Canyou help decide Admits from Upenn,Usc,North Carolina State,Iowa State,UMBC with TA

**sagarmehta** · 02-27-2006, 09:44 AM

hi guys,

I have admits for my MS in Computer Science for the Fall 2006 semester from the following universities:

1>University of Pennsylvania [ the ivy and all that jazz ]
2>University of Southern California
3>North Carolina State University
4>Iowa State University
5>University of Maryland Baltimore County with Teaching Assitantship

I'm note sure whether to join Penn [ very costly with little chances of aid ] or joini UMBC [ low ranked but peace of mind while studying due to scholarship ]

See there are 2 opposite view running in my mind now....
1> Join Upenn [ after shelling out huge bucks from my parents' savings ] but later passout with cool job offers [ mainly due to the Wharton pull ] or may be continue on to PHD at a still better univ.
[ but in this case I will always be under the pressure of returing off the loan or whatever and may work on campus for living expenses ]

2> Join University of Maryland Batlimore County [ low ranked 60+ ] with full tuition waiver + health insurance + a pretty good stipend.
Here I can have the peace of mind to study and simultaneously get a couple of good publications and may be end up doing Phd at a great univ.
But I'm not sure whether passing out from here can hurt my chances of getting a good job offer with pretty good start salary.

I have a GRE score of 1440/1600 [ quant 800/800 and verbal 640/800] and anat essay 5/6 and toefl score [computer based] of 273/300

You can further access my profile at www.sagarmehta.org

I hope I have pretty much explained my dilemma [ nlemma or whatever ...

]

Any kind of input from anyone would really help me out...
Guys/gals help me out...

Cheers,
Sagar
sagarmehta@gmail.com
www.sagarmehta.org

**muazfarooq** · 02-27-2006, 09:56 AM

First of all

CONGRATULATIONS

on soooooo many great admits. Now if you planning to remain in study/research environment and do a phd then Upenn is the great option. But if thy planning to just have a masters and then straight into field for a job then choose UMBC and do your masters without worrying about finances as the university name doesn't count too much in getting u a good job. all that counts is the skill u have in your subject/area.

and when did u applied to USC?

**aesthetic_ascetic** · 02-27-2006, 10:10 AM

A good rule of thumb: go to the highest ranked university you can get into, even if they don't give you any aid to begin with... you might get aid next semester... and even if you don't, you'll have a degree from a great school which never hurts... UPenn is a huge name... Congrats!

**Egyptian_80** · 02-27-2006, 02:43 PM

Congrats for your admits

. I guess I agree with muazfarooq, if you plan to continue your graduate studies towards the PhD then UPenn is your best choice. I was just wondering, why are you talking only about UPenn and UMBC ... you have been admitted at many others ... why didnot you talk about them ?!

**sagarmehta** · 02-27-2006, 03:42 PM

I applied to all univs by around last week of October

I'm not talking abt other univs now, cuz there are 2 extremes one with full aid but low rank and other with high rank but no aid
So if neways I need to shell out my own bucks, then why not go for the best offer since none of the univs other than umbc have offered any kind of aid rite now...

Let your thoughts and views keep pouring...

This forum really rocks...

**whyworryin** · 02-27-2006, 03:48 PM

I would suggest UPenn. Its far too good to miss..Please do let us know how they informed u of the admits. I too have applied and so have many more and most of us are still in the dark with respect to the admit decisions.. please do reply ASAP

regards,
Pradeep

**sagarmehta** · 02-27-2006, 08:02 PM

Originally Posted by whyworryin

I would suggest UPenn. Its far too good to miss..Please do let us know how they informed u of the admits. I too have applied and so have many more and most of us are still in the dark with respect to the admit decisions.. please do reply ASAP

regards,
Pradeep

I directly got the hard copy admit letter in mid December, no e-mail notification...
Note that Upenn has rolling admission atleast for Comp Sci...

Sagar

**Anand Iyer** · 02-28-2006, 03:26 AM

Sagar, if your ultimate aim is a PhD, go to the highest ranked university you got into. Ofcourse, this depends on your ability to shell out money. UPenn is damn expensive as you already know.

If getting a job is the ultimate aim, you can go to any university.

By the way, I think you will get better responses if you post your question in the Edulix forum.

**sagarmehta** · 03-01-2006, 07:08 AM

Hey guys,

Please do keep replying...
Please just don't read and switch to another thread..

Your input really matters since all of you are going thru the same process and some of you have already been..

Also I will keep editing this thread as and when I get new admits...

Cheers,
Sagar

**sagarmehta** · 03-03-2006, 06:37 AM

Hey guys,

As I said will keep this thread updating as and when I get new admits

I got my sixth admit from the Polytechnic Univesity of Brooklyn. Although not a highly ranked univ, it has good funding and an excellent Prof [ Naseer Memon ] in security area which is of interest to me..

Keep this thread alive.. Please ...