<p>I am an international student , looking for undergraduation in engineering .(major undecided).I want to know if I should apply to university with higher national ranking or should I follow ranking for engineering .eg northwestern university is ranked 12th as national university according to USNR but 22nd for engineering ,Carnegie Mellon is ranked 8th as an engineering school but is as low as 23rd on the the national ranking .Which ranking should I watch out? </p>
<p>Go with the school that is best known and has the better reputation in your country, assuming you are heading back there after graduation. In either case, both of these schools are excellent for engineering.</p>
<p>I have an ACT score of 33 . and have been a good student throughout . I have leardership and exceptional voluntary work I have done an internship with an NGO for 4 weeks .Eventually I intend to do my masters , work for one or two years before heading back .
Which engineering schools should I have on my list . </p>
<p>Yes, the rankings have various dimensions to it, as you you can see their classification. Even Forbes has its own ranking as well.
The most important thing is “FIT & BALANCE”. Which of them fits your goal. (Larger, Smaller, private, Public, Undergraduate Engineering only, Graduate engineering option, most financial award, student body composition, diversity, location, etc).
These are factors that will help you mold your ideal school choices and then go fom there if you get accepted and offer financial awards.
Best of luck to you.</p>
<p>Thanks that will help .</p>
<p>Just so you know, “as low as 23” is not a correct way to see these rankings - universities and LACs ranked in the top 50 are all excellent, and any school ranked in the top 25 or 30 is considered elite. 23 is considered very very high. In addition, you need to look at them in big groups of 25-30, and think that within that group the education is equivalent in quality, the differences are more on the “vibe”, type of students, environment, weather, etc.
To answer your question: there’s no difference in prestige or quality between Carnegie Mellon and Northwestern, but “vibe” is very very different! </p>