Help - Berkeley vs Stanford vs Gatech

[vivekwaters]

Okay, I just got a reject from MIT last evening by post, was my dream school. Anyway, I am not disappointed. I've got other good options in hand and MIT was probably not meant to be.. I really need some help from you guys on deciding where to go. All my options are equally interesting and appealing to me and I DON'T mind having to take up a loan. So purely from an industry career perspective, where do you guys think I should go?

I have plans of pursuing an MBA later on, so I have to look on what would be good from that angle as well.

I'll just list my choices below.

1. UC Berkeley - MS in Chemical Engineering with specialization on Product Development.

2. Stanford - Dual Masters in Management science and engg and Chemical Engineering

3. Georgia Tech - MS in Chemical Engineering fully funded plus 26k per annum stipend.

4. U Michigan - Ann Arbor - MS in Chemical Engineering

5. Carnegie Mellon - Dual Masters in Chemical Engg and Colloids, Polymers and Surfaces.

6. Northwestern - MS in Chemical Engineering

7. U Penn - MS in Chemical Engineering

Frankly, I am not really considering beyond the first 4 options but just for the record, I have them also in hand.

But I am open to hearing what you guys have to say.. In a real dilemma.. Help me!!

[Aceflyer]

I'd go with Gatech for the funding. Going into debt is not fun.

Academically, though (ignoring the funding issue), it seems like Stanford would be your best bet. However, I think funding is a very important issue to consider.

Best of luck deciding! Those are some awesome options you have; congrats.

[vivekwaters]

Yes, perhaps it does boil down to Gatech vs Stanford.. How well is a degree from Berkeley (chemical engineering, ranked 1) recognized for an industrial career? I've heard that even though Stanford may be ranked lower than Berkeley, if the industry and corporate world is what I want, I should choose Stanford over Berkeley. Is that true?

[clx]

Berkeley is very hard to beat in pretty much all its chemistry disciplines. Go Stanford only if you're into management (Dual degree there). However, as mentioned above, since the only place with funding is at GaTech...