<p>is admission to top engineering graduate programs (MIT Stanford etc) very tough? what really matters in the admission process? and also, how does one pursue investment banking from engineering (what degrees etc.)?</p>
<p>yes</p>
<p>Important factors include letters of recommendation, research experience, GPA, undergrad institution and coursework, statement of purpose, and GRE scores, roughly in that order. Internships and other work experience may help, depending on the program (for MS more so than PhD).</p>
<p>You can get an investment banking job with pretty much any BS Engineering degree, but the preferred ones seem to be EE and CS.</p>