<p>Hi guys, I preparing to apply for CS Masters programs for Fall 2014, in the next few weeks and I have some questions on the importance of location. </p>
<p>I'm looking to get into software development and having moved to Texas recently (family reasons), I will have the opportunity to pay instate tuition for UT Austin, which has a great program in a great location for what I want to do(lots of tech companies, thriving startup space etc). The problem is Texas is not necessarily where I want to be long term, I'd much prefer to move back home to New York City after school or maybe the west coast.</p>
<p>I suppose my question is this: Does it make sense to go to grad school in an area I do not necessarily intend to be long term, am I diluting the the potential that the program could offer me? Does it even matter? My question isn't necessarily just for UT, its just that its my top choice. To give you some idea, I'm also looking at schools like UIUC, UNC, Georgia Tech, Rutgers (also instate tuition, its just that I did my undergrad here and I'd like to go to a better schooll).</p>
<p>Thanks for your help and I'm sorry if this isn't necessarily the right place for this, I'm just too sure where to put it!</p>
<p>I’m biased, but I would go to UT! As you can see from my screen name, I ended up in Maine, even though I got my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering from UT. If you do well and have a good resume, you can get hired anywhere.</p>
<p>Why wouldn’t you put grad school questions in the grad school forum?</p>
<p>It is the program that matters, not the location. If you go to a top program like UT you will be employable anywhere. Austin is particularly lucky in the availability of internships. But it doesn’t restrict you. My daughter did a Google internship in San Francisco and she goes to grad school at UW-Madison.</p>
<p>This depends on the strength of the program.</p>
<p>Top programs can send graduates anywhere. UT-Austin, Georgia Tech, UIUC and UNC-Chapel Hill all have top 20 CS programs, so you can likely work anywhere with a CS degree from them. However, even within that a degree from Georgia Tech is probably slightly stronger than a degree from UT-Austin in the Atlanta area, for example, or a UNC-Chapel Hill CS degree might be preferably in the Research Triangle. None of those schools will be particularly better than any other if you want to go to NYC or the West Coast.</p>
<p>The other caveat is that you often make connections and get internships in the area that you live during graduate school, and that can lead to jobs. For example, if you go to Tech you might get a part-time job or term-time internship at a tech firm in Atlanta that either turns into a full-time job, or refers you to a different full-time job, once you graduate. So if you go to grad school in the area you want to stay you enhance your chances of making connections there, but it’s not strictly necessary (especially since these days people know people all over the world). Besides, none of your desired programs provide an advantage in that area either, and you can always do a summer internship in your desired city.</p>
<p>So given that UT-Austin is likely to be far cheaper than the rest of the programs, and it’s a top 10 program, you should definitely go there.</p>