<p>If I were to choose between a UC (even Berkeley) and an Ivy League, Id go with the Ivy. </p>
<p>But I do think that UCSD has the better engineering programs, for sure. This is difficult program wise.
You made it to UPenn, its one of the top ten in the nation!! I think you should go there. You shouldnt even compare UCSD and Penn, really! Okay, here: every year at my school, the most attended schools are either San Diego or Berkeley. Only 2 or 3 people, the valedictorians usually, get to go to Penn. It is really different, the people who go to UCSD and the people who go to Penn.</p>
<p>Is NUMMI going to hire the Penn grad over UCSD grad for ME? Very very unlikely.
Is NUMMI going to be impressed because you went to Penn? No
Btw, a 3.5+ undergrad from UCSD will automatically place you into its grad school.</p>
<p>Brotchen, not true of those doing the hiring for elite jobs like venture capital on the W. Coast, where a ME grad from Penn with some Wharton course work would make someone very desirable. Trust me, they know it’s not Penn State!</p>
<p>And I stand by my UCSD poor social life statement. This was true in the dark ages when I looked at UC’s and is still in all the comments written by students in my children’s era. Penn is a big party school, it’s only rival for ‘party ivy’ being Dartmouth.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your responses. Mom I am planning to combine my engineering courses with Wharton courses. I have heard that it is hard to try to get a dual degree is it true?</p>
<p>It’s hard but it’s done. You may well decide you don’t need the joint degree, key classes at Wharton are probably all you need. I actually got a Wharton degree and was 2 classes short of a second major and no one cared, my course work was noted by employers and the MBA program.</p>
<p>This shouldn’t even have been a question. Go to UPenn. If you’re into engineering, then quantitative finance should be quite interesting to you.</p>
<p>@hmom5 – good to hear that Penn’s profile is on the rise. Maybe more in some circles than others. Certainly Wharton will jump off the page, but it has been my experience that most people on the West Coast do think Penn State when it comes to Penn.</p>
<p>If that’s not the case, all the better :)</p>
<p>And I second your assessment of UCSD social life. If you are not a surfer or otherwise enjoying the sun and beach outdoors, it can be hard to find things to do. Certainly, the right kind of student can make it work, but the school does not offer a typical college social atmosphere, and cannot be compared to Penn in that regard.</p>
<p>In a field like Engineering, people care more about program strength than actual school strength. This is why places like Harvey Mudd and RPI are so heavily recruited.</p>
<p>The girls, food, weather and dorms are way, way better at UCSD if I recall correctly.;)</p>
<p>If girls, weather and dorms are what you want out of your education, then UCSD by all means! I was kind of assuming the OP wanted a great lifetime, not 4 years of sunshine…</p>
<p>But hmom, Penn engineering will not provide a better job for the OP. UCSD has a BETTER engineering program, it is more well known in California(larger alumni base) and it is closer to Silicon Valley.</p>
<p>The OP made no mention of wanting to go into the Venture Capital field or combine his engineering education with some business coursework, in which case Penn might be just as desireable. You are just assuming that for no reason.</p>
<p>Also, weather is a very important factor when deciding between colleges. 4 years of sunshine or 4 years of rain/snow?</p>
<p>You can’t even impress most Californians by telling them you go to Penn because everyone thinks its Penn State.</p>
<p>If you want the typical $60K engineering job, you’re right, school wouldn’t matter much. But as the mother of an MIT engineering grad student, I’ve learned that most top engineering students don’t want those jobs. MIT had been sending a third of their undergrads to Wall Street alone, many more went to elite jobs in management consulting, venture caital, think tanks…Most UCSD don’t have access to those jobs.</p>
<p>And the OP did make mention about a joint Wharton degree…</p>
<p>I’d love to see you prove that it is BECAUSE of MIT hmom5, not because the fact that many, MANY more MIT students TRY to end up in Wallstreet, or because the average MIT student is smarter than the average UCSD student, and thus is more able to get a job on Wallstreet.</p>
<p>Please hmom5. Please. That, or go learn statistics.</p>
<p>In this economy, most Penn grads couldn’t get a job on Main St. let along Wall St, especially those who went there for Mechanical Engineering. It’s like majoring in Communications at an Arg. school in Cornell. I’m certain the employers won’t be impressed.</p>