<p>I am going to do my phd from this fall, but have to choose one from aerospace@UMich and <a href="mailto:mechanical@Columbia">mechanical@Columbia</a>. my research interest is in control.</p>
<p>Columiba is ranked much higher than UMich in general, but UMich has a much better engineering school.</p>
<p>I can not decide yet whether or not go for academia after graduation, even though my preference is.</p>
<p>your comments will be highly appreciated!</p>
<p>thank you!</p>
<p>how would you choose, pls?</p>
<p>General rankings don't matter for grad school. Michigan has the better program by far.</p>
<p>Overall engineering ranking USNWR:
Michigan #6
Columbia #23</p>
<p>Mechanical Engineering USNWR
Michigan #4 (Peer score 4.6)
Columbia #30 (Peer score 3.4)</p>
<p>Mechanical Engineering NRC
Michigan #5
Columbia #29</p>
<p>Columbia is very solid, but Michigan really is one the very best engineering schools in the country... really a peer of MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, Illinois, and Caltech. At the GRADUATE level, overall reputation of a school is NOT as important as program reputation.</p>
<p>However, personal quality of life issues and preferences should not necessarily be ignored... I'm a die-hard city person, and if given the choice, I might personally choose Columbia because I absolutely love NYC.</p>
<p>i will probably go to UMich. thanks for your advice!</p>