RacinReaver

The way I've always had the breadth of many engineering programs rationalized to me is that they're trying to teach you a way to think, not just specific formulas. At the more well reknown schools, you might get a more rigorous program, or be more stimulated by your fellow students.

keefer

never mind, got it, lol.

jessiehl

I'm not some brainwashed twit high schooler. I'm a college grad and I work as an engineer. And at this point, I've taken engineering classes at three different schools - one at the very top of the engineering ranks, one that's considered a top school with a strong but not phenomenal engineering program, and one fairly strong school with a mid-level engineering program. When I make statements about the relative merits of different tiers of engineering schools, I'm going off my own experience.

No, but you learn the subjects in a different level of depth, you're expected to be able to perform to a different depth on exams and problem sets, you move quicker (which allows you to cover more material and/or take more classes), you frequently have an easier time getting good internships, you have more opportunities to do research as an undergrad, and you have more options for your electives. The obvious downside is that the profs expect you to be able to fill in more blanks yourself, so they don't do it for you as much, and if it's a subject that is not particularly a strength of yours, it can be a struggle to keep up.

lowendnewbie

Hey jessiehl,

when you say you went to 3 engineering schools is that cause you transferred or did undergrad, masters and phD?

If its the latter, would that explain the different levels of difficultly?

RacinReaver

Not necessarily, as I've found the classes here at Caltech tend to be harder with the more undergrads that are enrolled in it. I also found the grad-level courses I took back at CMU to be easier than my undergrad ones.

Of course, this might also because the grad ones are more of what I'm actually interested in, so I might be more motivated and have an easier time paying attention/learning.

keefer

i took graduate classes too at Michigan, and found the graduate classes easier, i don't think it has to do with being more motivated. I think by graduate school, people are more laid back and relaxed, the most motivated/competitive students in the graduate classes are mostly undergrads. And I found that graduate classes are graded easier. Most of them were curved to a A- or B+ instead of the undergrads' B-. And unless you don't give any effort, you won't fail. The worst thing is getting a B-.

ken285

I agree with keefer. Grad students tend not to focus on grades as much.

jessiehl

Undergrad, special student, and certificate student. The certificate program is a mix of grad and undergrad-level classes (I switched fields, which is why I'm in it). I don't think the level of classes has much to do with it - if I want to compare difficulty, I can just go to the websites for the class with the same name at different schools and look at the problem sets and exams, to see how they compare.

That was the common perception at MIT too. The grad classes tended to have easier grading, and had to accommodate students who did their undergrad at easier schools and had less background.

I had one friend who went her entire undergrad career at MIT (in EE) without failing a single test, until the second term of her senior year. When she did fail a test, it was in a grad class. She was really happy that if she had to fail a test, it was in a grad class, because "if I've done the work and learned anything at all, they won't give me less than a B".

CutTheCrapola

How's uic,northern illinois, southern illinois carbondale engineering reputations?

CutTheCrapola

Bumpity bump