california_love8

Hey,

sorry to post another topic (I've been posting a lot lately), but I was wondering how great of an advantage would be given if someone went to a school ranked 20th in a department compared to a school ranked 11th or so. The reason I ask is because, reasonably, I'm considering 4 schools for engineering:

1. University of Washington
2. U-Mich
3. USC
4. UT-Austin

I have a pretty good shot at all (2,3 might be hard because they can be random sometimes, but I'm pretty much good to go at the others according to what I hear), but would it be a huge mistake to turn down UT for UW or even UM for UW? The reason I ask is because I might be overall happier at UW since I have a ton of friends going there, and its definately not bad given that its T20 and beat schools like Hopkins, but UMich or UT is higher ranked, so would they get better jobs? I was especially wondering because I'm planning on getting a degree in EE, getting an MBA, and doing management, and also, I've heard undergrad means little. In addition, UT and UM might be a bit more expensive. I'm not instate for UW, but I think its quite a bit cheaper than the other 2. So yeah, what would you guys do in my situation? The reason that friends going there is so important to me is because, although I do socialize, I'm not overly social either, and I'm afraid going into a totally different environment, in a totally different local, with not even other friends that can help me meet new people will be kinda hard on me (on top of that, Ann Arbor and UT are pretty competitive). So yeah...

thanks!

Undergraduate engineering specialties:
Electrical / Electronic / Communications
(At schools whose highest degree is a doctorate)

1. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology
2. Stanford University (CA)
3. University of California–Berkeley *
4. U. of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign *
5. University of Michigan–Ann Arbor *
6. Georgia Institute of Technology *
7. California Institute of Technology
8. Cornell University (NY)
9. Purdue Univ.–West Lafayette (IN)*
10. Carnegie Mellon University (PA)
11. University of Texas–Austin *
12. Princeton University (NJ)
13. Univ. of California–Los Angeles *
14. Univ. of Wisconsin–Madison *
15. Rice University (TX)
16. Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst. (NY)
Univ. of Southern California
18. Northwestern University (IL)
19. Duke University (NC)
Texas A&M Univ.–College Station *
Univ. of California–San Diego *
University of Washington *
Virginia Tech *
24. Pennsylvania State U.–University Park *
Univ. of Maryland–College Park *
Univ. of Minnesota–Twin Cities *
27. Johns Hopkins University (MD)

Jason1117

USnews can rank colleges,you can also make your own rank

UriA702

Yea, US news is based is totally wrong for the most part. Princeton Review has more accurate rankings.

Jason1117

some people say,CC attracts lots of elite students.However,I have doubt,real elite students know how to think independently,not referring to rankings all the time.

sometimes,USnews makes much sense.Top 100 is truly inferior to top 10.But there's no actually difference between 20 and 21 or something like that.Some schools are simply on the same level and there's no need to distinguish them.But USnews has to because they need make a clear list that more people will pay for the complete ranking.

Anyway,I really like one thing about USnews,that is,they collect some important datum that make sense.But the way to rank school by the datum is questionable.

The reason you need to go to college is that you want to make yourself a better person.Going to a top school helps a lot,going to a school that makes you happy can help even more.

california_love8

okay, I'm still not totally sure what to take from those posts, especially that first reply. I'd still like to know whether going to a T10 school will allow more recruitment oppurtunities than going to a school ranked in the 20s.

UriA702

Of course a top 10 school will give more job opportunity than a school ranked #30. If you were a employer i highly doubt that you would recruit employees at Manhattan College over potentials at Columbia University. It takes a ton of work to do well in a top ranked school, which shows plenty of dedication, spatial intelligence, as well as logical-mathematical intelligence. Most students at top schools have great linguistics as well, which overall makes for better employees. The same reason when shopping you go threw the apples and choose the ripest as opposed to the others.

Top schools also give you something most schools don't - Networking Opportunities. Odds are at an Ivy you will meet a ton of people who will be riding the clouds of success straight out of college due to their connections. Making friends with such people is very valuable in establishing success, they will open doors for you.

Jason1117

UW is not ivy,but quite good.

UriA702

I wasn't being specific to UW or any university. I used "ivy" as an example, due mostly in part to the fact that nobody denies their networking opportunities.

aswat12389

Everything I have heard is that if you go to a top 20 school you will have plenty of opportunities presented to you. I agree that top 10 schools will give you "more" opportunities, but whether or not it is significant is debatable. The main differences may be in the areas of research/volume of research in a specific field or that the school may be recognized more on a national level rather than on a regional level. Is it worth it to pay out of state tuition/have to travel halfway across the country to go to a slightly more prestigious school? You have to answer that, but if you don't go to a school that is currently doing a lot of research in an area you are interested in there are plenty of opportunities to do summer research at other universities that are.

There are also other factors that should weigh into this decision such as: size, location, financial aide, athletics, greek life, etc. Then there are the intangibles that are all under the umbrella of your gut feeling. These should not be ignored solely because of prestige.

It's really too bad that there isn't a formula telling you how to weight each factor and plugging in and returning the perfect school for you. That would make things much easier. So what I am getting at here is that if you pick any school in the top 20 you will still have plenty of opportunities.

To answer a specific question of yours, any of those schools should be fine (although I don't know much about UW). To give you an idea, I turned down Illinois, Purdue, and Wisconsin and chose to go to Minnesota and have yet to regret it (I'm an EE). I'm very confident I'll have plenty of opportunities at Minnesota and made the right choice.

Finally, there is only one (1) ivy in the top 20 engineering colleges. That's not to say that they aren't good schools and won't provide you with plenty of opportunities; there are always exceptions to the rules.

oxypunk151

Where do you want to live when you graduate? Most schools network is very strong within their region, but diminishes the further away you are from the university. The university in the region you want to live will be able to provide you with local interns, as well as better networking. All your choices are great.
If the opportunity the university will provide you is your main concern this is how I would personally view it.