<p>I am trying to make a final decision on graduate school in Electrical Engineering. I have been offered a TA at USC to cover tuition and living expenses, and have also been admitted into the Master's program at Stanford - but with no financial support. </p>
<p>Is a Stanford degree worth $50,000 (mainly loans) more than USC?</p>
<p>will this be your terminal degree?</p>
<p>USC EE's respectable and connections should be aplenty in the engineering world...if i were you, i probably don't think stanford would be worth $50000 more</p>
<p>Another consideration would be where you went for ugrad...</p>
<p>I've thrown around the idea of both a PhD in EE and an MBA. I'd most likely finish the Master's in EE then get a job somewhere and decide what to do after a year or two.</p>
<p>My ugrad degree is from a smaller public university in TX which offers almost no connections compared to either USC or Stanford.</p>
<p>One other thing to consider is that a Master's at USC would probably take a year and a half while being a TA, while Stanford claims it's 45 units can be completed in 3 quarters (1 year) - 15 hrs / quarter sounds rough, but I'd try to do it. So I guess you have to include an extra 6 months of working as an EE and subtract the salary from the cost of Stanford.</p>
<p>I'm a PhD EE student at Stanford if you have any questions about the program. Almost everyone here completes the MS EE in 5 quarters, but 3 quarters can be done with careful planning. The average starting salary for MS EE graduates is in the low to mid 80s.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info, I was wondering how many people actually finish in 3 quarters - 45 units in 3 seems like a lot. What's the average for a PhD at Stanford, 5 years? What are you researching? And do you have a recommendation on Stanford vs USC in my situation? Thanks.</p>
<p>Usually people without funding try to finish in 3 quarters, while those with RAs, TAs, or fellowships take 10 units per quarter, since that's what their stipend covers. I finished my MS in 3 quarters, so it's definitely feasible, but keep in mind that graduate EE classes at Stanford are much harder than what you're used to at your small public in Texas, so be prepared to work your butt off to stay above the median, as I had to. The program requires 7 EE classes (3 in the same depth area, one in each of 3 breadth areas, and 1 other), so you could take 3, 2, and 2 EE graduate classes (21 units) and fill the rest with undergrad EE classes, classes in other departments, independent studies, and seminars. Also, 9 of the units can be taken on a pass/fail basis, and Stanford doesn't give F's, so in reality you only have to take 36 real units, of which at least 2 are attendance-based seminars. That's not bad at all, since 36 quarter units is equivalent to 24 semester units.</p>
<p>The average for a PhD in EE is 5-6 years at Stanford (including MS). I'm in my 3rd year here, doing research in integrated circuit fabrication.</p>
<p>It's a tough choice between USC with full funding and Stanford with no funding, but I will say that a Stanford degree pretty much opens every door out there in terms of employment, especially since a lot of companies in Silicon Valley were founded by Stanford alumni or have them in top hiring positions. USC's EE reputation is 4th in California behind Stanford, Berkeley, and Caltech, and about on par with UCLA and UCSD. In addition, you could earn about $30,000 after taxes in the 6 extra months that you save by going to Stanford, so the difference becomes much smaller - around $20,000. I actually chose Stanford without funding over UIUC with full funding, because my goal is to become a professor, and Stanford's faculty placement is on par with MIT and Berkeley and unmatched by any other school. I was able to secure TA positions after my first year, so it will end up costing me about $50,000.</p>
<p>I assume between being a Stanford-caliber student now and the fact that you attended a public school, you have little if any debt from your undergrad years. That gives you a significant advantage over students in this position who went to big name schools and still haven't paid off their first four years (although perhaps they would have a better chance of getting funding for grad). I would say that there is simply no substitute for the connections a school like Stanford offers, and they won't chase you if you turn them down. You saved your money on undergrad - now go where you want for grad!</p>
<p>Yeah, that's where I'm leaning right now. I really went for the money for undergrad and have no debt, and knew all along that I'd rather save my money for grad school. I guess paying 1-1.5 years for a MSEE is better than paying 4 years for a BSEE at Stanford...</p>
<p>ftt, I thought the enrollment deadline was April 15, so why are you still deciding between Stanford and USC?</p>
<p>I was accepted to Stanford from the waiting list, so I just found out. The deadline to accept is tomorrow.</p>
<p>I'm curious what your final decision is.</p>
<p>Well, after thinking about it long and hard - I accepted the offer at Stanford and am now trying to figure out how to go about financing this. If anyone would like to tell me a good place to get loans I'd appreciate it. im_blue - I'm going to try and finish the MSEE in 3 quarters, but if it doesn't work out and I take more it won't be the end of the world. If you don't mind messaging me your email address then I would like to ask you some other questions I have, and maybe I'll see you at Stanford in a few months (after my long summer.) I'm excited though, Stanford was my top choice -- it's just that the money from USC was very tempting...</p>
<p>You can get loans directly from Stanford's financial aid office. You can borrow the maximum limits of $10,000 unsubsidized Stafford, $8,500 subsidized Stafford, $6,000 Perkins, and the rest in Gates loans. The subsidized loans (Stafford, Perkins) are basically interest-free while you're in school, and the unsubsidized Stafford is 4.7% interest, although that will go up this July for this coming school year. Gates loans are private loans offered by Bank of America. I've sent you my e-mail by PM, so feel free to ask me any more questions you may have. Welcome to Stanford EE!</p>