Hi, Dear All,
I am an international student and recently I just accepted into graduate school for Purdue University and Ohio State University. My major is Mechanical Engineering. I am making a decision between these two. Since both of them are really competitive, I do not get any assistance-ship right now and my family have to support my studies.
I have three questions.
- Since I do not get any funding , do I still have chance to get TA or RA position later? Could you please give me any suggestions? I do not really want to burden my family for two years and I want to try my best to save more money for my parents.
2.I applied as the master of science degree. But I might change my mind later. So do I have the chance to be prompted as the PHD candidate later? I mean I begin to take it seriously right now and I would say 70% that I want to continue to get PHD.
As for the cost, Purdue seem to have higher tuition but lower cost of living. But generally, Purdue could save my family at least 4500 dollars each year. ( I am not sure, I estimate it based on the tuition and cost section) As far as concerned about job recruitment, I plan to do an internship before going back to my home country. For, Ohio State University, it seems that Mechanical Engineering Department has a lot of cooperation with automotive industry. Purdue is close to big Chicago area which means more internship opportunities and its Mechanical Engineering department is probably bigger and more prestigious.
Both school sounds excellent to me. But I do not know how to decide right now. Location is not a big issue to me and I am okay with either the urban or countryside. I care more about the quality of education and the diversity of research opportunities. Could anyone please give me more suggestions? I really appreciate it. If I have grammar issue, I apologize.