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<p>I couldn’t disagree more. Academics, by definition, are prestige hounds first and foremost.</p>
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<p>Well yes, in that a Uni need to have something that you want to research AND a faculty member is willing to take you on so you can research it. But after that, prestige rules easily.</p>
<p>OP: for engineering, the top four are (and have been for a long time): MIT, Stanford, Caltech and Cal-Berkelely (not necessarily in that order).</p>