<p>Rejected: Stanford, Berkeley, UIUC
Accepted: CMU!, Cornell! (MEng), USC, UCSB, UCI
Waiting: UMich, UCLA, UCSD (let's assume I get into all these)</p>
<p>Background:
- I've been working in industry for 4 years after I graduated with my BS in Computer Engineering.
- At each school, I applied to the closest thing to a MS Computer Engineering, with a focus in Systems Software & Computer Architecture (which is my interest).
- I don't know if I want to go on to get a PhD. I haven't done any research before, and I would like the chance to do so, before I decide whether an MS or PhD will be my terminal degree.
- I live in Southern California already (which makes USC, UCSB, UCI, UCLA, UCSD all close to me)</p>
<p>Right now I'm mainly looking at CMU and USC (as I think those are the best choices from the list). Obviously, a great education and good future is very important to me (CMU > USC, I assume), but I would really like to be at a school with a better social life (USC > CMU, from what I've heard).</p>
<p>Can anybody give me more info about (career/financial) life after CMU/USC and (social) life while in CMU/USC?</p>
<p>As a graduate student social life really won’t be that huge of a concern. For an MS you’re only going to be on campus for a year or two, and probably a lot of that time will be spent with classmates doing work. You won’t be living on campus, so you’ll have to commute in some form or another, as well.</p>
<p>I was an undergrad at CMU and absolutely loved Pittsburgh for a college city. It’s cheap, accessible without a car, and there’s actually a lot of stuff to do. I’m now living in Los Angeles for grad school and just find everything to be a much greater hassle to do. There’s way more people at everything, and it can be pretty difficult to just find somewhere quiet to get away from everything. (Of course, I have friends that feel the exact opposite way due to personality differences.)</p>
<p>Also, if you’re self-funding, you can get a one bedroom apartment in a nice part of Pittsburgh (Shadyside/Squirrel Hill) for under $600 a month. Here in LA I’m lucky to have gotten one for $1200.</p>
<p>I would go CMU all the way. CMU is known in the field for CS/CE type stuff. Like the poster above said, social life is not that big of an issue especially because you’ll only be there for a year or two, and will spend a lot of time doing hw, etc. </p>
<p>CMU will open a lot of doors for you, and even if you have to sacrifice a little bit of social life, I would take the plunge. You can enjoy the fruits of your labor in a year or two! </p>
<p>Do you think that CMU will open enough doors for me (as compared to USC) to warrant me moving across the country for 2 years, not being around family/friends, and being at a school with a bunch of nerds? Granted, I’m rather nerdy, but I have a balanced lifestyle (I’m hygienic, I snowboard, I play tennis, I workout, I like to cook, etc.)</p>
<p>Everybody in graduate school is a nerd. But that doesn’t mean that we have no social life. I’m in graduate school right now. Me and my graduate school friends go to workout classes together, we go to concerts together, we watch stupid YouTube videos together, we cook meals together, and we’re all pretty clean. We’re still humans, we just desire a professional degree to enhance our career options in the fields of our choice.</p>
<p>Given that the cost is about equal, I do think that CMU is a better choice for computer engineering, AND the cost of living in Pittsburgh is lower than that in Southern California. And if you want to move back to CA in two years, nothing is stopping you from doing that.</p>
<p>This actually describes a lot of my friends from CMU.</p>
<p>I’ve also found that more of the people I’ve met in grad school are well rounded than the people I know that went off to industry. I think in grad school you need to be well rounded otherwise you’ll go stir crazy either due to the overload of technical class you’re taking or the amount of work you need to do in the lab. It’s important to know how to blow off steam and get your mind off those problems that don’t go away when you leave at the end of the day.</p>
Data from US News & World Report: Best Grad Schools 2012</p>
<p>The important thing is that I’m not too concerned about the difference. I’m more concerned with quality of education, post-MS opportunities, and social life.</p>
<p><a href=“I’m%20hygienic,%20I%20snowboard,%20I%20play%20tennis,%20I%20workout,%20I%20like%20to%20cook,%20etc.”>quote</a>
This actually describes a lot of my friends from CMU.
<p>Keep in mind the stories you’ve heard have probably been of undergrads, possibly of CS loungers (which no longer exists). Graduate school is a completely different beast. Heck, I go to Caltech now, so I can certainly tell you there’s a huge different between the graduate and undergraduate student populations. Keep in mind that grads come from all sorts of schools across the country (I have friends here from schools like Olin and MIT to Arizona State and USC).</p>
<p>Anyway, once again, social life isn’t going to be that big of a deal in graduate school. If you’re doing a research-based MS you decision should almost be entirely off of which school has advisors you want to work with. They’re the people who will most likely be helping you get a job; they’re the people that will be your boss for a year while you work on a research project. They’re the ones deciding how much time you’ll actually have for a social life.</p>
<p>I’m also deciding between CMU and USC, except for a CS degree at USC and an Information Technology degree specialized in Software Engineering at CMU (in the CS school, but not CS dept). I live on the east coast, so CMU would be a much closer and easier move, however, I kind of want to try out the west coast more-sociable lifestyle at USC. I don’t think it’d be worth it career-wise to turn down CMU though…</p>
<p>From a financial standpoint, if you are self-funded, you will come out way ahead if you go to one of the UC’s that you got into. Sure, CMU has a good name, but $13,000 < $50,000 (or whatever CMU’s tuition is).</p>
<p>On the other hand, if you get a fully funded research position at any of these schools, take it.</p>
<p>Some good points here, thanks. I have no idea how the advisor/student relationship works, how research works, etc. I have no research background, but I would like to try to get my hand into research in my MS program. How hard is it to do that? How do I research which advisor(s) I want to work with at CMU (or USC)? I imagine that even if I do pick an advisor I like (presumably just by looking at the faculty directory) that they will probably be too busy with PhD students (especially a CMU prof).</p>
<p>Also, I’m not sure my decision should be based ENTIRELY on the advisor I want to work with. After all, I don’t know if I even like research, and my main plan is to go back to industry after my MS. CMU grads have much better job prospects than USC (it seems).</p>
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<p>Well, I’ve lived in SoCal for a while, and I can tell you that outside of school (at least for a CS major) there’s not much social life to be had. Most people you’ll meet outside of school are into partying/clubbing/bar-hopping XOR bible-hugging/church-nazis (in my experience). However, the social scene at USC is probably amazing, which is part of the reason I’m interested in going there.</p>
<p>So, ok sure I’ll save $18k per year by choosing UCLA over USC, or even $32k by choosing UCLA over CMU. However, over my 30+ year career, I think I’m willing to make that sacrifice if it will give me better career opportunities (even if it doesn’t mean a better salary, which it probably does).</p>
<p>I honestly don’t think there is a big enough difference in name brand value between the UCs (esp UCLA) and CMU – especially not for grad school. Also, if you find work with a professor who is well known in his field, you should not have too much trouble finding a job afterwards, regardless of the school name.</p>
<p>I’d recommend calling CMU and asking what your prospects are of getting a research assistantship there as a grad student. Tell them you can’t pay for it yourself, and you are going to need some help. Be prepared to say “no deal” if they tell you “No - because you are a master’s student.”</p>
<p>I did this exact thing with Georgia Tech, and I ended up with a fully-funded research assistantship at Auburn. Although Auburn does not have a name like Georgia Tech does, it still has a good engineering school, and my advisor has lots of connections to the engineering field. Most importantly, I have zero debt, and I do not apologize.</p>
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