Replies to: MIT vs CMU

• chaoses Posts: 1,039Registered User Member

  January 2007

  MIT to me is better
  but CMU is a great engineering school. Either one is great and will get you a good job when you graduate. I don't think MIT has a social life ... lol j/k MIT is probably a little harder to get in as an undergrad because there aren't many spots.

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• superwizard Posts: 1,251Registered User Senior Member

  January 2007

  Undergraduate engineering specialties:
  Electrical / Electronic / Communications
  (At schools whose highest degree is a doctorate)
  Methodology 1. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology
  2. Stanford University (CA)
  3. University of California–Berkeley *
  
  I would say that MIT would be slightly stronger (CMU's program is definitely one of the best). If you're thinking about applying elsewhere I would suggest applying to Stanford and Cal (if you want to go to the west coast of course). Admission would be harder at MIT though.

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• peck191 Posts: 531Registered User Member

  January 2007

  If I got into both I would pick MIT. If I could get into MIT I'd pick Stanford, though lol.

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• bruno123 Posts: 1,390Registered User Senior Member

  January 2007

  According to USN&WR, CMU is ranked #8 for undergrad EE and # 7 for graduate EE. It is ranked # 3 (both undergrad and grad) for Computer Engineering (CE). The EE/CE distinction is rather artificial though since CMU does not actually offer separate EE and CE majors, but rather a joint ECE degree. Computer Science (CS) is however a separate major and is offered by a different college within CMU (SCS as opposed to CIT). Of course, as everybody probably knows, CMU's CS, at least for graduate school, is ranked # 1 in the US. In the broader "technology" category (which includes engineering, computer science, and IT), CMU has been recently ranked # 5 in North America by the London Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) , behind only MIT, Berkeley, Stanford and Caltech.
  
  MIT on the other hand needs no introduction. By all possible measures and rankings, it is the overall number one technology and engineering school in North America and, perhaps, in the world. Moreover, unlike CMU, MIT is also a major science powerhouse with several affiliated Nobel laureates in physics and chemistry in addition to having world-class economics and mathematics programs. It is also much more selective and richer (better endowed) than CMU.
  
  From my personal point of view, the main advantages of going to MIT for EE as opposed to CMU would be: better brand recognition (nationally and, especially, internationally), better quality/more challenging undergraduate training in the broader math and science foundations of engineering, possibly better/more extensive financial aid options, and a better student body (due to greater selectivity). I'd consider however picking CMU over MIT specifically for computer science or robotics.
  
  Finally, another important fact to consider about CMU is that it is clearly an "emerging school". It is the only top 25 university in the USN&WR rankings that was founded in the 20th century and is predicted to continue to move up steadily in the rankings and substantially increase its (currently very low) endowment over the next decades. CMU has a long way to go though before it reaches the international stature of MIT, Berkeley, Stanford or the top Ivies.

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