Caltech vs. Carnegie Mellon CIT

devdoshi
Fri, 04 Apr 2008 22:04:15 +0000

I was accepted into Caltech and CMU’s CIT for ECE, and now must decide between the two. I know both schools are excellent, but I am leaning towards CMU for the following reasons:

Caltech has given me a very good financial aid package, but everything I have read indicates CMU will match it. I live significantly closer to CMU (New Jersey), and have several relatives who live near Pittsburgh. Also, Caltech seems like it is comparatively too small. I haven’t been able to visit Caltech yet, but I doubt I will “fall in love” with it any more than I did CMU. As far as I know, Caltech leans more heavily towards the theoretical side, whereas CMU is practical and application-oriented. Similarly, CMU’s ECE program (vs Caltech EE(/CS)) seems to be better for a career in robotics, which I wish to pursue. Research opportunities seem to be good enough at both.

However, my main worry is that I’ll go to CMU and feel as though I missed out on a lot by not going to Caltech…because, after all, Caltech IS Caltech. Does anybody have any advice or information that may help me decide? Thanks in advance.