myself clear. I meant $40,000 after all four years. It would cost $10,000 more per year. Does that make any difference? Or did you understand the original context from the start?</p>
<p>Well Michigan definitely has a much stronger engineering program than the other three universities you listed, but $40,000 is still a lot of money no matter how you look at it. I would say if you have no problem affording the extra $40,000 go with Michigan, otherwise, it looks like UCLA is your best bet. Northwestern and JHU do not have great engineering programs, and definitely aren’t even worth considering at this point unless they give you a very large amount of aid.</p>
<p>Thank you. I hadn’t really planned on taking JHU or Northwestern, for the reasons you mentioned. I just included them on the off chance that someone might have something to say about them. </p>
<p>As of this point, those $40,000 do serve as a large reason to choose UCLA! How much stronger is Michigan’s engineering program in comparison? And do you know anything about student life at either school, and whether one may be more enjoyable in terms of my social life?</p>
Are you serious? Northwestern and JHU both have great engineering programs. I have no idea where you got this idea from. Especially if you look at specific engineering fields, JHU and Northwestern have some very strong programs. JHU is considered the top school in BME and is also very strong in Environmental Engineering. Northwestern has top programs in Industrial Engineering and Materials Science. Both schools have solid engineering programs overall. I think it’s incorrect to claim Northwestern and JHU are inferior to UCLA and Michigan in engineering, especially at the undergraduate level.</p>
<p>UCLA places well in all the E-intensive industry that the state of CA has. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me to leave CA for another college not named MIT, or some of the Ivies, or a few others, to take an engineering degree from an equally outstanding U and come back to the state to be employed within these industries. </p>
<p>(I’m hoping of course that the strong play in which Texas is engaging by waiving no or low corp tax doesn’t entice some of the state’s top E-intensive companies away. The corp boards should realize that CA is a better place for housing because of appreciation of property, which the housing in TX would never attain, so it must think about its employees. They should realize that there are a lot u’s in CA that produce as a group, the best set of engineers anywhere to be found in quantity and quality, and this makes for easy recruiting for their companies. And besides, would someone rather live in a dust cloud or near the beach?)</p>
<p>UM has a better ranked E-department, no question. But UCLA’s standards are easily on par with UM’s and this leads to the U placing very well.</p>
<p>“As of this point, those $40,000 do serve as a large reason to choose UCLA! How much stronger is Michigan’s engineering program in comparison? And do you know anything about student life at either school, and whether one may be more enjoyable in terms of my social life?”</p>
<p>Michigan is definitely the stronger school in engineering, but is it that much stronger that it will be worth the 10K more/year? Well, it all depends how you feel about both schools. No one can say which university environment is going to be better for you since none of us know you at all. It’s a shame you never got to Ann Arbor to visit. If you look at a listing of great college towns, A2 is always in the mix. If you want to be immersed in a college where the town revolves around the university and not the other way around, then Michigan is the place to go. There is always plenty to do and see in and near Ann Arbor, so you will not be bored.</p>
<p>“And besides, would someone rather live in a dust cloud or near the beach?”</p>
<p>I assume you are referring to UCLA being in the dust cloud (smog). I suppose one could live near the beach and attend UCLA, but it is not exactly on/near campus.</p>
<p>“I think it’s incorrect to claim Northwestern and JHU are inferior to UCLA and Michigan in engineering, especially at the undergraduate level.”</p>
<p>I wouldn’t say NU and JHU are inferior at all to UCLA in engineering. I will say that Michigan is a bit better overall than the other three for engineering. :-)</p>
<p>Michigan is strong in all of its engineering offerings. Even the weakest department is among the top 10-15 in the country. Most of the areas of concentration are in the top ten with some in the top five. Since the OP is not exactly sure of what he wants to study in engineering, Michigan offers the student a complete highly ranked experience.</p>
<p>Sam is right. NU is a great engineering program. Besides that, I have a relative attending there right now. </p>
<p>Sam, you cannot use the NRC rankings that way to prove your point. Actually, I really don’t understand the NRC rankings so forget my previous sentence. ;-)</p>
<p>Fizzydrink, if you don’t want to work in CA, then adjust accordingly.</p>
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<p>I was referring to Texas. My middle P, parenthetically enclosed, was a grand non sequitur of epic proportions, but that’s why I enclosed it. I guess you’re a TX defender now. Or you just don’t like California. :(</p>
<p>UCLA is a straight 5 miles from the shore, no not on it. But I was referring to working for an E-intensive company.</p>
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<p>TX real estate will never ascend to CA’s, a fact of life.</p>
