- International schools don't have the money to buy the sophisticated lab facilities that U.S. universities can afford, so many international students want to study in the U.S.
- There are a lot more international students than domestic students in the world.
- U.S. students go on to industry more.
- International students are more geared toward math and science since elementary school.
- The international students primarily come from a few countries, like China, India, and South Korea.
"im_blue Why do you think internationals make up over half the class? Are they that much better educated than US kids, or do fewer US kids apply?"
Which university are you referring to ? In Caltech and MIT only about 25% (for grad schools) and 9% (for undergrad) are internationals. I believe Stanford have slightly more, but I don't think they can make up half of the class.
Northwestern's strength in "soft" fields like journalism/communication/theater/music may give any average person the impression that it's not good in engineering but it's undergrad program is actually ranked #13. It's not just good at BME. Its material science dept is a pioneer in the field and always in top-3 but then mat sci is not a well-known field. NU's IE is ranked like #7, better than many of those "known for engineering". But then some don't view it as real engineering. ;)
The top EE programs have the following percentages of international grad students: MIT 30%, Stanford 81%, Berkeley 40%, UIUC 49%, Caltech 45%, Michigan 66%, Georgia Tech 48%, CMU 59%, Purdue 79%, Cornell 55%, Princeton 63%, UCLA 52%. I don't know if Stanford is actually that extreme, but you can see that on average, over half of the population is international. I don't have the link for this information, but I got it from an online directory of graduate schools. MIT's percentage is low because their acceptance rate for internationals is several times lower than for domestic applicants.
I got my MS EE last year, so I'm currently in the PhD program at Stanford.
I can think of two reasons why that might be:
1) Many fellowships are reserved for U.S. students, so they don't have to TA.
2) Asian-Americans are probably the majority of U.S. students as well.
AlexandreRegistered UserPosts: 24,617Senior Member
Hello, all 5 schools are awesome...and so different that chosing between them should be easy. Here is how I would personally rank the schools in several aspects:
In terms of overall academic reputation, I would rank the five as follows:
#1 Cornell University and University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
#3 Carnegie Mellon University and Rice University
#5 UIUC
In terms of EE rankings:
#1 UIUC
#2 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
#3 Cornell University
#4 Carnegie Mellon University
#5 Rice University
In terms of campus life:
#1 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
#2 Rice University
#3 Cornell University
#4 UIUC
#5 Carnegie Mellon University
In terms of overall setting:
#1 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
#2 Cornell University
#3 Rice University
#4 Carnegie Mellon University
#5 UIUC
So, it really depands what you want. But either way, you cannot go wrong.
AlexandreRegistered UserPosts: 24,617Senior Member
Hello, funny that you and I should both live in Dubai! hehe I already know of three students from the UAE who will be attending Michigan next fall. I hope you do too.
To answer your question about size and public vs private, it really depends what you want. Each offers different benefits and disadvantages. But it is a myth that private universities are better, either at the graduate or un dergraduate level. In many cases, the myth is justified, but not always. For example, Michigan has a larger endowment and budget than Cornell...by a sizeable amount. And classes at Michigan are usually smaller than at Cornell.
By the way, I went to Cornell graduate school, and I think very highly of Cornell. Michigan and Cornell are practically identical. Rice is much more typical of a private university. Carnegie Mellon is more of an institute of technology than anything else.
Replies to: Which school is the best for EE??
- There are a lot more international students than domestic students in the world.
- U.S. students go on to industry more.
- International students are more geared toward math and science since elementary school.
- The international students primarily come from a few countries, like China, India, and South Korea.
Which university are you referring to ? In Caltech and MIT only about 25% (for grad schools) and 9% (for undergrad) are internationals. I believe Stanford have slightly more, but I don't think they can make up half of the class.
Are you now in Masters or PhD program ?
Northwestern's strength in "soft" fields like journalism/communication/theater/music may give any average person the impression that it's not good in engineering but it's undergrad program is actually ranked #13. It's not just good at BME. Its material science dept is a pioneer in the field and always in top-3 but then mat sci is not a well-known field. NU's IE is ranked like #7, better than many of those "known for engineering". But then some don't view it as real engineering. ;)
I got my MS EE last year, so I'm currently in the PhD program at Stanford.
Can you give the link to the website, I don't think Caltech EE dept. has so many international grad students (45% ??).
I got accepted to UIUC, and I think the decision will probably come down to UIUC or UMich or CMU or Cornell or Rice
Any opinions on UIUC's EE program??
More personal attention.
1) Many fellowships are reserved for U.S. students, so they don't have to TA.
2) Asian-Americans are probably the majority of U.S. students as well.
In terms of overall academic reputation, I would rank the five as follows:
#1 Cornell University and University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
#3 Carnegie Mellon University and Rice University
#5 UIUC
In terms of EE rankings:
#1 UIUC
#2 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
#3 Cornell University
#4 Carnegie Mellon University
#5 Rice University
In terms of campus life:
#1 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
#2 Rice University
#3 Cornell University
#4 UIUC
#5 Carnegie Mellon University
In terms of overall setting:
#1 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
#2 Cornell University
#3 Rice University
#4 Carnegie Mellon University
#5 UIUC
So, it really depands what you want. But either way, you cannot go wrong.
To answer your question about size and public vs private, it really depends what you want. Each offers different benefits and disadvantages. But it is a myth that private universities are better, either at the graduate or un dergraduate level. In many cases, the myth is justified, but not always. For example, Michigan has a larger endowment and budget than Cornell...by a sizeable amount. And classes at Michigan are usually smaller than at Cornell.
By the way, I went to Cornell graduate school, and I think very highly of Cornell. Michigan and Cornell are practically identical. Rice is much more typical of a private university. Carnegie Mellon is more of an institute of technology than anything else.