UIUC. GaTech. RPI for EE and CE?

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>Hi. I recently got accepted from these three school (all EE) and couldn't decide where to go.</p>

<p>I just receive my fin-aid packet from RPI today, it's $35,500 grant + scholarship & $7,500 loans, which means I still have to pay about $17,000 + $7,500 for a year. I used the fin-aid estimator of UIUC with $0 gross income but oos, it turns out that the amount I have to pay for a year is $25,000 + $7,500 (loans). I don't know where's the best to go since albeit RPI gives me more grants and scholarships (but it actually is only $8000 less...), it's EE ranking is far behind UIUC's. I have no idea about GaTech.</p>

<p>Some suggestions?</p>

2

<p>For graduate studies, UIUC/Gatech are leagues ahead of RPI. For undergrad, they are all basically equivalent IMO. All 3 schools seem to have very good career placement, so just go where the money is.</p>

3

<p>I disagree with James Madison’s statement that GT and UIUC are “leagues ahead” of RPI for grad. They are certainly much larger programs but that doesn’t mean that the individual graduates they produce are better than RPI’s. </p>

<p>At the undergraduate level he is correct in that they are basically equal. RPI is a much different experience in that it is a smaller private school. I personally preferred the more intimate environment and that is why I chose it over places like GT, Michigan, VaTech, etc. </p>

<p>There is no wrong choice among the three. Visiting to see where you fit in best might be a good idea.</p>

4

<p>And I disagree with Rico2 on both accounts. There are different career options on the high end coming out of GT/UIUC than RPI.</p>

5

<p>^^^</p>

<p>I’ve been at a fortune 500 semiconductor company for years and have not seen that. What options are you referring to?</p>

6

<p>All three are high quality programs and will give you a great preparation for industry, although UIUC and GT seem to do a better job preparing people for grad school and have more highly regarded grad programs on their own - this may change in the future, as RPI’s star seems to be rising.</p>

<p>Still, the deciding factor has got to be a visit to the campuses - go, look around, talk to people. You might be surprised how easy your decision can become when you catually see the places you are considering.</p>

7

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<p>BB banking, VC, and MBB opportunities are not available at RPI.</p>

8

<p>RPI is ranked #42 for best engineering programs (graduate).
GT is ranked #4.</p>

<p>I mean, if your goal is to just get a masters and get a job, it might not make a big difference.</p>

9

<p>^^^</p>

<p>Not sure that BB banking and such are the heart of this debate. My point is that RPI engineers can compete with anyone.</p>

10

<p>“RPI is ranked #42 for best engineering programs (graduate).
GT is ranked #4.”</p>

<p>And of course when aggregate research dollars are a large part of the ranking, a school that is several times RPI’s size will rank higher. </p>

<p>GT also ranks higher than Caltech, but is it a better school…no.</p>

11

<p>Basically, don’t listen to clowns who go solely off rankings. Rankings only get you do far. RPI is a fine school and unless you are interested in taking your engineering degree into the financial world, will give you nearly the same opportunities as UIUC an GT. I do have to agree tht if you were looking at grad schools the difference would be greater, but you aren’t so it is all good.</p>

12

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<p>They matter when you’re discussing the opportunities available to engineering graduates. Whether or not they’re your goal, they are the goal for many students and RPI won’t get you there.</p>