Princeton vs. UC Berkeley (Civil Engineering)

College Search & Lists
1

<p>Hey guys, I’m from New Jersey and I wanted your opinions about the following: Should I attend Princeton or UC Berkeley for Civil Engineering?</p>

<p>Several factors that I need to consider are: money(where Princeton is about 8 grand less per year than UCB); Engineering (where UCB is clearly ahead); and overall learning opportunities, reputation, and alumni (Princeton).</p>

<p>I’m leaning strongly towards Princeton and am wondering whether this is a good choice for the future. Please let me know and thanks a bunch.</p>

2

<p>NRC Civil Engineering Rankings</p>

<p>1—Berkeley
2—UT Austin
3—MIT
4—Princeton
5—Yale
6—Stanford
7—U. of Illinois Urbana
8—Georgia Tech
9—Purdue
10–Northwestern</p>

3

<p>^ old ranking. Here’s the newer version</p>

<p>[NRC</a> Rankings Overview: Civil and Environmental Engineering - Faculty - The Chronicle of Higher Education](<a href=“http://chronicle.com/article/NRC-Rankings-Overview-Civil/124715/]NRC”>http://chronicle.com/article/NRC-Rankings-Overview-Civil/124715/)</p>

<p>which shows that both are excellent for CEE–Princeton is ranked #1 for quality (Berkeley #3), and Berkeley hits the top spot for reputation.</p>

<p>So it’s not true that Berkeley engineering wins here.</p>

4

<p>^^^^nope, the rankings that I posted are the NEW rankings with both s and r rankings considered together…</p>

<p><a href=“http://graduate-school.phds.org/rankings/civil-engineering/rank/_MMH_____H________H_____________________H_______________________U[/url]”>http://graduate-school.phds.org/rankings/civil-engineering/rank/_MMH_____H________H_____________________H_______________________U&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>the point in my post was that Princeton and UC Berkeley are not far apart in the Civil Engineering rankings, which is the same as your conclusion.</p>

5

<p>Thank you guys. I really really appreciate this. Anyone else?</p>

6

<p>Also, I’m thinking that these are doctoral rankings. Any idea for undergraduate studies?</p>

7

<p>For undergraduate, Princeton. This is based strictly on the quality of attention. For graduate, UCB.</p>

8

<p>Princeton is the clear choice. Employers will care about the overall strength of your university over the strength of your particular specialty, at least for undergrad.</p>

9

<p>Both will give you a good education in CE and both are excellent schools overall should you choose to change majors. Do you foresee yourself working as a civil engineer as your career or is this just a degree that would allow you to explore other options (into business consulting, i-banking, etc.)? If you see yourself as a civil engineer for your career, then do you think you would prefer to have your career on the east coast or the west coast? While both are national universities, I would guess (and you should check with the outplacement departments of both) that the companies which recruit CEs will be more regional in scope. Good luck!</p>

10

<p>

Very true.</p>