Hi;
For some reason I need to graduate with high GPA (I’m planning to continue my study for PHD). which of the following 2 universities is more likely I could achieve this goal. Notice, currently, I’m studying master degree in Computer Science:
University of South Carolina OR New York University.
Notice: I did similar post before, but I felt I didn’t put enough details. So I almost re-post the question.
Thanks!!
Either? Neither? Both? This is an impossible question to answer. It really depends on you, your personal circumstances, and your aptitude.
Maybe NYU has harder classes, so you get a lower GPA.
Maybe NYU has harder classes but more support and more competitive classmates, so you rise to the challenge, and you get a higher GPA.
Maybe at USC the classes are harder but more interesting and so you get a higher GPA.
Maybe at USC the classes are easier but completely boring to you so you don’t do as well.
And maybe, due to the fact that master’s degrees have pretty rampant grade inflation, your GPA will be roughly the same at both.
Impossible to tell! You should pick the master’s program on the basis of what has the most interesting coursework/curriculum, the best foundation for entering a PhD program, and research that interests you with faculty who are willing to mentor you and help you get into a PhD program. If one or the other has a PhD program in that department that you’d like to attend, going there might help you get into the PhD program there later, too.
Thanks @juillet
The problem I notice with NYU, they don’t let you do a thesis unless your GPA is at least 3.75 (unlike USC) which I think it’s quite challenging. As you might know, lots of Universities prefer candidates whom already done a research.
So in this perspective, USC might be better.
I’d go to NYU.
@mathandcs Why?
More highly ranked, in better state for jobs, probably a better school to come from for Ph.D. applications. At first I thought you meant the other USC, in which case I wouldn’t choose NYU. The two main cities in the south that are good for CS jobs are Raleigh and Atlanta. USC is in the wrong state for those jobs.
Well, USC (in South Carolina) is regionally known. You don’t have to stay in the state that you go to university in - it’s certainly easier if you can network your way into a job, but Raleigh and Atlanta are both close enough to USC that I don’t think it’d be a problem to move there from USC afterwards. Honestly, I think you could probably move anywhere with a USC degree and find a job.
However, I do agree with @mathandcs. NYU is more well-known for math and computer science, and its network is probably larger. The professors there will be connected with the professors at the top PhD programs in the field and can help you get into one of them.
Assuming that the costs are equal, NYU is probably a better bet.
Also, getting at least a 3.75 shouldn’t be difficult in graduate school. Remember grad school has grade inflation, so the grades given out are usually exclusively As and Bs. A grade less than B is usually indicative of unsatisfactory work. Besides, it just says that you can only substitute a thesis for the exam if you have lower than a 3.75; there’s nothing preventing a student from doing an independent side project under the supervision of a professor.
If you can network your way into a job, that’s great. If not, and you have to go through the whole Taleo thing, you’re going to be dealing with HR. The first thing these people do when they get 500 applicants for one Software Engineering gig is throw out all the resumes from out of state. Even on the rare occasion you get an opportunity for a phone screen, they ask you what connection you have to their state, and even if you explain you just went to school in SC, aren’t tied down there, and will move to the city on your own dime immediately, they won’t believe you. It’s easier and less risky for them to just choose someone who went to the local school and is already in town. Even if you move after graduation, getting your first job will be tricky. They may not believe you really live in town if everything on your resume shows you were in a different state your whole life. I just have a hard time believing a company in Raleigh would want to hire a USC grad when they’ve got tons of kids just as good coming from better schools in the area (Duke, UNC, NCSU). Same thing in Atlanta with GA Tech.
Grade inflation in grad school can be overstated. This all depends on the professor and class. Post-quals classes in Ph.D. programs you’ll pretty much get an A just for showing up. There are many other classes graded with no curve. Many times professors will put about as much time into reading your exams as HR people do in reading your resume. If they see a couple keywords they like in the 3 seconds they spend reading your answer, you can get full credit; otherwise you could lose 20 points (even if your solution is still correct). This can be the difference between an A and a B+. Other professors actually put forth effort in grading your exams, though, and are pretty fair.
You can still get a 3.75, but you’ll have to work for it is all I’m saying.
Just throwing in the money issue. It’s much less expensive to live in S. Carolina than NY.
Look at where the alumni obtain jobs., courses offered. Lots of research to do.
I’m curious as to how you came to this information, @mathandcs. I don’t know if it’s a field-dependent thing, but I haven’t had any friends have trouble getting out-of-state jobs because of where they went to graduate school - if they went to a well-respected one, employers seemed to assume that they were willing to move for a new opportunity (and that they didn’t necessarily intend to stay in the same city where they got their graduate degree). In fact, most of my friends got their relocation expenses covered. Have you seen the opposite happen a lot more often?
Personal experience and experience of friends. If you already have work experience, you have a leg up on the competition. If you’re entry-level and already graduated, there’s no way you’re getting calls from out of town. Just look at job listings online, and you’ll see that “entry-level” usually means 2+ years experience, oftentimes as much as 3-5 years. It’s still possible to get EL jobs from out of town while a student, but difficult, and the minute you finish school and don’t have a job yet, you’re unemployed, and the clock starts ticking. In any case, spending 2 years of your life and $50-100k to get a Master’s degree is very risky, and you should minimize this risk by using that time to establish yourself in a state with a half-decent economy (I guess you can make an exception if you get into a great school like UMich or UW-Madison or something).
If you want to conduct an experiment, try applying to Denver jobs with a Cheyenne address, then try applying to those same jobs with a Fort Collins address. You’ll get at least 10x more hits from Fort Collins. Or better yet, try applying to Philadelphia jobs with a West Chester, PA address, then with a Wilmington, DE address. Wilmington is actually a few miles closer but you’ll get many more hits with the PA address.
What I say happens all the time in CS (and related fields). There are a lot of un/underemployed people in this field. You can find tons of articles about a dearth of STEM graduates, but those articles are complete nonsense. Just look around at all the underemployed math majors working as a part-time tutor or Ph.D.'s working as adjuncts at community colleges. All these articles do is help drive down wages. For example, I remember having a phone screen for a local Software Engineer gig. They wanted someone with 2+ years of experience and wanted to pay said person $35k. Total joke.
As far as relocation expenses, unless you’re bringing something that just can’t be found locally, there’s just no way. Most of the time they won’t even cover travel expenses for an interview (which is part of the reason they only focus on local candidates). I bet if you have friends who are still unemployed, they’re not actively telling you about it. Employed people don’t tend to hang out around their old buddies who don’t have a job.
Thank you @juillet and @mathandcs
I’m international students and I’m not planning to work on US. I hope I could continue for PHD but that require high GPA for my country to continue sponsoring.