<p>“Michigan is not “signficantly better” than Penn or Duke in Engineering unless you think a gap of 15 or 20 spots constitute a major difference for a subject area at the undergraduate level where the material covered is quite rudimentary and non-specialized. Also, both these schools offer only half the engineering specialties that UMich or the major state flagships do so they are not as versatile and thus it is harder to draw a clear comparison.”</p>
<p>I agree that in most instances, a gap of 20 spots is insignificant. If we were talking about overall rankings, or Psychology or Economics rankings, 20 spots would be negligible. But when it comes to fields with limited programs, like Engineering or Law, 20 spots is very significant. </p>
<p>“Location is a major factor and Northwestern’s McCormick program along with Duke’s Pratt program provide a major geographical advantage for their students with regards to their proximity to engineering companies in RTP and Chicago. Princeton is suburban, Ann Arbor is a college town, and Cornell’s location is quite remote in comparison.”</p>
<p>Ann Arbor is located within 50 miles of major Engineering firms, including the auto makers and major Chemical Engineering firms such as Dow and BASF. But most major Engineering firms are not located in Durham, Ann Arbor or Evanston. They are scattered all over the US (many of them on the West Coast), and those firms must travel to recruit. The majority will travel to Michigan, few will travel to Duke or Penn.</p>
<p>“If Engineering is not a priority with regards to a career path for the OP, then all the private schools have a major advantage with regards to placing their students directly into Finance jobs over Michigan Engineering if that is the student’s ultimate end goal. Their lack of specialization centralizes campus recruiting in comparison to Michigan’s OCR which advantages certain programs like Ross.”</p>
<p>Not really. Even at schools like Cornell, Duke or Penn, IBanks focus primarily on specific majors. For instance, most IBanks recruit Wharton students at Penn. From CAS and SEAS, most IBanks focus on Huntsman and Jerome Fisher students. At Cornell, the vast majority of IBanks recruit AEM majors as well as Econ majors. At Duke, there is no such focus since there is no Business school, but the competition for IBanking jobs is truly overwhelming. You have hundreds of students competing for limited offers. </p>
<p>Not that it matters. If the OP should change his mind during the first year and decide to work in IBanking, he can switch to Ross. If he is indeed IBanking material, he should have little trouble getting in. Once at Ross, his odds of getting a job in Ibanking will be as good (if not better) as if he attended any of the universities mentioned on this thread. </p>