Brown vs UCSB

[CalmLogic]

Yeah, JHU seems to have more graduate classes in NLP since, at Brown, I only see the one 2000-level graduate course you mentioned along with a 1000-level introductory course on computational linguistics.

But I don't see how Brown is more difficult regarding graduation time since, if one is doing a project or thesis, one only has to take four 2000-level graduate courses with the other 4 being 1000-level or 2000-level:

Brown CS: Requirements for the Masters Degree

The 1000-level courses at Brown seem to be at the advanced undergraduate and introductory graduate level, and JHU, like many other CS departments, also has a similar grouping of courses that are taken by both undergrads and grads.

[LaLena]

A friend of mine over at JHU talked to the department secretary and it seems that I got in, even though I still did not get the official admission. However I still have no answer from USC and I still can't decide.

I want to get a PhD after MS degree but my concern is whether I want to be specialized in NLP after two years. Currently I'm working on an NLP project for my graduation, I find it quite enjoyable and it's actually going well, my advisor is positive that we can publish a paper about it. But what if my field of interest changes over time, what alternatives does that leave me afterwards?

USC's natural language group is really tempting:
The Natural Language Group at USC/ISI

USC offers a wide range of courses in Natural Language Processing and related subject areas.
The Natural Language Group at USC/ISI

Current Degree Requirements and Course Descriptions are located on the CS Department website.
Computer Science
CSCI-544 Natural Language Processing
CSCI-562 Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing
CSCI-561 Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
CSCI-542 Neural Computation with Artificial Neural Networks
CSCI-567 Machine Learning
CSCI-596 Scientific Computing and Visualization
CSCI-599 Lexical Semantics
CSCI-645 Advanced Topics in Neural Computation and Statistical Learning

However why "CSCI" and not "CS" ? Are they like a different course track? That got me confused a little bit.

However as it's said in the web site
Department Of Computer Science - USC
I don't have a free choice while selecting courses, for example I have to take Analysis Of Algorithms etc.
Department Of Computer Science - USC

The same thing is true for Johns Hopkins too.They have really tempting courses but I have to choose at least 2 courses from both analysis systems and applications areas.
However all the courses I am interested in are in applications area
http://www.cs.jhu.edu/~houlahan/programs/courseareas.htm

However in Brown I can choose between lots of courses. But the catch is that there are not many NLP courses in Brown, so actually I don't have such a great interest in the courses they offer.
Courses and Areas - PhD

And now the money issues, is it worth to give such kind of money to these three schools?
How are they treating to their master students? (Remember that I'm not looking for a job afterwards, but going to PhD So I want to get my moneys worth in a good academic background)

JHU says

One advantage of our MSE program is that it is relatively small, so unlike some of the more well-known masters programs, you will be in classes of 20-30 students, not 200-300!

JHU Department of Computer Science
Is that true?

Thanks for your help

[CalmLogic]

But what if my field of interest changes over time, what alternatives does that leave me afterwards?

I guess that would make it more important to go to a department that ranks well for CS generally.

As you may have seen, on Sunday, there was more information posted about the MSE at JHU, and it was not favorable of the MSE program at JHU since it didn't seem selective enough:
http://www.urch.com/forums/computer-...tml#post579839 (MSCS programs that Don't Require LORs)

So Brown would be more favorable to JHU and USC in that light since I would think it's the most selective of the three. And, more importantly, Brown ranks higher than USC and certainly JHU for CS.

(BTW, since you are interested in doing a PhD afterwards, I would think it would be very beneficial to select a program that offers a traditional MS thesis option.)

And now the money issues, is it worth to give such kind of money to these three schools?

I don't know. BTW, I have read that it's very hard for MS students to get a GA/TA/RA position at USC. Still, if you haven't already, you may want to read at Edulix about the aid scenario at USC.

However why "CSCI" and not "CS" ? Are they like a different course track? That got me confused a little bit.

I don't know, but it's probably not an issue.

[CalmLogic]

Self-correction: USC and Brown both rank #20 in USNews for CS: The Sciences - Best Graduate Schools - Education - US News and World Report
(I'm sure you already knew that but I didn't.)

So, anyway, I would be leaning toward USC or Brown. (Accept both if you have to and then make your decision ASAP. I assume you are still waiting for admission from USC. So I would accept Brown, at least for any April 15th deadline, which is obviously today.)

USC offers the traditional MS option, which is attractive. OTOH, I would think a PhD admissions committee would favor Brown in some ways since USC seems to be known as a safety school for MS students. Then again, USC's tuition seems significantly less expensive and they are ranked the same for PhD CS (#20 in USNews).

[LaLena]

Thanks for all the valuable advice, however I still have some questions left

Doesn't JHU accept just 30 students? How come they are not selective with such a limited capacity, or do they more students than I know?
And can you also offer some information about Brown's admission process as to its selectiveness?

Also USC costs about 33k(in 2006-2007) so the prices are similar.

USC Graduate Admission: Graduate Admission: FAQs

Annual tuition and fees for the 2006-2007 academic year are $33,836 (based on 20 units of tuition). Some professional programs may entail additional costs. Living expenses (including books and supplies) are estimated at $16,974 for the fall and spring semesters. Because USC is a private university, no additional tuition is charged for out-of-state or international students.

Brown Graduate School: Support

Brown University tuition for the 2008-2009 academic year for regular full-time students is $36,928. A full-time student is someone registered for three or more courses per semester. Part-time students pay according to the number of courses taken; the per-course cost is equal to 1/8 of full tuition ($4,616)

Thanks in advance

[CalmLogic]

Doesn't JHU accept just 30 students? How come they are not selective with such a limited capacity, or do they more students than I know?

I don't really know. But certainly, I can't imagine Brown being less selective than JHU given Brown's relative prominence in USNews for CS. For specifics, it may help to check the profiles of the accepted/rejected:

Edulix InfoBank | Reports

For a quick impression:
computer science brown • thegradcafe.com
computer science hopkins • thegradcafe.com

Also, Brown is certainly a more popular topic of conversation in this forum than JHU.

Simiarly, a comment from Edulix:

JHU is good too but BROWN rocks

Edulix

Both the MS programs at Brown and JHU seem more like professional degrees (at least the one at JHU), so that may make USC more favorable in that respect.

It is unfortunate that Brown only seems to offer one advanced graduate course in NLP. So I would be tempted by USC since it offers a traditional thesis option while, apparently, offering more NLP courses. The fact that USC requires an algorithms course is only a good thing, IMHO. Then again, Brown is Ive League for about the same price

[w_guy]

hey calm logic,
the tuition of Brown, is that for 2 semesters(8 months) or 3 semester(12 months)? If it is for 3 semesters, then it seems pretty reasonable.

[CalmLogic]

I don't know. And I don't know how much sticker shock there is between the I-20 for Brown vs. USC vs. JHU. I'm sure the information is somewhere in Edulix and this forum.

(Another self-correction: Brown does give stipends to graduate TA students, which are, apparently, typically PhD students. However, as I said before, the odds of an MS student getting such a position seem very low (Got accepted into Brown MS Computer Science). Calling up the grad CS departments at USC, Brown, and JHU for such statistics could be helpful even thougth the websites for Brown and JHU seem very negative about aid for MS students.)

[LaLena]

After doing some research, I have decided on USC (mainly for their NLP / AI research). However my PhD application was rejected, upon which I was informed that I had to wait until the end of July for a response for Masters degree study. Considering I am an international student and therefore have a rather lengthy visa process, I deemed it far too late and accepted Brown's offer instead. I sent my acceptance letter and received my student (banner) ID, applied and got into graduate housing etc.
But just 15 minutes ago out of the blue I received an e-mail from USC telling me that I got accepted into Masters.

What should I do?

[MDK]

Every year many applicants face this situation, and they usually write to the school where they have already accepted their offer and tell them (in a way or another) that they are not going to join them. In the mean time they send a confirmation email for the new offer. This is not an unusual situation, in fact many schools do expect such scenarios.
So if you really want to join USC and you find it the best for you, go ahead and apologize from Brown.