<p>I am currently pursuing my B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Tech. I have an offer from GaTech for a MS in Electrical Engineering (With full funding). The program I got into is a 1 year program, which means that if I do take up the program, I will graduate in December 2011. </p>
<p>I have a good academic record and hence think that I have a good chance at atleast one of these- MIT, Stanford and Berkeley.</p>
<p>I want to do a masters but am not sure about where to do it from. MIT, Stanford and Berkeley have a better reputation than GaTech, but if I do decide to apply to them and if I do decide to wait for their decisions, I will have to start my Masters program in September 2011. Also, I am not sure if I will be able to secure funding from these schools. </p>
<p>Do you guys think that going to one of these other schools will really make a big difference in my career? Should I even consider applying to those schools or should I just take the Georgia Tech option?</p>
<p>As I understand it, funding for non-PhD track Masters are pretty rare. You should take that into consideration. If you’re not considering getting a PhD, I don’t think a degree from Stanford or MIT will make 50k worth of difference in your career. Georgia Tech is a well respect school, and once you start a job where you went to school will quickly become meaningless.</p>
<p>The only caveat is that if you go to Stanford or MIT, you will have access to the large network of alumni. Moreover, both schools are near hubs of entrepreneurship and just by being physically there you improve your ability to get into a start-up.</p>
<p>That’s my 2 cents. You should wait for some more advice before you make a decision.</p>
<p>MIT and Berkeley fund everyone, but that’s because they consider everyone to be a future Ph.D. candidate besides some of their own undergraduate applicants. Terminal M.S. applicants are not competitive in their admissions process, period. Stanford does have a terminal MS program and doesn’t fund those students. You can try to get an RA at Stanford, but your chances are negligible unless you’ve passed the qualifying exams for the Ph.D.</p>