Anonymous
Post 02/18/2026 12:37     Subject: Choosing program prestige over college prestige
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:University of Michigan has a great Engineering and CS program would take it over many perceived "prestigious" schools.


This! Same with a school like Purdue. Better engineering than most overall more prestigious schools.


Nah, the student quality is lower.
Anonymous
Post 02/18/2026 12:20     Subject: Re:Choosing program prestige over college prestige
Anonymous wrote:Yes of course. Especially for pre-med or pre-law, it’s so much smarter to do undergrad at an in-state honors program, get top GPAs, and save money for a top 20 medical school. No one cares where you went to undergrad if you have a Harvard law or Stanford medical degree (no one remembers Barack Obama went to Occidental).

So many kids get burned out from grade deflation at undergrads like Johns Hopkins, Princeton, Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, U Chicago and have little gas left in the tank (plus no savings and low GPA) left to support a run for a top post-grad which is where it will really count in this AI era.


All of the schools you mention are no longer deflated. Lower than Harvard and Brown's median GPA of 3.9, to be fair, but hardly deflated. As of 2022-2023 they have medians of 3.65-3.75 and rising. Same or higher range than UVA, UCB, UCLA. As long as one can be around average at those schools, they can get into tier-2 med and law, if they can be a little above average (3.85+)they can get T14 law and T20 med. Med and Law schools know the medians of undergrads, they know a 3.90 at Harvard or Brown is around the same as a 3.75 from the less inflated ivy-types.
Anonymous
Post 02/18/2026 12:17     Subject: Choosing program prestige over college prestige
Anonymous wrote:University of Michigan has a great Engineering and CS program would take it over many perceived "prestigious" schools.


This! Same with a school like Purdue. Better engineering than most overall more prestigious schools.
Anonymous
Post 02/18/2026 12:16     Subject: Choosing program prestige over college prestige
Anonymous wrote:University of Michigan has a great Engineering and CS program would take it over many perceived "prestigious" schools.


I get what you are trying to say, but Michigan is a whole is prestigious in basically every program. Undergraduate Engineering, CS, and Business are clear standouts though.
Anonymous
Post 02/18/2026 12:13     Subject: Choosing program prestige over college prestige
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:University of Michigan has a great Engineering and CS program would take it over many perceived "prestigious" schools.


yes -just toured and in gtech but kid still thinks ivy is better-even though they are not for engineering


But ivies are better, assuming you mean the ones with real engineering schools, due to more funded engineering opportunities for undergrad, smaller E-cohort thus greater ability to get top faculty letters, competitive TA spots, faculty connections, and higher reputations with regard to top industry jobs and top phD placement.
Anonymous
Post 02/18/2026 11:50     Subject: Choosing program prestige over college prestige
How about physics major for UMD vs UVA? Kid is more inclined to choose UMD due to the research opportunities and the global reputation of the UMD physics department, but saying no to UVA seems silly given the overall prestige.
Anonymous
Post 02/18/2026 11:48     Subject: Re:Choosing program prestige over college prestige
Yes of course. Especially for pre-med or pre-law, it’s so much smarter to do undergrad at an in-state honors program, get top GPAs, and save money for a top 20 medical school. No one cares where you went to undergrad if you have a Harvard law or Stanford medical degree (no one remembers Barack Obama went to Occidental).

So many kids get burned out from grade deflation at undergrads like Johns Hopkins, Princeton, Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, U Chicago and have little gas left in the tank (plus no savings and low GPA) left to support a run for a top post-grad which is where it will really count in this AI era.
Anonymous
Post 02/18/2026 11:39     Subject: Choosing program prestige over college prestige
Anonymous wrote:My kid is considering VT for English - yes, English, not engineering - over UVA for English. VT is accepting a lot of my kid's AP credits and will give him time to explore other classes/majors and participate in many activities.


I’m assuming “vibe” also comes into play in his decision.
Anonymous
Post 02/18/2026 11:16     Subject: Choosing program prestige over college prestige
My kid is considering VT for English - yes, English, not engineering - over UVA for English. VT is accepting a lot of my kid's AP credits and will give him time to explore other classes/majors and participate in many activities.
Anonymous
Post 02/18/2026 09:59     Subject: Choosing program prestige over college prestige
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:This is a hill I die on. It will serve you much better to go to a prestigious college over a prestigious program.

Yeah, let me go study public policy at Indiana instead of Yale! That's the way! Please.


100%.. Econ at an ivy or Stanford will get one much further in life than Ross at Michigan or McIntire or anything else that is not Wharton at Penn. Even Econ through arts& sciences at Penn is better than Ross or McIntire, and has almost the same outcomes as Wharton.

Same with Engineering. Engineering at the ivies that have it, or Northwestern, or Hopkins, will lead to much better career options and phd placements than Purdue or VT.

Global reputation and endowment matter more than ever for research funding, the rankings that focus on research output and industry reputation will be better environments for undergraduates, especially stem.


Again, this entire argument is a strawman, this thread is not about choosing an average state flagship over an ivy.
Anonymous
Post 02/18/2026 09:29     Subject: Choosing program prestige over college prestige
Anonymous wrote:This is a hill I die on. It will serve you much better to go to a prestigious college over a prestigious program.

Yeah, let me go study public policy at Indiana instead of Yale! That's the way! Please.


100%.. Econ at an ivy or Stanford will get one much further in life than Ross at Michigan or McIntire or anything else that is not Wharton at Penn. Even Econ through arts& sciences at Penn is better than Ross or McIntire, and has almost the same outcomes as Wharton.

Same with Engineering. Engineering at the ivies that have it, or Northwestern, or Hopkins, will lead to much better career options and phd placements than Purdue or VT.

Global reputation and endowment matter more than ever for research funding, the rankings that focus on research output and industry reputation will be better environments for undergraduates, especially stem.
Anonymous
Post 02/18/2026 09:17     Subject: Choosing program prestige over college prestige
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Are any of your kids doing this? Say, VT Engineering over UVA Engineering? Are there other cases?


Friend's kid did the opposite- ED'd to UVA for engineering and the father is mad! Thinks the kid should've gone for Tech but agreed to the ED thinking he'd never get in. Whoops.


I was the opposite.

My kid wanted to do engineering but I wasn't so sure it would be a satisfying career for him considering his other interests. So I encouraged him to go to UVA because there are so many opportunities outside of engineering at UVA and far fewer at VT and the UVA brand name will make up for some of the engineering specific gap. It looks like he is going to graduate with an engineering degree so I wonder if I encouraged him to hedge his bests for no reason.
Anonymous
Post 02/18/2026 08:23     Subject: Choosing program prestige over college prestige
Anonymous wrote:This is a hill I die on. It will serve you much better to go to a prestigious college over a prestigious program.

Yeah, let me go study public policy at Indiana instead of Yale! That's the way! Please.


Indiana is ranked very high in public policy. For certain jobs or types of jobs it can be better than Yale. Two different programs.
Anonymous
Post 02/18/2026 07:37     Subject: Choosing program prestige over college prestige
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Are any of your kids doing this? Say, VT Engineering over UVA Engineering? Are there other cases?


It’s actually more important for job opportunities to choose programs prestige. We only recruit in select programs.


I really hope this is the case for our kid. The school they will attend has a 75% acceptance rate, but an excellent program for her major. She was also accepted into schools with 40% acceptance rates, but with non-stellar programs.
Anonymous
Post 02/17/2026 19:53     Subject: Choosing program prestige over college prestige
Anonymous wrote:University of Michigan has a great Engineering and CS program would take it over many perceived "prestigious" schools.


yes -just toured and in gtech but kid still thinks ivy is better-even though they are not for engineering