WPI or USC?

Hi, I’m an international student that is pursuing a master degree. I was offered full tuition waiver to attend WPI (Robotics) and 10,000 per year from USC (Intelligent Robotics). I currently have a scholarship that would give me a monthly stipend of 1,800 if I choose WPI (which I think is way more than enough) or it could pay the rest of USC tuition but I would have to ask for a loan in order to cover living expenses and life in LA isn’t that cheap. I have in mind studying a phd someday and I thought that going to USC would be the best option for this, but since my scholarship have a restriction that won’t allow me to work in the US until I return home and salaries here aren’t that high it would take sometime to get rid of the loan. I’m personally more interested in USC program for its AI focus but control engineering comes second after it. Which university do you think I should chose?

Funding vs no funding for an MS degree… I think WPI is almost a no brainer here…

USC MS program has many students and research opportunities are certainly not the same as for PhD students. I think the WPI MS will be able to help you as much if doing a PHD is your goal.

Agree wholeheartedly with @frontpage. WPI is an excellent school. If anyone I know was offered a full tuition waiver to WPI I would tell them they are crazy to consider going elsewhere where they would have to pay. The location, if you are coming from Europe or Latam, or Middle East, would be easier to get to from a travel perspective, as well. Rent in off-campus housing will be $500-$700 depending on if you have a roommate(s). I do not know what country you are coming from, but if currency risk is possible, please consider setting aside money for expenses in US dollars. My son’s former roommate was an international student. The currency in his country was devalued 30% by the government suddenly. Roommate had not put savings aside in US dollars, only his home currency. This proved very costly to him and almost prevented him from finishing his degree.