<p>Hey all,</p>
<p>It is coming close to decision time, and I am trying to pick between The Ohio State University, Purdue University, and Carnegie Mellon University, and I am thinking about majoring in Electrical and Computer Engineering.</p>
<p>OSU and Purdue have given me scholarships, and I would be paying about $13,000/year at OSU and $25,000/year at Purdue.</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon has not given me a scholarship, and I am eligible for very little in terms of need-based financial aid. I would very likely be paying the full price for Carnegie, which is around $62,000/year. Also, I have received admission to Carnegie, but not to its Electrical and Computer Engineering program. I would have to apply as an internal transfer into that program at the end of freshman year. I have heard both from people on College Confidential and from the admissions department at CMU that everyone from the last couple years who tried the internal transfer got into the ECE major without any issues, but again this is not a 100% guarantee.</p>
<p>I know that the average starting salary for an ECE major out of Carnegie is around $20,000 higher than the same degree from either OSU or Purdue, but is that enough to justify the higher cost of Carnegie Mellon over four years? Advice from any students at the three schools or anyone else who could shed light on the quality of the ECE program at any of the three universities and career prospects at the end of four years would be really appreciated.</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>