Honestly,
You probably SHOULD transfer, given your utility function/ambition, and GaTech probably should be the destination. Vandy is a great school, but it just doesn’t rhyme with engineering.
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I don’t understand why somebody committed to engineering would take the trouble to transfer to Vanderbilt if there was an opportunity to study engineering at a much better, specialized engineering school like Georgia Tech. The facilities and industry connections to engineering just aren’t there at Vanderbilt. Kind of a head scratcher, this one.
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I think you’re crazy to leave UCSB. Employers don’t care nearly as much about where you go as what you do. You are already set up to do great things at UCSB. It would be a huge mistake to leave and a stupid waste of money. You’re prestige chasing. I can promise you, the people hiring could give a rip. They care about what you can do. That opportunity is already laid out for you in Santa Barbra and may not present itself at all in the grass is always greener schools.
I can also promise you that many people on this forum and even replying in this thread don’t know anything about engineering, might still be in undergrad, or even in high school. Caveat emptor!
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This.
Thank you all for advising, I just got accepted to Cornell, and I will go there
Your crazy to leave for Cornell. Your parents might like the bumper sticker, but there’s a solid chance your job prospects will be worse, especially if you want to work in CA.
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Reading through the chain, I feel like you’re going to go through life picking the wrong items for the wrong reason. UCSB is a fantastic school.
However, if you’re all about the name, choosing Cornell over Ga Tech was silly.
That said, the reason you are leaving UCSB, and even you know this, is silly because Ga Tech in all the rankings I’ve seen for EE is much higher than Cornell…but that’s a silly reason to call quite frankly but it’s your reason. You weren’t miserable, you didn’t hate it.
You just want a big name. One of the best schools in the country just wasn’t good enough.
I sure hope your parents can afford it because the biggest name doesn’t always = the wisest choice.
You’re clearly a smart individual. One day you will learn that you will make your success, your college won’t. In other words, you could go to Murray State or Western Michigan - and you’d still find your way to success.
Good luck to you…and your parents (they have to pay).
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Interestingly, looking at the Cornell faculty, let’s see where the profs got their PHDs. I’m just trying to show you that your argument is faulty - you can get to a great school such as Stanford or MIT from anywhere - but you’re also heading to a school (Cornell) that will have fantastic professors, including those below picked by dartboard that don’t have the educational pedigree that you deem worthy. Yes, they are experts in their fields, leaders no doubt to be teaching at Cornell. But because of how you think, will they be beneath you?
If you’re miserable at UCSB, it’s great to leave. If you’re not and based on the argument you made for leaving, it’s silly and hopefully seeing the Cornell faculty below will demonstrate that for you.
Jayadev Acharya at UCSD - I’d ditch them…UC school (not LA or UCB)…terrible 
David H. Albonesi at UMASS - and he did his Masters at my alma-mater Syracuse - so bonus points!! Well, it wasn’t journalism…we’re not known for engineering - but Cornell thinks we are. And he’s a full professor, not assistant.
I moved up some letters -
Ronald Kline - Ph D,University of Wisconsin-Madison,1983. Go big 10.
Francesco Monticone went to UT Austin
James Richard Shealy did his PHD at Cornell but somehow he got there from NC State and RPI as his other two degrees. Amazing how that happens - somehow getting into Cornell from where the lesser folks go.
We end with Professor Stephen Wicker from USC, back when USC wasn’t the behemoth it is today - from 1987.
All kidding aside - you will one day work for people who went to SUNYB or UC Merced or University of Nebraska…or maybe did not even go to college. And if you are in academia, you will come across colleagues from colleges that you’ve never heard of that will blow your mind how brilliant they are.
The individuals, not the school they attend, will determine success. Do some schools offer the latest research opportunities, etc. yes…but you saw Ivy and you were ready to go. It’s going to be an expensive life - because if you’re similar with say - shopping at Norstrom instead of Macys…same type argument…just be fair to your parents and their finances.
You could definitely get into a great PHD and find yourself at a great university, even from UCSB…or how bout Alabama, Arizona, New Mexico State…any of them…
Good luck to you though - you’re obviously brilliant but I hope you exchange the “flash” for substance…you will enjoy your studies and future life more.
PS - not sure why some letters came out big…but it’s too late for me to figure out how to reduce them…just copy paste issues.
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I think the misconception here is prestige equates to something more than a bachelors degree. It’s not worth paying quadruple the price, especially for a degree as ridiculously employable as EE. Graduate schools look at GRE scores and the last 2 years of undergraduate. They don’t care about research opportunities, because most schools don’t even offer undergraduate research. If you have top grades and high GRE scores, you have just as much chance of a prestigious graduate school.
And seriously…why the hang-up on prestige? If you can get into these schools, it doesn’t mean you should. You might find out that they’re a poor fit. That’s usually what happens when students make college decisions based on rankings.
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If the OP is applying to a PhD program, they will indeed care about this, and not as much about GRE. We can see if we can summon @boneh3ad who does hire engineering graduate students to get his opinion.
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I think the OP is gone. But I just like the fact that not every Ivy League prof has Ivy type credentials. She seemed to think it would make you better. Perhaps on average but not necessarily. She could stay at UCSB and had been fine.
I don’t know where you are getting your information, but you really couldn’t be further from the truth here. As an engineering faculty member who runs an active research program, the lifeblood of my research is getting high-quality graduate students. When I am looking to hire, I need to do my best to assess their likelihood of success. Perhaps the best way to gauge that is a combination of GPA/school and research experience/references.
GPA and school are important in showing that a student can handle coursework. A “prestigious” school isn’t going to be what sets someone apart, though. Rather, if they come from a program that is familiar, then I can gauge how their GPA compares with GPAs from other universities better. If it is known to be a rigorous program, perhaps they get a little more leeway. I absolutely do not care if a student went to Cornell or Colorado School of Mines or Wisconsin-Milwaukee as long as they demonstrate they have a good chance of success in our program.
Research is important because, ultimately, that is what a graduate student does to earn their degree. I need to know they have a high probability of performing well in a lab. The best way to demonstrate this is to do research as an undergraduate. The best way for me to assess how well that experience will translate is through reference letters from the faculty member(s) supervising that research.
Most research-active schools allow undergraduate research. Usually, all a student has to do is reach out to a faculty member who is doing research that interests them and ask. If that faculty member has the money and opening, then there’s a chance. It’s a case-by-case basis unless it’s at a university with a more formal undergraduate research program.
For reference, my lab currently has 5 graduate students and 10 undergraduate students. I take an above average number, but it’s not unusual for faculty to hire at least a few.
GRE means next to nothing. Many graduate engineering programs are actively considering ditching it as a requirement anyway. As long as someone doesn’t bomb it, then it doesn’t add much to my assessment of them.
(@eyemgh you can put down your bat signal)
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That is the opposite of what I have seen! Even the not-known-for-science LAC that Gradschoolkid2 went to had year-round UG research options, and she topped it up with REU’s every summer. Her PG offer letters all noted her research experience / LoRs from PIs as being an important decision factor.
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