<p>IF you are staying in SoCal the USC connections are no small thing
If USC is funded, that is no small thing</p>
<p>Can you simply defer for a year and see how things look?</p>
<p>For most of civil, stanford does not grant deferrals.</p>
<p>I doubt a first year grad student is an expert. The Op could reapply next year and explain the circumstances. As far as cost, I would wager that USC is just as expensive for tuition. Room and board would be saved however. You people are also assuming he wants to stay in So. Cal.</p>
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<p>Two out of the three schools the OP applied to were in Socal so that’s a pretty strong indication that at the very least California is where he/she would like to be.</p>
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<p>Please keep in mind all of your information is second-hand. Nobody likes gossiping about who is doing poorly at institutions they’re invested in (especially not parents, the gossip kings/queens) so there’s a pretty good possibility that your information has been whitewashed. Blah2009 is trying to give an unbiased personal account of what he/she has experienced.</p>
<p>The fact that he is talking about “prestige whores” at his current institution appear to make his personal account less than unbiased. You might read some of his claims of knowledge of the funding process at Stanford from last spring. Personal knowldge of current students is no more second hand than his. What is your purpose in this exchange ? Do you have any first hand info that is relevant ?</p>
<p>I inquired on the OP’s behalf about deferring. if I were actually biased, I would tell the OP to come to stanford. This department can always use more funding. Unfortunately, most of my info is not second hand. My classmates at a recent job fair openly acknowledged that many of them had come here without funding, solely due to Stanford’s name. A lot of them now regret the choice. Waterlogged, you come off as defensive when I provide an inside view of stanford that is contrary to what your daughter is experiencing. The OP needs to hear both sides. It is a big investment after all. You also fail to realize that coming to Stanford would mean him potentially losing his job even though USC might be just as expensive.</p>
<p>As for your previous response in another thread “Also, Stanford does not initially fund all PhDs for the first year. Again Civil I know a person who was initially only offered tuition deferral only. No stipend. I know another person currently at Stanford first year with no funding. Again, I say ranking in grad school should be looked at by department and broad grad school statistics are irrevelant. Plus Stanford’s Engineering, as far as I know, doesn’t release funding statistics. So Blah where are you supposedly getting them from ?”</p>
<p>First off, I made the statement that the vast majority of Ph.D. candidates are funded. Secondly, Advisors will not take on Ph.D. students unless they have funding for them. Period. You claim to know a first year ph.d. student without funding. Are you mistakening him for a Master’s student? Seems kind of strange that he’s a ph.d student in his first year since you aren’t a ph.d. student until you have passed quals. (this usually happens in the second or third year for civil). I know everybody in my division of civil (100 people on a first name basis, 30 of them closely as we share offices), along with numerous others in the other civil disciplines. I along with others have funding from Stanford Graduate Fellowship. All others I know on the ph.d. track, or are officially ph.d., have funding from NDSEG, NSF, and school of engineering fellowships with either TA or RA ships in later post qual years.</p>
<p>thanks everyone for their input. my final choice is USC and it’s because the risk-benefit ratio isn’t enough if i quit everything and put everything down on the line for Stanford. i realize that stanford, although a very good school will not grant me a full time job when i graduate from there. also, USC’s engineering program is geared towards the working professionals such as myself. if i take on stanford, ill be broke and def unsure what the future holds. however, if i keep on working and go to USC… i know ill be making money and advancing within the organization.</p>
<p>i appreciate everyone’s opinion and thoughts. thou i really really want to go to stanford, just based on current market conditions… we won’t see a hiring frenzy we saw back in 03-05 for the real estate boom for civils. weighing on what everyone said, USC and stanford have amazing programs but i would have changed my choice to stanford if the market conditions are better. a sad choice indeed to give up stanford… =(</p>
<p>USC viterbi is nothing to be ashamed of.</p>
<p>Just go to Stanford please</p>
<p>i find it odd that students’ parents post on this forum. i don’t mean to insult any parents here, but it’s a little weird. stage-moms for grad students.</p>
<p>congrats on your decision to go to USC. i think not putting yourself into debt and having secure employment after graduation far outweighs the prestige of stanford’s name.</p>
<p>yea, its ridiculous. I wonder if these parents still provide pampering when their kids are 20+.</p>
<p>well, if they’re applying or already in grad school, then they’re over 20 now.</p>
<p>unless these parents wrote their kids’ applications and do their work for them, i’d trust the judgment of a student whose been in the program for 1 year over that of a parent to someone who has graduated.</p>
<p>i rethought about my decision and im going to STANFORD!!!</p>
<p>gonna check out the school next week for visitation day.</p>
<p>hopefully my MS in Env Eng could lead me a job into management/strategy consulting. being in debt really outweighs the benefits of such a great school and possibly networking with top consulting firms. </p>
<p>and whoever said anything about parents doing apps?? this topic certainly went far into right field.</p>
<p>There are plenty of reasons to choose Stanford over USC, but trying to get into a management consulting with a engineering degree is not one of them. If you are shooting for a top firm like Bain, BCG, etc they hire almost exclusively out of top MBA programs for grad school. In any case, good luck.</p>
<p>You’re speaking to deaf ears here, unfortunately.</p>
<p>it’s ok sfgiants. if i make it, ill be one of the few to actually tell you about it. whoever said an engineer has to do strictly engineering. i grew up in NYC and i have that business aspect inside of me. if anything, it makes me standout more compared to traditional MBA and finance majors at a firm like Bain & Co or Mckinsey.</p>
<p>I can’t imagine someone going to USC over Stanford for anything other than football.</p>
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<p>Do you plan on obtaining a MBA in the future? If you are interested in a managerial/strategy consulting position that utilizes a technical background, a strong MBA may boost your chances at such a job. Although this route is expensive, the return on investment can make it worthwhile for you.</p>
<p>Fair enough, best of luck. Stanford is one of my favorite schools so even if management consulting doesn’t work out you should have plenty of options…</p>