Avoid elite Chemical Engineering programs - advice from a grad student. OchemE Registered User Posts. If you are looking for a solid program from which you will learn a lot and land plenty of job offers and graduate school acceptance letters, AVOID chemical engineering programs at UCB, and elite schools in general. Avoid elite Chemical. Graduate work in chemical engineering provides an opportunity for study and research at the cutting edge to contribute to shaping a new model of what chemical engineering is and what chemical engineers do. Ranked 3 out of 121 total majors when it comes to earnings potential, Chemical Engineering grads make an average of 49.0% more than the standard college graduate. More specifically, Chemical Engineering graduates record average early career earnings of $64,203 and mid-career pay of $109,070. The University of Maryland in College Park was ranked 33rd among schools offering graduate chemical engineering programs by U.S. News and World Report in 2016.
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I am currently a PhD student in the chemical engineering department at UC Berkeley. Based on what I and other grad students have observed about the quality of the undergraduate program, I decided to start taking action to warn prospective undergraduate students not to heed the so-called US News 'rankings' of undergraduate chemical engineering programs at elite schools. I also attended a 'top ten' undergraduate program, but a slot or two lower than Berkeley according to US News. I can't remember what the order was when I started my PhD (it shuffles around). 22 replies
I also attended a large public research institution as an undergraduate, but based on the US News ranking I automatically assumed that the UCB undergrad program would be more difficult when it came time to be a GSI. I assumed more math and computer knowledge would be required and applied in the courses. I assumed the workload would be invariably higher, the classes would be smaller, and the students would demonstrate a better understanding of the material on exams. In all, I was expecting to be wowed and feared I would feel inadequate as a GSI, because I had always taken US News rankings seriously. What I found was stunningly the opposite. In chemical engineering major courses, there were up to 100 students in a class. My major courses never exceeded 50, and were almost always around 30 or less. The classes of 100 also only get 2 GSI's at Berkeley. Since there isn't enough man power to assign and correct an adequate load of homework and a reasonable frequency of midterms (which I consider three per semester) with only 2 GSI's, the homework and exam loads were drastically reduced compared to my own program- both in difficulty and quantity. There was only one midterm exam in the class I taught, and only 2 homework problems were assigned per week. There was also a lab component to the class, which met for only 1.5 hours a week and no formal reports were required. For purposes of comparison, the equivalent course at my undergraduate institution involved an average of 6-8 problems a week (each of which was longer and more difficult than the 2 problems a week the Berkeley students were assigned - I still have all my homeworks), three midterm exams, 6-8 hours of lab per week, formal reports on those labs (which average 10-15 pages each double spaced - I still have those too), and an end-of-semester project (which was 30 pages long in my case), in addition to the final exam. I felt bad for the UCB students, so I would give them practice problems from my undergrad archives. But sadly, most of the problems would have been way too hard, because they were not taught or expected to know what it took to solve them. So I had to modify them and water them down a bit to make them tractable for the majority of students. In summary, the difficulty and quantity of the work assigned to the UCB chemE undergrads doesnt even hold a candle to what I had and another large public university. Thankfully though, I learned a great deal from the class, and since my tuition was a lot cheaper, I also got a lot more bang for my buck. I am finally beginning to see why the grad programs at places like MIT, Berkeley, and so-on, are dominated by graduates of Big-Ten schools, GA Tech, UT Austin, etc. The programs are tough, but you'll learn a lot more, you'll have a higher chance of getting into a top graduate program, and may get more job offers too (I had offers from Shell, Dow, Exxon, United Technologies, and Merck. Some of those places don't even recruit undergrads from elite schools). If you are looking for a solid program from which you will learn a lot and land plenty of job offers and graduate school acceptance letters, AVOID chemical engineering programs at UCB, and elite schools in general. Even at private elite schools with small classes, there is a lot of grade inflation (more As given out for a given caliber of student), hand-holding and spoon-feeding. You will have an easy ride because you wont be expected to do much independent thinking (from what I have heard from the grad students in my department who attended places like Princeton and Stanford anyway). Dont get cheated out of what the hard work you are capable of (and the money you are paying) should be earning for you. Pick your undergraduate chemical engineering program wisely, not based on US News rankings.
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Replies to: Avoid elite Chemical Engineering programs - advice from a grad student
Do you dream of building driverless cars or a space elevator? You should check out the best engineering schools in the US!
But with so many different engineering schools out there and intense competition for the top programs, how can you figure out where should you apply? To help you decide, we’ve compiled a list of the best engineering schools in the US. We’ll explain a little bit about each school on the list as well as provide rankings within specific subfields of engineering.
What Is an Engineering School?
Engineering schools are colleges with a majority of majors and courses in applied sciences and mathematics. Rather than providing students with a broad liberal arts experience (of which science and math are just a small part), engineering programs center around taking the scientific and mathematical knowledge we have and applying it to real-world problems.
There’s also a difference between schools of engineering (which exclusively focus on engineering fields like mechanical and computer engineering) and larger universities that have strong engineering programs within them (like Cornell University’s College of Engineering). We’ve considered both types of schools in our rankings.
How We Ranked the Best Engineering Schools
In deciding which schools to include in our rankings, we focused only on the quality of undergraduate engineering programs. We did this by aggregating and comparing rankings from several different sources, including the US News & WorldReports (weighted 2x the others because of their dominance), Niche (a student satisfaction-heavy ranking), and College Factual.
These rankings take into account factors like students’ salaries (both immediately after graduating and projected gains in the future), how popular that degree is at that school, student satisfaction, and how peers in the field view the program (mainly professors from other schools).
The Top 25 Engineering Schools in the US
And now (drumroll please), our list of the best engineering schools in the US.
Note: All acceptance rates listed are for the school as a whole and are meant to give you a general idea of the schools’ selectivity. For more details on admissions for a specific program, you should contact the school directly.
Best Specialized Engineering Programs
While all of the schools on our list are highly ranked overall, certain specialties are stronger at certain schools. We’ve chosen the gold, silver, and bronze medalists for five different subfields:
The rankings here are based on specialty rankings from US News & World Report and College Factual, again for undergraduate programs only (not including the quality of masters or doctorate programs at the school).
You’ll notice some overlap over different fields (for instance, MIT, Georgia Tech, and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology rank for most of them), but there are still clear differences in which schools are best for which specialty.
Best Aerospace Engineering Schools in the US
Aerospace engineering is the field you go into if you’re interested in studying flight of any kind (whether that’s aircraft or spacecraft). The best aerospace engineering programs can be found in the following four schools:
Gold medal: MIT and Georgia Tech (tie)
Silver medal: UMich
Bronze medal: Cal Poly
Best Chemical Engineering Schools in the US
Chemical engineering is at the intersection of chemistry, biology, math, and even some physics. The following three programs all do an outstanding job at turning out graduates skilled in chemical engineering.
Gold medal: MIT
Silver medal: Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Bronze medal: Georgia Tech
Best Civil Engineering Schools in the US
Students in civil engineering programs learn about designing, building, and maintaining physical structures like bridges, buildings, and roads. The following three schools have leading programs in civil engineering for undergraduates.
Gold medal: Georgia Tech
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Silver medal: Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Bronze medal: MIT
Best Computer Engineering Schools in the US
Computer engineering programs focus on teaching students computer science and electrical engineering. The three schools we’ve listed below have the best undergraduate computer engineering programs in the US (if you're looking for top information technology programs, check out this article instead).
Gold medal: Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Silver medal: UMich
Bronze medal: Princeton
Bonus: Want a preview of what sorts of tools you'll be using as a computer engineer? Read our article on the JavaScript TypeOf function here.
Best Mechanical Engineering Schools in the US
Mechanical engineering programs teach students the theory and practicalities behind machine design, construction, and use. Of all the top engineering schools, the following four are known for their strong mechanical engineering programs.
Gold medal: MIT
Silver medal: Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and Georgia Tech (tie)
Bronze medal: Caltech
Best Graduate Chemical Engineering Schools3 Top Tips for Applying to Engineering Schools
Now that you know what the best engineering schools in the US are, the next step is to make sure your high school transcript and application show that you’re a strong engineering candidate.
We’ll go over three useful tips for planning your standardized testing, coursework, and extracurriculars to have the best chance of getting into top engineering schools.
#1: Ace SAT/ACT Math
If you want to get into a top engineering school, you need to get a perfect or near-perfect score on SAT or ACT Math. Getting an 800 or a 36 is best, especially for schools like MIT where only 25% of students got below a 780 or a 34 on the SAT or ACT Math sections.
For engineering schools in general, it’s way better to get 800 on SAT Math and 550 on Evidence-Based Reading and Writing (for a total SAT score of 1350) than it would be to get a 700 on Math and 700 on EBRW (total of 1400). Extremely high math scores (and mediocre reading/writing scores) are always, always preferred over medium-high math scores and medium-high reading/writing scores.
Ophcrack xp live cd 2.0 1 iso version. At a minimum, you’ll need to get at least a 700 on SAT Math or a 30 on ACT Math to have a chance of getting into a good engineering school.
If you take any SAT Subject Tests, it’s important to take and get a perfect 800 on a SAT Math Subject Test (preferably Math 2) to show you’re strong in Math beyond what’s covered on the SAT or ACT. Getting a perfect or high score on SAT II Physics or any other science Subject Test as well isn’t required, but it also will help your application.
#2: Take Lots of Science and Math
If you want to get into top engineering schools, it's less important to be well rounded than to show that you have a solid foundation in math.
Showing that you’re strong in science, too, is a nice bonus, particularly if your strength is in a field closely related to the type of engineering you’re interested in (e.g. bio or chem for chemical engineering).
Chemical Engineering School Rankings
Demonstrate your strengths to colleges by taking (and excelling) in advanced math and science classes. This means taking honors-level,AP, or IB courses and putting as much effort as you can into getting top grades in them, even if it means you end up with relatively lower grades in other subjects.
#3: Excel in Math and Science Extracurriculars
As PrepScholar co-founder Allen Cheng discusses in his guide to getting into Harvard and the Ivy League, the key to getting accepted to the most selective institutions is to build up a “spike” in a certain area. For engineering schools, this area is (you guessed it) math and/or science.
Taking part and scoring highly on Math or Science Olympiads and participating in competitions like Intel or Siemens Westinghouse are crucial to building your engineering extracurricular creds. PrepScholar co-founder Fred Zhang particularly recommends going to the RSI science and math camp and scoring highly on the AIME to boost your chances of acceptance to top engineering schools in the US.
What’s Next?![]()
Where can you get the most money to study engineering? Find out with our compilation of the best engineering scholarships.
Not sure if engineering is the right subject for you? We go into what some of the other highest-paying college majors are in this article.
Liked this list of schools? Check out some of our other best-of-specialty-school lists, including the best film schools, best video game design schools, best journalism schools, and best creative writing schools.
Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points? We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:
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