University Ranking

[Excelsior!]

Do you guys believe that the general ranking of a university (not only its ranking for the specific program) may influence positively or negatively the "value" of a PhD? I am quite concerned about rankings but I don't really know how this works.

[LonelyPoet1]

On 2/12/2018 at 5:22 AM, Excelsior! said:

I am an chemical engineering applicant and I am between Cornell and UT Austin. Austin is ranked higher but Cornell is an Ivy, so I don't know. Of course, I am not going to make a decision based only on that...

I think that when you get to that caliber of school, then either one realistically is going to be seen as a high quality degree. If I were you, I would visit each campus/PI and see what you think will truly fit your interests better because you will most likely get very different experiences from each school, but you would benefit greatly from either school

[unknow]

I went to college in Texas (grew up in Atlanta), and my parents both went to Columbia College, so I know something about generic prestige (nothing specific to engineering).

 

2 things -

(1) UT Austin has a fantastic reputation. They have a top 8% rule in Texas for undergraduate admissions, and people outside of Texas (recently spoke to a Columbia grad) know it.  I believe it’s the 5th best undergrad public university in the country.

(2) UT Austin’s engineering program at the grad level also has some prestige to lay people. People know that the oil industry is there. The former head of Saudi Aramco went to A&M because of this.  Texas schools have excellent reputations in chemical engineering because of this.

Cornell has an excellent reputation as an Ivy, but I wouldn’t sell UT’s reputation short.

Side note - Once you live in Austin you will never want to leave. I used to drive there in undergrad during weekends. (I did not attend UT.)

[Bayesian1701]

UT Austin is a lot warmer and sunny (maybe even too warm in the summer) than Ithaca.  I personally hate winter so I restricted most of my applications to the south so that is something you can consider.  The automatic admissions cutoff top 6% now.  Like @mccp77 said UT is also known as a great engineering school and so you should be fine in terms of industry opportunities. 

[LonelyPoet1]

I think that the general ranking of a school also matters to employers, mostly because they might know the name over other schools that are good only in a certain area.

An example is in plant and animal sciences, where a school like Oregon State University is higher ranked than Yale, but overall, Yale is a more recognizable school, so it might be better to go to Yale. 

[rising_star]

3 hours ago, LonelyPoet1 said:

An example is in plant and animal sciences, where a school like Oregon State University is higher ranked than Yale, but overall, Yale is a more recognizable school, so it might be better to go to Yale. 

This also depends on your post-grad school plans. If you're planning to stay in academia, then going to the higher ranked program makes more sense.

[Excelsior!]

I am an chemical engineering applicant and I am between Cornell and UT Austin. Austin is ranked higher but Cornell is an Ivy, so I don't know. Of course, I am not going to make a decision based only on that...

[Excelsior!]

12 minutes ago, mccp77 said:

I went to college in Texas (grew up in Atlanta), and my parents both went to Columbia College, so I know something about generic prestige (nothing specific to engineering).

 

2 things -

(1) UT Austin has a fantastic reputation. They have a top 8% rule in Texas for undergraduate admissions, and people outside of Texas (recently spoke to a Columbia grad) know it.  I believe it’s the 5th best undergrad public university in the country.

(2) UT Austin’s engineering program at the grad level also has some prestige to lay people. People know that the oil industry is there. The former head of Saudi Aramco went to A&M because of this.  Texas schools have excellent reputations in chemical engineering because of this.

Cornell has an excellent reputation as an Ivy, but I wouldn’t sell UT’s reputation short.

Side note - Once you live in Austin you will never want to leave. I used to drive there in undergrad during weekends. (I did not attend UT.)

Thanks for your answer. I am leaning towards UT Austin atm. I live in a sunny country and I think Ithaca will be harsh for me.