<p>As a Berkeley chemical engineer, no.</p>
<p>If you’re serious about pursuing chemical engineering and want to work as a chemical engineer, you will not get a premium for graduating from a top program, so it would be in your interest to save the money.</p>
<p>Now, if you want to work in finance/Wall Street/management consulting, a lot of Ivy league engineers do, then you may see the better salary in these fields to warrant the additional cost…but, there are no guarantees.</p>
<p>Ok patlees, I like your honesty. Obviously you think USC can hold its own with some of the Ivy League’s engineering programs, am I correct? If that’s so, that gives USC a lot of credibility in my eyes.</p>
<p>I am under the impression that LA and California are pretty popular for chemical engineering. Does anyone have an opinion on that?</p>
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<p>UCBEChemGrad, I have come to the same conclusion by speaking with lots of people. As far as I understand, chemical engineering depends entirely on the research you do and experience you have, not who you know, just like you said. And yes, I believe those in law, business, and accounting have a bigger benefit by going to an Ivy because those industries are more dependent on connections than engineering. That’s why I’m leaning towards USC - because I’m not sure a Bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering from Columbia actually means much more than one from USC.</p>
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LA is because it has oil refineries.</p>
<p>In NYC, you’ll have to cross over to NJ for chemical manufacturing, oil refining and pharmacueticals.</p>
<p>CA also has the Bay Area/Silicon Valley. Many chemical engineers are hired by high tech firms for biotechnology and silicon wafer spray deposition.</p>
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<p>This is correct. Engineers are in such great demand, you’ll get similar salaries from any of the schools I posted on that ranking list.</p>
<p>quazentex, correct me if i am wrong, but isn’t USC engineering ranked within top 10? Also, USC is a very well respected school overall. If we were comparing Columbia with another school that isn’t ranked top 50 overall or top 30 in engineering (appoximately), I would go to Columbia, even incurring 80k loans. In the end, you only get to experience college once and you want to set yourself to get a high quality education as well as good job prospects. But, USC is still excellent and to be frank, I would give USC a serious consideration. (I would probably choose USC, if I were in your shoes). Hope this helps.</p>
<p>USC engineering is in Top 10 for graduate…general engineering.</p>
<p>USC’s rankings are kind of funny IMO. It does very well in the general engineering ranking, but when you look at rankings for individual engineering disciplines, USC doesn’t fair as well.</p>
<p>Wow, UCBChemEGrad and patlees88, you have been such great help! I needed some real world advice from an engineer and an Ivy Leaguer. I think I bought into the Columbia name too quickly, and now things are starting to clear up for me. I knew USC was good all along (that’s why I applied after all), but I guess I thought Columbia’s engineering was lightyears ahead of USC’s. Columbia is definitely not worth being in huge debt and scrapping for money. I would prefer the financial leisure I would have at USC.</p>
<p>patlees, you mention the college experience. I’m pretty certain that USC would be a better experience for me too, given the spirit, community, and weather. From what I hear Columbia is you and your studies, which I would like to save for my graduate work. USC sounds a lot more fun.</p>
<p>Hey, that’s great to hear! Also, I have heard that Columbia is the least social ivy, and many would agree with me on this topic. When you look at the college, you should look at the ‘whole’ package. USC has good weather, very social student body, beautiful campus, amazing football team, top notch education, and reasonable tuition. As long as you push yourself to get the most out of your college experience, I am sure you will find your time at college very satisfying. Plus, you can always go to ivies for grad school, if that’s what you want. GL.</p>
<p>Like you said, since you’re strongly interested in ChemE, and like USC (the school has an amazing uncanny to instill an undeniable Trojan spirit in its students), I would go to USC.</p>
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Yep, you hit it right on the head. USC has much more to do than just learn, and coming out of high school where I am involved in sports, band, and other extracurriculars, I want to go to the school that gives me the whole package socially and educationally. I think I will make the jump to a more individual educational setting when I go to graduate school, when I will have matured a little more. It sounds like blasphemy to turn down an Ivy, but it just makes more sense for me to go to USC.</p>
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It’s funny you mention that because I already have a USC sweatshirt. I already feel the Trojan spirit much more than the Columbia Lion spirit, if you can even call it that.</p>
<p>I want to thank UCBChemEGrad, patlees88, and the entire CC community for all of the help and advice that has been given to me. Everybody responded like they were speaking to a family member; everyone that replied seemed to be wholly understanding of my interests and emotions. I signed up for a CC account just to post this thread, but I never expected such warm, honest advice from people I don’t even know. It’s great to have people like the CC community helping out kids like me. I will be sure to return the favor as a CC member in the future. Thanks everybody!</p>