<p>I'm having trouble deciding between these two offers. At UT Austin, I was accepted into the mechanical engineering PhD program with a fellowship worth $30k/year for four years. I don't have to work the first year and have to TA/RA for years 2-4. At Stanford, it's a masters program with no funding so I'd probably have to take out loans to cover the cost of tuition. I don't know how difficult it would be to find a TA/RA as a masters student, but most people here say that positions are very scarce. My parents live within 20 minutes of Stanford, so I could live with them to reduce my expenses until I secure a source of funding. I am leaving the possibility open to continue for a PhD if I find a good adviser and project.</p>
<p>Some people are telling me they would definitely take out loans to go to Stanford because it's Stanford. Others are telling me that UT Austin is the obvious choice because of the funding and it's still a great school overall. What would you do in my situation? Is there anything else I should consider?</p>
<p>The people who are advising you to pick Stanford are NOT going to be the ones stuck with the enormous student loans. I would go to UT Austin; its a very good engineering school.</p>
<p>Rumors are that Stanford’s ME program is very demanding. Where other programs weed out PhD applicants prior to acceptance, Stanford does it through the qualifying exams. It works better for them since they get firsthand experience with your work, but it sucks for the student since a good number of them will fail to continue on.</p>
<p>I just called the Stanford ME admission office to ask about funding. They said that ~10 new MS students (who get accepted w/out funding initially) find funding in the form of TA/RA their first quarter out of ~100 possible. Having 100 MS students matriculate without funding is a ridiculously high number! Is anyone here going to accept their off without funding? Regardless, I’m not going to write them off yet until talking to current grad students on their Admit Day on April 1. Anyone else going?</p>
<p>UT is a very good school, and while Stanford is considered to be better it is also perhaps the riskiest bet in higher education - they admit a ton of self-financed masters students, the vast majority of which will see neither financial aid nor PhD admission. If you were one of the few people in the world who can (without hardship or loans) shell out a couple of years of grad tuition then it might be worthwhile. Otherwise I would heartily recommend the funded PhD offer from the still very good school.</p>
<p>From all that I’ve heard cosmicfish is dead on about Stanford’s engineering programs. </p>
<p>I’m in a top 10 engineering PhD program now. The more I hear and learn about engineering programs, I am starting to be convinced that finding the right advisor and funded project is perhaps more important than the school you attend…even at the PhD level. Certainly MIT, Berkeley, and Stanford are the top engineering schools, but if you want to be a professor, work in a research lab, or find a top job as a researcher in a company most of these places will be hiring from all over. For example, at Michigan where I am now, my dept hires professors from not only the top 15(not 3) Engineering Universities in the U.S., but also a number of top Universities around the world. They seem far more interested in the quality of your research and your advisor. They’ll hire a top PhD student from a really good school like Georgia Tech, over an above average PhD student from Stanford any day.</p>
<p>With all that being said, I think you have a tough choice. It would be a tough choice for me. I would certainly research the possibility of using the Masters program at Stanford as a stepping stone into a PhD program. Also, do your really want a PhD right away. You could get your Masters at Stanford, have your pick of top jobs in Silicon Valley with a masters, wait a year or so and re-apply to both Berkeley and Stanford’s PhD programs every year. The extra work experience,especially if it was research related, would help you get into either program.</p>
<p>I sent in my acceptance to UT Austin today, which gives me much relief knowing that I won’t have to take out almost $50k in loans for Stanford. I hope I made the right decision!</p>