<p>I just posted this identical thread in the Harvard forum.</p>
<p>Yale is not my first choice for college, since I want to study engineering. I may also be interested in applied math or physics. I would probably prefer an engineering school.</p>
<p>My dad says that in the real world, people will see Yale on my resume, and no one is going to see or care if it says Yale Engineering. He said that Yale Engineering may carry more cache on a resume than even MIT or CalTech.</p>
<p>Do you think he is correct? Even if he is correct, will I get a decent education in engineering at Yale?</p>
<p>What your dad says has some truth and many lies. Yale is very well known among the common man and future employers. However, to say that Yale will carry more weight in the engineering world compared to MIT or CalTech is a ridiculous concept (As much as it pains me to say this I must admit that MIT and CalTech carry considerably more weight in the engineering world. Stanford and CMU can also be added to this list). I must say though that I sincerely doubt in a field such as engineering where you went to school will make much of a difference (although again I admit there will be some). It is in my opinion the importance of your research and its implications that will get you hired by a firm, not the prestige of your undergraduate university. Also it is equally important to say the environment, perhaps you are an individual who will perform at your best under a rigorous 24/7 science and engineering environment that MIT and CalTech offer. Equally perhaps that environment can be too stifling as in my case. </p>
<p>Yale's engineering program has three levels of rigor which you may select. You can receive a ABET certified BS in your engineering field, (An ABET BS in Chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, etc), a BS in engineering sciences in a field (BS in engineering sciences: Chemical), or a BA in engineering for those who wish to study engineering as a liberal arts study (A BA in engineering studies: chemical). Most if not all MIT and or CalTech engineering students receive the ABET certified intensive BS, so your degree will be as the result of rigorous training similar to an MIT student's training since it is a standard across the fields of engineering. The BS and BA options are for those who wish to pursue the study of engineering but do not necessarily want to pursue engineering careers or graduate work. Instead these individuals enter business or medicine. Yale in the process of investing 1 billion dollars to the science and engineering and at Yale you will reap the benefits of a 1:1 student faculty ratio. Also research is plentiful and Yale consistently ranks in the top three schools who spend the most on undergraduate research. </p>
<p>Although this is a Yale forum, I would like to give you a little bit about Harvard in the sense that it does cross-register with MIT although you will inevitably receive a Harvard degree not an MIT. Furthermore, I believe that Harvard only grants a 32 credit BA degree. Yale has those numerous options. </p>
<p>Feel free to contact me if you need more information, hopefully, I've given you some convincing information to show that you will receive a "decent" education in engineering at Yale. On a side note with the distributional requirements you don't have to worry about cores and can choose very rigorous and advanced courses the first semester of your freshman year (granted if you have had the experience). For example, math 230 which is a proof based multi variable, differential equations, and linear algebra course. Or physics 250 or 280 (don't remember the exact number) which is an advanced physics course using differential equations and linear algebra.</p>
<p>FavoriteSon--Do you plan on getting an advanced degree in engineering after college?</p>
<p>Agree with Yoshi that the Yale name is more prestigious overall, but that CalTech or MIT are more prestigious for engineering. If you plan on getting an advanced degree, that degree will matter much more to employers than undergrad.</p>
<p>In terms of quality, Yale has one of the best engineering program in the country - ranked #1 just above Stanford, Caltech, etc. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.sciencewatch.com/nov-dec2002/sw_nov-dec2002_page2.htm#Engineering%5B/url%5D">http://www.sciencewatch.com/nov-dec2002/sw_nov-dec2002_page2.htm#Engineering</a></p>
<p>Of course, like Harvard (another highly-ranked program) it is a somewhat smaller program, but it more than makes up for it in terms of the quality of the research groups and the student to faculty ratios.</p>
<p>Don't believe the "conventional wisdom" out there that somehow these programs aren't strong. A lot of that dates from 15 years ago when some of the nation's smaller engineering programs were in danger of being cut. Since then, there has been a massive rebuilding at places like Yale and Harvard and they are now exceedingly well respected.</p>
<p>FavoriteSon--Do you plan on getting an advanced degree in engineering after college?</p>
<p>I don't know. I haven't even applied to college yet! I'm just a kid!</p>
<p>I am entering my senior year of high school and I have decisions to make. I prefer math and science to English and History, hence, my interest in engineering. But I may like math or physics as well. </p>
<p>My college advisor thinks I have the numbers to make me a viable candidate for Yale, though of course with the caveat that Yale is a reach for everyone. I have no idea where I want to go to college, I'm just exploring options right now.</p>
<p>I have two and probably three good safeties, so I'm asking questions about my reach schools, of which Yale may be one to which I may apply.</p>
<p>When I applied to college, I thought the major I was most likely to pursue was chemical engineering. With this in mind, I went to the accepted student days for my two favorite colleges, MIT and Yale. I asked your exact same question to people at both schools, and received totally different answers:</p>
<p>MIT- "What?? You want to go to Yale for engineering? What are you thinking?!? Don't you realize that your earning potential is so much higher with a degree from MIT?"</p>
<p>Well I didn't like that very much... I was only 17, what do I care about earning potential? I want the best undergrad experience possible, the money will come later.</p>
<p>Yale- "To be honest, it really doesn't make a difference undergraduate. For grad school, yeah, you should realistically go to MIT, but the undergrad programs are practically indistinguishable."</p>
<p>After getting both of these accounts, and feeling much more comfortable at Yale anyways, I picked Yale. Then I decided that I liked the pure Chemistry program more than I liked Chem E anyways, and the whole thing became something of a moot point. But don't let that detract from my message; I believe that the undergrad programs are practically the same, and you should choose based on where you're more comfortable, and not based on your "earning potential" or anywhere else.</p>
<p>
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In terms of quality, Yale has one of the best engineering program in the country - ranked #1 just above Stanford, Caltech, etc.
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</p>
<p>I agree that, in certain areas like EE and ME, Yale does have a high [url=<a href="http://chronicle.com/stats/productivity/page.php?institution=79&byinst=Go">http://chronicle.com/stats/productivity/page.php?institution=79&byinst=Go</a>] faculty scholarly productivity index <a href="an%20aggregate%20measure%20basically%20of%20publications,%20citations,%20and%20funding%20per%20faculty">/url</a>. Even by that measure though, Yale is behind MIT or Caltech. </p>
<p>Moreover, in terms of academic peer assessment and industry recruiter assessment (as best shown by the USN&WR rankings) , no one in its right mind would say Yale has a "top engineering program". Your devotion to Yale is admirable, but deluding yourself is unwise.</p>
<p>The assessments you mentioned, e.g., NRC and USNews, are almost directly correlated with overall program size. Obviously, when you are doing a survey, the largest option often gets mentioned first - it is what some call the "McDonald's Effect" because McDonald's often shows up in survey rankings of the "best restaurant" (same goes for Coca-Cola, Wal-Mart, the United States, etc. :) </p>
<p>You might note that of the top programs in USNews's ranking -- i.e., those ranked among the top 40 or 50 in the country, including Yale -- Yale's program is half the size of any other top program. While it is indeed a bit smaller than, say, Purdue or Michigan, in terms of quality and undergraduate opportunities, it is in my opinion easily one of the top 5 or 10 programs out there. In terms of student to faculty ratio it is probably unmatched. Even though there may not be research groups at Yale in every engineering subject known to mankind, in many specialized areas, such as bioinformatics, molecular electronics, micro-combustion research and certain fields within biomedical engineering, Yale's research groups are considered to be the best out there.</p>