<p>I have gotten into the Masters program at CMU (ECE) , UCLA (EE) , UPenn (Emb Sys), Columbia (Comp. Engineering).</p>
<p>Among these schools I am looking towards CMU and UCLA right now. My field is Embedded Sensing and Sensor Networks. Now UCLA has amazing labs in this domain namely NESL and ASCENT. Truly legendary profs in exactly my field of interest. </p>
<p>But CMU is a great brand too especially in ECE and great faculty for Emb. Sys. but with slightly different areas than my exact domain of interest. I also know that my interests might expand after going to graduate school. </p>
<p>I want to do a PhD , but not sure exactly when, either after a job or directly. So I am concerned with both job and PhD opportunities. I have heard CMU gets amazing jobs for its ECE grads. Don't know much about UCLA in this regard, especially with guys into embedded .</p>
<p>Can some people shed light on which school to choose based on (higher rank->more weightage)-</p>
<ol>
<li>Research and Funding opportunities</li>
<li>Job Opportunities /Summer Intern opportunities(I especially want to
know how UCLA is in this regard)</li>
<li>Stepping Stone for a possible PhD at the same or a higher ranked
program.</li>
<li>Cost and Living expense</li>
<li>Campus and overall student experience.</li>
</ol>