<p>I have a student with excellent academic record (in math, science scores,college courses, high school research, many awards etc.), has been accepted (UG) to both ECE(UIUC) & EECS(MIT)
and has the potential to graduate bu being among the top 10 in the UIUC class.</p>
<p>Could anyone give some advice on how he would be a loser on the following points if he
chooses UIUC over MIT now? He would like to pursue graduate studies at MIT/Stanford. Also,
for the time being, let us set aside other considerations like finances, weather, etc.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Undergraduate research (preferably from freshman/sophomore year) during the school year</p></li>
<li><p>Summer research opportunities at a lab at (say) MIT/Stanford.</p></li>
<li><p>Recommendation letters from professors for possible graduate admission at MIT/Stanford</p></li>
<li><p>Build contacts for future graduate school admission</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Also, how does UIUC compare with Berkeley for undergraduate studies keeping the future
graduate school in mind?</p>
<p>Thanks a lot.
publicstatic</p>
<p>I don’t think UG college matters at all. I went to an “elite Ivy” for UG and will be going to another for grad school in biology. However, I was in the minority during all my interview visits as most were from state schools.</p>
<p>It is unquestionably easier to get into an engineering graduate program at MIT if you were an MIT undergraduate. In fact, in several engineering departments, including EECS, there is a master’s program (MEng) that is available only to MIT undergrads. About 20% of MIT undergrads go directly to grad school at MIT after graduation (and more will come back after a few years in the workforce).</p>
<p>It is very easy to do research during the school year and during the summer at MIT, and virtually all students do research at some point during their time at MIT. As a result, virtually all students have strong recommendation letters from one or more professors who have firsthand experience with their research potential.</p>
<p>Probably in none of those areas. UIUC, as far as I know, has a really good engineering program. Most REUs are filled with students from other schools. UIUC is a RU/VH school, so no doubt he can get involved with term-time research, and what’s important for recommendation letters is that your recommenders know you well and can give you excellent, strong recommendations.</p>
<p>I found that degree that’s “only available to MIT graduates.” It’s a special program within a department, and it’s only open to MIT students because it’s an integrated 5-year program that allows you to get your bachelor’s and master’s in 5 years. They have an equivalent master’s in the same department that is open only to non-MIT students.</p>
<p>S.M.: A one- or two-year program, beyond the bachelors, leading to the S.M. degree Master of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. This degree is available only to students who were not MIT EECS undergraduates. The entire program, including the thesis, is to be completed in no more than four terms.</p>
<p>[MIT</a> EECS - Undergraduate Brief Guide](<a href=“http://www.eecs.mit.edu/ug/brief-guide.html#mast]MIT”>http://www.eecs.mit.edu/ug/brief-guide.html#mast)</p>
<p>I would debate the statement that is “unquestionably” easier to get into an MIT graduate program if you were an MIT undergraduate. I think that would depend on an individual student’s background.</p>
<p>
Within several departments (though the EECS MEng program is the most popular), yes. </p>
<p>
The general track for graduate studies in the EECS department is the joint master’s/PhD program, which is open to MIT undergrads as well. Since the terminal MEng program exists, though and since admission to that program is guaranteed to any EECS undergrad with a 4.3 GPA, people who are not interested in a PhD choose to do the MEng program. But plenty of SM/PhD students in the department were MIT undergrads.</p>
<p>
As I said above, MIT is the most common graduate school destination of MIT undergrads, which is because the engineering departments preferentially take their own students. The science departments tend not to (hence the reason Harvard is the second-most-common graduate school destination of MIT undergrads). Twenty percent of the class goes to MIT for grad school directly upon graduation – MIT is the best-represented undergraduate origin of MIT grad students. </p>
<p>Of my husband’s class of aerospace engineering majors, all but two (of seventy) were accepted to the department’s graduate program. This is not atypical of engineering departments at MIT.</p>
<p>I mean, MIT engineering is a special case, and it’s not globally true that going to MIT makes it easier to go to grad school at MIT. But going to MIT as an engineering major makes it easier to go to grad school at MIT, except in a few special cases. You can search posts by sakky on the subject – he was a grad student at MIT himself, and he’s posted on the topic many times.</p>
<p>
MIT doesn’t really have a culture of supporting REUs – there are only two very specific REUs listed on the REU site. It’s relatively uncommon for undergrads from other schools to do research at MIT for the summer, since professors can fill their open spots by advertising to MIT undergrads (who are often eligible to be paid by the campus research office).</p>
<p>Depends on the engineering… in chemical, I think there might be a policy of not allowing any MIT undergrad in, and a materials science major I talked to said Materials Science lets only the top 2% or so from their undergrads into the grad program</p>
<p>Well, and it depends on the science department, as well – in my field, biology, MIT undergrads are allowed to apply and are admitted at much greater than the overall admission rate, and the same is true for brain and cognitive sciences, but not physics or chemistry. I can edit to be more accurate.</p>