Ask Flopsy: UCLA Engineering - Page 6

flopsy · 04-01-2006, 10:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anxious77

flopsy, where do these rankings come from? any way you can post the entire top 20?

http://www.infozee.com/channels/ms/u...l-rankings.htm

U.S. News Rank University

1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2 Stanford University (CA)
3 California Institute of Technology
4 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
5 Georgia Institute of Technology
6 Purdue University-West Lafayette (IN)
7 Princeton University (NJ)
8 University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign
9 University of Texas-Austin
10 Cornell University (NY)
10 Penn State University-University Park
12 University of California-Los Angeles
12 Virginia Tech
14 University of Maryland-College Park
15 University of Colorado-Boulder
16 Texas A&M University-College Station
17 Ohio State University
18 University of Washington
18 University of California-Berkeley
20 University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
21 University of Southern California

flopsy · 04-01-2006, 10:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paragbm

My name is Parag, n i m a final year electronics and telecommunication engineering student from the Mumbai University....well i hav applied for MS in Electrical Engineering with specialization in Wireless Communications and Networking ...

Universities Admitted To:

1) University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

2) Carnegie Mellon University

3) University of California-Los Angeles

4) Carnegie Mellon University - INI

5) University of Pennsylvania

6) University of Southern California

7) University of Colorado, Boulder

8) Polytechnic University, Brooklyn

University Applications Pending:

1) Georgia Institute of Technology

2) Cornell University

3) University of California- San Diego

4) Virginia Tech University

have a lot of questions in mind....if u could help me out, then it would be gr8...i am extremely sorry if i am disturbing you..but i am in a complete dilema..

At UMICH, I have been admitted for a Phd Program and haven't heard as yet about the aid decision. The fees are 32K tution for 1 year and including living nd stuff goes upto 45K. The climate is damn bad for a student comin 4m India, as in the cold. Although a minor factor but just stating it.

CMU is another great plc but even more expensive. It has the name and job prospects similar to UMICH but i have been offered no aid and a MS degree only.

Now UCLA's tution is 22K/ year and it's in California. However, standard of living is high again. Been admitted for a Masters Degree with no aid though. Job propects are equally good i feel at all three places but the climate is the best according to me at UCLA ( Correct me if i'm wrong. )

Money is not a criteria for me nd I plan to do a job after graduation, maybe an MBA later on. Could you guys plz temme as to which uni I should select taking into account all the factors such as cost, climate, job prospects, possibility of assistanships etc.

Also consider the colls that i'm waiting to hear 4m.......All your suggestions are welcome and plz do correct me if i'm wrong in stating any point.

it would reallly gr8 if u guys cud help me in making a decision at this point...i am throughly confused...dunno whether i should take such a big plunge and get into any of these big colls and then repent my decision.....

thnx a lot ......Parag

DETAILS:

Name: Parag Bharat Mehta
College: Dwarkadas J. Sanghvi College of Engineering (Mumbai University)
Email: parag.b.mehta@gmail.com
Address: 3, Lovely Rose. Apts.,
Near Hare Rama Hare Krishna Temple,
Juhu,
Mumbai 400049
Tel: +91-22-26202709
Cell No: +91-9820595969
URL: www.paragmehta.com
Qualification: Bachelor of Engineering, Electronics and Telecommunication

Percentage: 74%

Course Applied To: Master of Science in Electrical Engineering
Specialization : Wireless Networking

Can you tell me which graduate degree you are seeking -- an M.S. or a Ph.D. degree? Also, you told me that money is not a criterion for you but you kept mentioning the tuition, financial aid, and living expenses of attending each university... Are you sure that you are not concerned with cost, or is there something you're not being totally honest about? Also, if you're concerned about the weather/climate conditions I could probably eliminate half of the universities you've listed above in a snap. *cough* East Coast *cough*

yuilife · 04-01-2006, 11:17 PM

Hey thanks flopsy. I have a couple of more things to ask if you don't mind. Are the classes hard to the point were you have to study for hours over the weekend? Does going to a hard high school help in graduating in four years? Cause I go to Mission San Jose and people are saying that I'll do fine and I'll have a chance in graduating in four years. But I don't know if that's true. I saw this on the ucla site http://www.seasoasa.ucla.edu/curric0...L/eleccur.html is this guideline plausible to follow or is it too intense? I'm currently taking AP Stats, AP phyiscs B and AP calc bc. I already got a 5 on my AP bio exam. So does the AP Bio and stats credit count as GE credit or toward something else? And one more thing is the EE program at Davis or SD extremely bad compared to LA's?

flopsy · 04-02-2006, 01:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yuilife

Hey thanks flopsy. I have a couple of more things to ask if you don't mind. Are the classes hard to the point were you have to study for hours over the weekend? Does going to a hard high school help in graduating in four years? Cause I go to Mission San Jose and people are saying that I'll do fine and I'll have a chance in graduating in four years. But I don't know if that's true. I saw this on the ucla site http://www.seasoasa.ucla.edu/curric...ML/eleccur.html is this guideline plausible to follow or is it too intense? I'm currently taking AP Stats, AP phyiscs B and AP calc bc. I already got a 5 on my AP bio exam. So does the AP Bio and stats credit count as GE credit or toward something else? And one more thing is the EE program at Davis or SD extremely bad compared to LA's?

Yes, the EE classes are hard to the point where you will have to study for 6-10 hours over the weekend. Yes, going to a San Jose feeder-school will help you in graduating in four years because you're probably already acclimated to taking an above-average courseload and struggling with Asian competition. The recommended "B.S. in Electrical Engineering Curriculum" posted on the HSSEAS OASA site is feasible for the freshman and sophomore years, but the junior and senior years are quite unrealistically designed because you have to take four EE classes per quarter, which may be impossible to enroll in either because one or two of them fill up before your enrollment is available or because the lectures conflict (e.g. EE 102 and EE 103 are on Tuesday/Thursday mornings and usually overlap, making it impossible to take them both simultaneously as recommended by the OASA). Thus, not only is it too intense, it is also unfeasible for human beings. I think your AP Bio credit counts as a Life Science GE but your AP Stats credit doesn't count for anything. UCSD EE is very good, in fact, but UCD EE has no reputation whatsoever.

BenedictChan · 04-02-2006, 01:55 AM

UCD EE has no reputation whatsoever? I remember that it ranks quite high.

anxious77 · 04-02-2006, 04:03 AM

flopsy, we all appreciate your time to write us back. i checked out the link you gave me, yet the title on the page (http://www.infozee.com/channels/ms/u...h-rankings.htm) says US Graduate Top Engineering School Rankings. aren't the rankings strictly for grad school?

flopsy · 04-02-2006, 04:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BenedictChan

UCD EE has no reputation whatsoever? I remember that it ranks quite high.

Can you show me those rankings? All the Electrical Engineering university rankings I've seen list either the top 15 or top 25, and UCD doesn't appear on either list. Also, in the last six years I've yet to discover any online news reports of new inventions/patents or faculty distinctions from UCD's EE department hitting the science/tech headlines.

flopsy · 04-02-2006, 04:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anxious77

flopsy, we all appreciate your time to write us back. i checked out the link you gave me, yet the title on the page (http://www.infozee.com/channels/ms/...ch-rankings.htm) says US Graduate Top Engineering School Rankings. aren't the rankings strictly for grad school?

Yes, the rankings I referred to (the U.S. News rankings) are strictly for graduate school. However, to my knowledge there exist no undergraduate rankings for Aerospace Engineering. Speaking of which, there's never been any specific engineering ranking focusing on the undergraduate level, for that matter -- all the specific "departmental rankings" are graduate-only. Nevertheless, I think this is the best we have to work with.

saxshackdan · 04-02-2006, 04:10 AM

*crossposted from UCLA vs. Cal*

Is the engineering program at Berkeley significantly better than UCLA, to the point where it would be stupid to turn down Cal for LA? Does that mostly affect grad students, or is it an important factor for undergrads too?

flopsy · 04-02-2006, 04:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saxshackdan

Is the engineering program at Berkeley significantly better than UCLA, to the point where it would be stupid to turn down Cal for LA? Does that mostly affect grad students, or is it an important factor for undergrads too?

I have no personal experience with the UCB engineering program versus the UCLA engineering program, but I affirm that it would not be "stupid" to turn down the former for the latter. I know anecdotal evidence doesn't go a long way, but I know many people who got into both schools for engineering and chose UCLA for Bioengineering, Electrical Engineering or Computer Science. My current roommate turned down UCB Industrial Engineering and Operations Research for UCLA Electrical Engineering because UCLA was a better fit for him and he wanted to move from NorCal to SoCal for his career. Yes, UCB's edge in overall engineering is an important factor for undergrads -- after all, the quality of the graduate program trickles down to the undergraduate program via the teaching advisors in your discussion sections and/or the amount/quality of research opportunities available in laboratories.

paragbm · 04-02-2006, 10:07 AM

thanks 4 ur quick reply.......i'm interested only in a MS......however, if funded, might go ahead with a Phd.......funding is highly unlikely at umich.....fees not that big a problem honestly........but comes as a criteria when u go to judge the overall worth of a coll........weather again is a minor prob........will take time but will ultimately get adjusted to it.....looking forward to your reply........thnks...

paragbm · 04-02-2006, 10:29 AM

btw.......u din't asnwer my query as 2 which uni shud i select.......or shud i wait 4 ucsd....plz do reply.....m in a lot of mess.....

j0b0sapi3n · 04-02-2006, 02:15 PM

how about the EECE and CSE curriculums? are they just as challenging as the EE curriculum where you'll have to study a lot over the weekend?

basically, is it hard to have a social life studying engineering?

flopsy · 04-02-2006, 03:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paragbm

btw.......u din't asnwer my query as 2 which uni shud i select.......or shud i wait 4 ucsd....plz do reply.....m in a lot of mess.....

If you're interested only in obtaining an M.S. degree, tuition fees are genuinely not a problem, and weather is an important factor in your decision, then I would first eliminate UPenn, UC-Boulder, Polytechnic University-Brooklyn, VaTech, Cornell and Michigan because they don't satisfy all of your criteria. Thus, I think you should select one of either CMU, UCLA, USC, UCSD or GaTech. (Cornell and Michigan are excellent for EE, but if you can't stand the cold of the Northeast, then...) I can't make the individual school decision(s) for you because I'm only an undergrad student and you're already a grad student, but narrowing your list down to these five is the best I can offer.

flopsy · 04-02-2006, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by j0b0sapi3n

how about the EECE and CSE curriculums? are they just as challenging as the EE curriculum where you'll have to study a lot over the weekend?

basically, is it hard to have a social life studying engineering?

Yes, the EECE and CSE curriculums are just as challenging as the straight EE curriculum. You'll be taking almost identical lower-division courses (the CS31 series, the Math 31A series, the Physics 1A series, etc.) and about 1/3 of the same upper-division courses, no matter which of the three majors you opt for (e.g. the EE 101 series, CS 131 and various CS electives). No, it is not difficult to have a social life studying engineering. Just micromanage your daily schedule and hang around in the dorms -- you won't have to go out of your way to meet people. My roommate is a straight EE major, yet he hangs out with his friends every weekend and goes snowboarding because he always burns the midnight oil on weekday nights.