NU vs. WUSTL vs. CMU [math/operations research/industrial engineering]

generaljoe
Mon, 06 Apr 2009 01:38:25 +0000

I got into NU, Wash U in St. Louis, and Carnegie Mellon, and I’m trying to assess their academic programs for math and operations research/ industrial engineering (I don’t know the difference).

From what I’ve been reading, Northwestern seems to have the better math program. However, Carnegie Mellon has a concentration in Operations Research (OR). If I’m ultimately going to go onto graduate school, should I just go for the better math program and then study OR at grad level? Even though Northwestern doesn’t offer an Operations Research program per se, would it make sense to major in math and take courses related to OR? Also, Northwestern boasts a very impressive Industrial Engineering program. Is there much of a difference between Operations Research and Industrial Engineering? Does Industrial Engineering require study of the natural sciences (chem, phyics, etc.)? Operations research seems to say away from those sciences.

Thank you for any help.