Heh, I'm the same - currently a ME, going into CE, potentially at Stanford. No I didn't go to recruiting weekend, I only found out about my acceptance yesterday (I applied for no funding and so I was able to submit my app as late as March 17th lol).
I'm going to be visiting Stanford this weekend, do you have any recommendations of what I should check out? I would really appreciate it.
Oh actually what I meant by whether going to Stanford is "worth it" is based on this: For UCLA, it would only take me 1yr+2quarters to graduate. For Stanford, it would take me 2yrs+2quarters to graduate (due to some classes only being offered certain quarters, and because I'm only currently a Mechanical Engineer and thus do not have certain prereqs satisfied). UCLA tuition is 10K/yr, while Stanford is 40K/yr. This translates to total cost of tuition (after graduating) from UCLA being approx 16.7K. Stanford would be 106.7K.
Also, at the same time, I know that at the company I interned last summer (which is a upper tier Fortune 500 company), offers 60K starting salaries for civil engineers, and only a 5K boost if you have a M.S. (thus, 65K starting salary).
So I guess my concern is, would that 106.7K price tag from Stanford justify such a mere salary boost? I'm sure other companies might provide better boosts, or even better base salaries to begin with. But what do you guys think? "Is it worth it?" Is there something I'm unaware about --- that maybe Stanford grads simply receive much better salary opportunities in their career prospects?
P.S.
To: "lightyears, you're also currently a ME undergrad I'm guessing? I was wondering, have you looked at the prereqs that I'm guessing you haven't fulfilled yet before you can begin Stanford's structural engineering program? These are basic classes such as Design of Steel Structures, Design of Reinforced Concrete Structures, etc etc......I obviously haven't fulfilled those yet, as a ME undergrad, and thus these classes, along with some other prereqs, are really going to delay my time-to-graduate. I was wondering if you have the same problem?