<p>I graduated from the University of Maryland at College Park and have been working with a company called Booz Allen Hamilton. </p>
<p>I want to advance my career and get a Master's but none of the schools nearby are a good fit. So I looked at some distance programs and came across two schools that are considered above UMCP (I want to go to a better ranked school than Maryland).</p>
<p>I saw Columbia and University of Southern California.
I applied to USC only and got admitted into their M.S. Engineering program. The question is if I should go through with the program. It would cost me about 40k, but since I will be concurrently working FT, I could pay it as I go so not much loans. </p>
<p>will a M.S. from that school help my career? What if I want to move to Cali one day? It certainly beats having just a degree from University of Maryland on the west coast right?
I would like to read your thoughts. Thanks</p>
<p>If you want:
want a masters in engineering
want to move to California
and you have been accepted</p>
<p>then where is the question? - enroll.</p>
<p>Booz Allen may have a tuition program that will pick up the cost; most consulting firms do - because they don’t want to lose employees that they have trained.</p>
<p>I think the OP is talking about an online degree, so moving to Cali is not an issue.</p>
<p>The question really is what you want to do with your life? If you want to be an engineer, I would call it a decent choice regardless of the coast. If you want to work the financial side it seems that an MBA would be a better investment.</p>
<p>Maryland is a good school for engineering (It is a top 20 public school–and some of its programs are ranked in the top 10 as well). Its my alma mater as well–so it goes without saying that I am defending it. But I agree with you–if you want to move out to the west–its better if you enroll in a program from a school over there. Congrats on getting in to USC! IMO, you should definitely attend!</p>
<p>A graduate degree makes one a more attractive job applicant, but what you do with what you learn is much more important than where you got your degree(s).</p>
<p>Thanks for all the responses so far guys.
The reason why I didn’t apply to Columbia was because I looked at both programs side by side and the one at USC just appealed to me more. The courses at USC seemed more aligned to my interest and the Columbia courses seemed too mathematical. </p>
<p>I’m wondering if a M.S. degree from USC would help me though. I can command a higher salary since I will hold a Master’s degree for future jobs, but will it open more doors than with just a degree from UMCP? I am interested in moving out west eventually and settling down there so would a USC degree prove to be beneficial?</p>
<p>I think USC has enough of a national name that it will help anywhere, but yes it should be strongest on the west coast. I think UMCP will probably lose a little out west, so if this is what you want, go for it.</p>