<p>I've been admitted into the PhD program at the University of Southern California and the Masters of Engineering program at Cornell to study Electrical Engineering. If I decide to just get a Masters degree, which school do you think would offer the most in terms of jobs after graduation? USC would be free (TA), I'd have to pay/take out loans for Cornell.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Being apart of the trojan Family is cool.lol Both schools will give u great job opportunities but a PhD has more money making power than a masters degree and its free at USC compared to like 30 plus for a masters degree at cornell. where did u do ur undergrad? i would go with USC it makes more sense economically.</p>
<p>I did my undergrad at Texas A&M. I think I'd like being in L.A. more than Ithaca, but Cornell does have much better name recognition -- at least here in TX. If I was working in CA then maybe the Trojan Family would be more important? I don't really know first hand how strong the alumni groups from either school are. Also, if I went all the way to a PhD then I'd be interested in researching nanoelectronics, which is very strong at Cornell.</p>
<p>sound likes ur leaning towards cornell and consider all ur options, maybe seek advise from people in ur field of study since they will know what the industry u r going into wants grads from, good luck</p>
<p>Thanks. Yeah, I'm going to call tomorrow to check and see what kind of financial support I might get from Cornell. I doubt it's worth paying $30-40k to go there over USC though. If you believe the US News rankings, USC is actually above Cornell for their graduate engineering anyway.</p>
<p>USNWR is crap. Cornell has an excellent rep for engineering, much higher than on that list. I hate LA but I would personally take the free ride. 40k is not worth the better name. Do you plan on completing a PhD? If you do, then I would suck it up paying for a year at Cornell because the nanoscience facilities there are unparalleled in the country.</p>
<p>Ask the professors at Cornell if you might be able to get an assistantship after completing a semester. Often professors will find funding for a student who is doing good work. I would imagine that over 90 percent of Cornell's grad students in engineering are getting support.</p>
<p>If you get a full year TA job you will make up about one third of the tuition at Cornell. Be sure to check ahead of time though - these could be gone by the time you get there in the Fall. Plus they sometimes award you "mystery grants" (that appear to have something to do with your TA ratings) at the end of each semester. All in all, a full year of TAing plus grants will pay for about half of tuition.</p>
<p>You should be aware that many people choose the M.Eng as a terminal degree. It's certainly possible to do the Ph.D after M.Eng, but you'll have to re-apply.</p>
<p>Also, don't forget that it's easy to blow 5 years in a Ph.D program. The M.Eng takes just one year. The salary difference is 20k max (and almost nil for an M.Eng with 5 years of work experience), so it's not worth it for purely financial reasons.</p>
<p>Cornell has a strong reputation nationwide and USC is seen as an overpriced party school (slight exageration but it is).</p>
<p>By the way - USC does have a very stong alumni network in Southern California, but Cornell wins easily anywhere else.</p>
<p>Well, in your opinion is it worth the price of tuition + living expenses (or 1/2 tuition + living if I could get a TA, which when I called they said are typically offered to students that completed their undergrad at Cornell - plus, if you're a TA then would you still have time to take enough coursework to complete the MEng in 2 semesters?) to complete a MEng at Cornell vs tuition and living expenses both paid for by being a TA at USC for a MS (27 hours, 2-3 semesters)? </p>
<p>I guess I'm basically asking if Cornell's MEng in EE is worth $40k+ over USC.</p>
<p>It's impossible to answer that one because we just don't know the future. Unless you have a strong reason for choosing Cornell, having USC for free is probably the better choice.</p>
<p>If you were in the Ph.D program at Cornell you'd get full support (TA + stipend); that's the difference here - professional masters vs. Ph.D program. </p>
<p>It's possible to complete the M.Eng in 2 sems while TAing. TAing usually involves teaching a couple of labs per week and grading some papers. It's also true that Cornell likes it's undergrads for M.Eng, so they get first dibs on the aid.</p>
<p>Hi,
I have received an admission call from ECE Cornell for MEng program and from Duke University for MEM program</p>
<p>Can anyone please give me some tips about these programs. is it really worth to spend so much for these programs and whether these programs would offer me any help in job/responsibility/salary.</p>
<p>I have 6 yeas of relevant work experience in wireless communication and networks and right now i am a technical lead at Alcatel-Lucent.</p>
<p>Which one is better- Duke or Cornell ??</p>
<p>-Sid</p>