cube Posted April 12, 2005 Share Posted April 12, 2005 Hi, I am a new member of this great forum. I wish i had found out before applying because i think that that would have helped me be more prepared. Anyway, since i am in a dilemma about choosing between two universities maybe your comments can help me make the seemingly better selection. I have two (2) offers until now. Both are for PhD in Computer science. Both include financial aid. 1) University of Virginia - initially supported for 3 years as long as there is reasonable progress - tuition is covered. 2) University of California Irvine - initially supported for 2 years but in the second year the amount of money drops about 25% which means i must find an added funding source - tuition is covered. My field of interest is networks at the moment but who knows if that is what i'm going to follow ( spending a few months wherever i choose-of those 2- will definitely make me decide ) I 've heard that Virginia is cheaper generally than California for housing etc. Does that stand? How much money on average would a student need in each state to live a normal life? What choice would you make? Any comment is welcome. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nistha Posted April 13, 2005 Share Posted April 13, 2005 Congrats on your nice admits. University of Virginia is ranked higher but if you want to go specifically for networks, UCI is very good too. Dont bother about the living costs because though Cal as such is costly, I dont think costs at Irvine would be that high. Besides you'll be getting good aid in the beginning so that wont be a problem at all. I really cant that one of these stands much above than other.....so you should see (1)where you find more Profs in your areas of interest (2) better research opportunities. If I were you, I wouldnt bother about living costs as you have full aid at the moment. Dont go for Virginia just because aid amount in UCI will drop in second year. And may be I would go for UCI because its California after all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shiva_shankar_t Posted April 13, 2005 Share Posted April 13, 2005 Nistha, I have an admit for PhD in CS from TAMU. I have been offered aid for 1 year which would be continued based on the perfor. However i am concerned abt the reputation of the program as i have been getting some -ve feedbacks abt it like no. ppl involed in active research is less, funding is sticky. Please let me know if u have some info on this. As it was my safe bet didnt do much analysis , but right now this is my only admit. Shiva Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gforce Posted April 13, 2005 Share Posted April 13, 2005 @cube: Welcome to TestMagic! I concur with Nistha. I strongly recommend UCI due to it's overall reputation and the great weather. But UVa is kind of exotic compared to UCI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cube Posted April 13, 2005 Author Share Posted April 13, 2005 @cube: Welcome to TestMagic! I concur with Nistha. I strongly recommend UCI due to it's overall reputation and the great weather. But UVa is kind of exotic compared to UCI. nistha, gforce, thanks for your help. What exactly do you imply when you say that UVa is exotic? Do you mean that UVa is one level higher when compared to UCI or are you just refering to the campus, buildings there? Is there a ranking for networks containing most universities? From what i have seen, specialty rankings only contain the top ten universities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChoBaka Posted April 13, 2005 Share Posted April 13, 2005 Is there a ranking for networks containing most universities? From what i have seen, specialty rankings only contain the top ten universities. USNews releases specialty rankings, but they only rank maybe 10-15 programs per area. You might want to try asking your professors where you should go. Also, a good idea is to look at famous networking journals/proceedings/conferences and note how many of the authors are from UVa or UCI. Might want to spend some time in the library. Irvine is close to Los Angeles, so you can guess what the weather will be like. I hear Virginia is very mild, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nistha Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 Hi Shiva, Well, even I am not much for TAMU because whatever impression I've got from people already studying there is that irrespective of its ranking, the dept there is not that great. As you rightly said, may be its the lack of very active and competitive research. In fact you see the faculty and research pages and you feel that theres nothing very striking. I dont know whats your field of interest, so may be you should find from that perspective too. Since this is your only admit, what other option you have?....I mean are you thinking of waiting for one year and apply again or what? Because if theres no other option and waiting for a year is not good from your point of view.....you should go for TAMU. After all, ranking is good and jobs there are not so bad I guess. However, I am not aware of the funding scenario. Hope that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
on_dope Posted April 16, 2005 Share Posted April 16, 2005 Cube Congrats for those good admits! Hey why not consult the current students in PhD course? they would give the real scenario, moreover look at uni's past research work & prof's profiles. I've heard abt both the universities like UCI, Irvene - is near or is in silicon valley(Sorry abt the location since my demographic sense abt US right now is poor) so there would be greater chances of you getting research work coz I think there would be lots of grants & project things. The cost of living is definately high but I think that wont be a Major deciding factor ! Virginia tech- ivy league university, cost of living is moderate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter137 Posted April 16, 2005 Share Posted April 16, 2005 Virginia tech is definitely NOT an Ivy League university :D . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Florian1980 Posted April 16, 2005 Share Posted April 16, 2005 I've heard abt both the universities like UCI, Irvene - is near or is in silicon valley(Sorry abt the location since my demographic sense abt US right now is poor) so there would be greater chances of you getting research work coz I think there would be lots of grants & project things. The cost of living is definately high but I think that wont be a Major deciding factor ! Virginia tech- ivy league university, cost of living is moderate. You really seem to be on dope :) Cube got admitted to UC, Irvine and the University of Virginia -- not VA Tech, which by the way is certainly not an Ivy League university (neither is UVA). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bnm Posted April 16, 2005 Share Posted April 16, 2005 :D :D On_dope must be feeling sleepy.....:sleepy: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
on_dope Posted April 16, 2005 Share Posted April 16, 2005 Sorry abt the wrong info but I was jus wondering that one un-intentionally written flawed information here can invite so many comments ? Strange... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cube Posted April 17, 2005 Author Share Posted April 17, 2005 Cube Congrats for those good admits! Hey why not consult the current students in PhD course? they would give the real scenario, moreover look at uni's past research work & prof's profiles. I've heard abt both the universities like UCI, Irvine - is near or is in silicon valley(Sorry abt the location since my demographic sense abt US right now is poor) so there would be greater chances of you getting research work coz I think there would be lots of grants & project things. The cost of living is definately high but I think that wont be a Major deciding factor ! Virginia tech- ivy league university, cost of living is moderate. As said before, it's UVA and from what i last remember it's not ivy league. After hearing all different suggestions (included those in the forum) I decided to accept UCI's offer. I'm not sure that i made the right choice but i had to accept one offer and at this moment having all available data (except what on_dope said about asking current students in PhD course) that seemed the right thing to do. I'm now mainly worried about financial support in the future( after the initial 2 year period which is guaranteed). I'm hearing that public universities in California state are receiving lesser funding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nistha Posted April 18, 2005 Share Posted April 18, 2005 Dont worry cube, u have taken absolutely the right decision. And cmon, how can u worry after 2 yrs scene rite now. Do u have any idea the reserach internships u'll get for summers will be worth how much?? I came to know that in UIUC, students getting the aid have been able to buy the houses out of their stipends!! Even if that goes a bit exaggerated, still u can imagine the worth of it. And costs at Irvine are not going to be much, its not LA. U'll have absolitely great time there. So, cheer up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gforce Posted April 18, 2005 Share Posted April 18, 2005 I concur with Nistha. UCI was always the correct decision. Good luck at Irvine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cube Posted April 18, 2005 Author Share Posted April 18, 2005 I concur with Nistha. UCI was always the correct decision. Good luck at Irvine! Thanks gforce, nistha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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