Hello everyone. Please help me out! I’ve accepted as an ECE student at these universities except UCLA where I’m EE. I love the ECE course but will probably specialise in CE.
I am an intl student and job opportunities are a priority for me. In addition to software jobs, I’m also interested in consulting/banking jobs. Where do you think intl students have the best opportunity? What are the pros and cons of each university? Please give details.
Also, is ECE at CMU worth the cost in comparison to the rest? It is very expensive but what are the pros?
And, how hard will it be for me to switch to CE at UCLA?
All answers are greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Post Graduation Job Opportunities
All these colleges publish their placement results. However, they may not separate it by international vs domestic students. International, in general, may have limited opportunities compared to US citizens. For computer engineering, it shouldn’t matter much because larger tech companies will sponsor you for work visa/permits. Here are the links for some of these colleges. You can find the rest on their website
GT: “https://webapps.gatech.edu/cfcampus/adors/commencement/salary_report.cfm”
UMich: https://career.engin.umich.edu/annualreport/
CMU: http://www.cmu.edu/career/salaries_and_destinations/
Overall, all these 3 provide similar placement opportunities. However, for computer engineering/computer science graduates, LA location has little edge being closer to Silicon Valley.
Academics
Per US News Report/Ranking, CMU, GATech and UMich are very similar.
GaTech is considered to be quite rigorous and student body is probably more nerdy than the rest on your list. Highly focused on technology and not much opportunities for liberal arts (in case you care about it).
UMich is also well reputed program and you cannot go wrong.
If you have done AP or IB courses, check which of these schools will give you the most credit. It is great to skip introductory courses especially in Humanities and Social studies so you can focus more on core engineering subjects. You will have do some research here. GT has a very liberal policy for giving credits.
Every school has different policy for switching majors after joining. GaTech allows freshman one opportunity to switch majors during their first year. That is nice option to have. On the other hand, undergraduate students apply to the University of Michigan for admission. Once admitted as a student, they can declare a major in computer engineering, computer science, or electrical enginering after taking a year of coursework with an appropriate academic record. Based on this I would say it safer with GATech where you already admitted to the major at admission.
Weather:
GATech, ULCA weather is going to much better (i.e. warmer) than UMich and CMU.
4-yr graduation rate.
CMU is a private university and will have higher 4 year graduation rate compared to rest on your list.
Student body
CMU is smallest (< 7000); GATech about 15,000 undergraduates, while UMich and UCLA are 30,000-40,000 range (check for exact numbers). GATech, UMich and UCLA have significant international student population and diversity given their larger student body size.
Cost
IMO, CMU cost is high and you can get equivalent education and job opportunities at GaTech or UMich.
Overall, considering cost and job opportunities, GATech is a good choice given that you will be admitted into the major on day one and don’t have to reapply at the end of the first year.
Thank you v much!
Job opportunities, as an international student, are usually better in the home country because work rules are tough if you are not a US citizen.
If you require sponsorship, you need to be aware that the government requires that US employers employ US candidates first. Companies have to indicate that there are no US candidates available for any open positions before considering non US applicants. With plenty of CS, EE, ECE, and CE, domestic students, that’s currently not an issue.
You can check any websites and you will note that first pages of websites indicate that they are not sponsoring non US candidates.