PhD: UC Riverside vs. U of Alberta

[theGrin]

I am finally about to compile my final list of universities but I'm still struggling to chose one kinda-safety university. So I am between UC Riverside and U of Alberta.

First of all, I have no idea if U of Alberta is really a kinda-safety school as I do not have any sort of ranking comparing it to American universities.

Both universities have a couple of very good professors with interests close to mine (theoretical computer science, combinatorial optimization, approximation algorithms, etc.).

So the thing I am most worried about is placement after the PhD, specially in companies and universities in the US and Canada. What university do you guys think has a better reputation?

Although UC Riveside is part of the venerable UC system, I have the impression that it the least well known...

I appreciate any kind of help or additional information about these universities...

[ved]

Hey,

Thought this might be useful:
Computer Science Rankings — PhDs.org Graduate School Guide

[CalmLogic]

BTW, I thought this was interesting:

As for funding, I know the following schools generally guarantee funding for all accepted M.Sc. students:
Alberta, Western Ontario, Toronto

http://www.urch.com/forums/graduate-...nis-apply.html (don't know which canadian uni's to apply?)

For example, at the University of Toronto:

M.A.Sc. and Ph.D. students are guaranteed a first-rate financial package over their course of study.

Financial Support: Prospective Students

However, such a generous guarantee doesn't seem to be always offered at the University of Alberta:

Is there financial aid? How do I apply?
Yes, there is financial aid, most typically offered as a teaching assistantship. You do not have to make a special application for financial aid. The application package asks if you need financial aid, so an application for admission is also an application for financial aid.
What about scholarships that don't involve teaching assistantships?
Canadian students are encouraged to apply for NSERC graduate scholarships, and there are other scholarships that we help our students obtain once they are here. For Canadian students, your home department can probably assist you in finding out what kind of federal or provincial scholarship opportunities there are for you in Canada. Students from other countries are encouraged to explore these opportunities as well in their home country.

Graduate Program FAQ - Department of Computing Science - University of Alberta

As you may know, according to the posts below, the University of Toronto is generally the best place in Canada for computer science research:

http://www.urch.com/forums/graduate-...admission.html (Canadian univs = Easier admission ?)
http://www.urch.com/forums/graduate-...m-ranking.html (Canadin CS Ph.D. program ranking?)
http://www.urch.com/forums/computer-...partments.html (Canadian CS Departments)

[theGrin]

Hi guys, thanks you for your responses!

This ranking that Ved pointed out is very useful, but unfortunately it does not contain Canadian universities...

And CalmLogic, I know that U of Alberta does not have the strongest cs theory department. But after analyzing many universities, I found out that Waterloo and U of Alberta have the best faculty in my research area (approximation algorithms, algorithmic game theory, combinatorial optimization...).

Also, I'd love to see the posts you have sent me, but I get a 'post not found' error on the first two of them...

[CalmLogic]

Also, I'd love to see the posts you have sent me, but I get a 'post not found' error on the first two of them...

I have corrected the links. One of the threads that I linked to says that the acceptance rate at the University of Alberta is only 8 percent, but I have no idea if that's true.

[CalmLogic]

So the thing I am most worried about is placement after the PhD, specially in companies and universities in the US and Canada

Since there are more opportunities for job placement in the US, you may want to stick to US universities. Certainly, in the US, the regulations regarding H1B visas give legal priority to people who have a gotten their graduate degree in the US.

(There's also the fact that even Canadians complain about Canadian winters, which is why a lot Canadian retirees go to Florida for the winter. Of course, if you were looking forward to eating poutine at a Canadian McDonalds, then don't let me stop you.)

[theGrin]

Hey CalmLogic thank you so much for your help!

I had no idea that U of Alberta was that competitive (although I don't if this data is really accurate, anywhere near 8% of acceptance ratio is pretty competitive to me...)

And you have touched a very important point, that most job opportunities are in the US. But I had no idea (even though it makes sense) that doing the PhD in the US had an impact on this H1B visa issue.

So I think that I'm much more inclined to go to UC Riverside now....

(Nonetheless, that poutine thing has almost convinced me to go to Canada, it looks awesome! And I tend to think that I enjoy cold weather, but maybe it's nice just for a while and gets old really fast...)

[CalmLogic]

But I had no idea (even though it makes sense) that doing the PhD in the US had an impact on this H1B visa issue.

Yeah. Last year 20,000 H1B visas were reserved just for U.S. graduate degreed applicants:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rls=com.microsoft%3A*%3AIE-SearchBox&rlz=1I7DKUS&q=h1b+%22u.s.+degreed%22

[CalmLogic]

But I had no idea (even though it makes sense) that doing the PhD in the US had an impact on this H1B visa issue.

Yeah, and here is the regulation:

The numerical limitations contained in paragraph (1)(A) shall not apply to any nonimmigrant alien issued a visa or otherwise provided status under section 1101 (a)(15)(H)(i)(b) of this title who—
(A) is employed (or has received an offer of employment) at an institution of higher education (as defined in section 1001 (a) of title 20), or a related or affiliated nonprofit entity;
(B) is employed (or has received an offer of employment) at a nonprofit research organization or a governmental research organization; or
(C) has earned a master’s or higher degree from a United States institution of higher education (as defined in section 1001(a) of title 20), until the number of aliens who are exempted from such numerical limitation during such year exceeds 20,000.

US CODE: Title 8,1184. Admission of nonimmigrants

Some related discussions in the TestMagic forums:

http://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Aurch.com+20%2C000+h1b&rls=com.micr osoft:*:IE-SearchBox&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7DKUS

[theGrin]

CalmLogic, this was very enlightening! Great information indeed!
This whole immigration process is more complicated than I thought. Strangely enough I have never really though about this issue before, and I think I wouldn't know all these cap information if it wasn't for you. So thank you very much for giving the time to help me...