<p>Yeah, I’ve heard that about Berkeley too.</p>
<p>collegealum34,</p>
<p>My son just got into UMich, GA Tech, and U Illinois early action. He was rejected by MIT. He now wants to go to MIT as a grad student. Besides your excellent response in regards to research etc as an undergrad, do you think it matters which of three schools he goes to? Will one look better on his application or is it truly just a matter of how well you do in either school? </p>
<p>UMich is more expensive, but thats not a deal breaker. And I heard that GA tech is not in the best area and that going to school in a big city can be overwhelming. The only downside he sees to U of I is that there is not much going on in the town. We’ve visited Mich and U of I.
Thanks!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>It really isn’t a matter of how well you do at all. There is only one criteria that top schools look at in terms of admitting graduate students, and that is the students potential to do important research. Anything in the application that does not directly speak to research potential (and yes, that includes grades) is not directly relevant. What you need to get into grad school, apart from a publication record (really beneficial, but not possible for all students), is a letter of recommendation from a (hopefully famous) professor enthusing about your capability for research. </p>
<p>Obtaining that letter should be the goal of a grad-school bound engineer or scientist, and that determines what you do when you get to your undergraduate school. Doing significant research as an undergrad should be the key factor, so pick the school where you have the greatest chance of doing that. If you cannot do that as an undergraduate, then do an internship at a research lab in the summers. Any letter from a professor that says something like “Johnny did very well in my class” is next to useless.</p>
<p>For more information look at <a href=“http://www.eecs.harvard.edu/~mdw/talks/gradschooltips.pdf[/url]”>http://www.eecs.harvard.edu/~mdw/talks/gradschooltips.pdf</a> or [HOWTO:</a> Apply for and get into grad school in science, engineering, mathematics and computer science: Tip, tricks, hints and mistakes](<a href=“Matt Might: Not found”>HOWTO: Apply for and get into grad school in science, engineering, mathematics and computer science: Tip, tricks, hints and mistakes) or the quite excellent (if a bit long) <a href=“http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~harchol/gradschooltalk.pdf[/url]”>http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~harchol/gradschooltalk.pdf</a></p>
<p>Good luck</p>
<p>@lisaleblond:</p>
<p>I don’t know much about Georgia Tech and the attractiveness of their graduates in industry or grad school. I know it’s hard and it’s known as a sink-or-swim school. I don’t think they are more attractive than U. of Mich or U. of Illinois grads and I don’t think their engineering grad schools are better than Mich of Illinois (actually, if I recall correctly, I think Georgia Tech’s are somewhat worse.) Illinois and Michigan are better in the pure sciences too. Therefore, I would be leery of Georgia Tech as I think the risk/benefit ratio is worse compared to Illinois and Michigan. </p>
<p>Is he likely to be an engineering or science graduate? Getting into grad school is very different in science and engineering. Also, you might make a different choice depending on whether you are interested in engineering or science. Michigan is superior in mathematics to the other two–not sure if he is interested in that.</p>
<p>U. of Michigan is a more fun place to go to school, more of a college town. And its general visibility/prestige is higher than the others, even though U. of Illinois may have better departments in specific fields (chemistry for instance, is ranked like 10 spots higher). I’m not sure how the classes would differ at Illinois vs. Michigan as these are not always proportional in quality to the overall quality of the faculty.</p>
<p>Mikalye and collegealum34,</p>
<p>Thanks for the excellent and helpful responses!!</p>
<p>He is interested in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and engineering physics.</p>
<p>Hm, I looked it up and apparently the rankings are pretty close for all 3 universities in the three majors you listed. </p>
<p>Someone interested in engineering physics should consider majoring in physics as an undergrad. You don’t have to major in engineering to apply to grad school in engineering; they are more interested in one’s training. For instance, someone who wantsapply to chemical engineering grad school to study the fluid dynamics subfield would be better served with a physics undergrad degree rather than chem E. Similarly, if you are interested in studying electromagnetism in EE grad school, you might be better off with a physics degree as well. The advantage is that the same class will be taught from a more theoretical standpoint than it would in the engineering department–that is, more equations will be derived rather than given to you. Even at MIT I saw this. In contrast, if you are interest in circuits, there is a real advantage to majoring in electrical engineering.</p>
<p>Since your son seems especially interested in physics disciplines, a second major might make sense (and I think it’s very doable at these universities.)</p>
<p>collegealum314,</p>
<p>Thank you for your thoughtful replies. I’ll show my son the information and start looking into the universities and research opportunities. BTW, are you a college professor?</p>
<p>You can’t go wrong with U of I’s engineering program. Trust me - I lived on campus for 10 years and went to high school right next to its CS building.</p>
<p>iceui2,</p>
<p>please tell me more.</p>