MS in Computer Science - Stanford (without aid) vs UIUC (full aid)

[zander]

I have got MS admits in Computer Science from Stanford and UIUC. While UIUC offers me full funding (even for living expenses), there is no waiver (not even tuition waiver) at Stanford. The US ranking of the two universities are close by, both being amongst the top 5 US graduate colleges at all computer science specialities. I feel inclined to go with the aid at UIUC, considering that a slight difference in the rankings will not make much difference. Please assist... (Only a week is left to send the acceptance confirmation, and I would really appreciate any comments coming in that duration)

Some factors about me: I doubt whether I will be going for a Phd and would in all likeliness join a company after masters. I may go for MBA, after a few years. I ain't financially sound enough to fund the entire graduation without a loan, if I opt for Stan! The field that I will be sticking to during masters is sensor networks.

Please send in your comments asap as the deadline (April 15) is approaching!

[handsome_94]

UIUC obviously. After graduating from stan you'll have a debt of 110k.
110k isn't worth a degree from a university which stands in ranking just a slot higher. Atleast that's what I think.

With 110k ... if you add 10k more you can get 3 BMW Sedans.

[CalmLogic]

I agree. UIUC for the aid, even if Stanford is more like 50k + living expenses and even if you decide to get a PhD later on.

See: http://www.urch.com/forums/graduate-...e-tuition.html (H1B Issue as a Factor for Calculating ROI for Expensive Tuition)

[zander]

Thank you guys for assuring me that I am sticking with the better choice. Any other comments for Stanford vs UIUC (may be the reputation of the universities, placements, research, geographical location, or any issue off the shelf!) are welcome...

Btw, the UIUC offer letter says that for living expenses they will be giving me money in form of assistantship (which may be RA/TA/GA) and they will declare the exact form of assistantship later. Could someone throw some light on what is GA? Is Graduate Assistantship something like fellowship, where you get the money, and they do not demand any other service in return?

Also, correct me if I am wrong. It is very difficult to get any other RA/TA at Stan and it would be stupid-ly risky to take an admission there relying that in some form an assistantship will turn your way!

Please comment...

[handsome_94]

teaching assistants (TAs), research assistants (RAs), graduate assistants (GAs)

Guide to Graduate Life at Illinois - Funding Your Graduate Education (Printable Version), U of I

I've gotto admits GR8 admits. Damn I'm jealous.

Austin is like my dream university. Stan and uiuc well when you are goin' somewhere in a car and u see a beauty what do you do??
Stare at her , I'll do the same some day when I'll drive past them...

[zander]

Someone please throw some light about the placements/internship scenario at these two universities. Will the interior location of UIUC as compared to Stanford's proximity to Silicon Valley be a major factor? Please suggest..

[CalmLogic]

Will the interior location of UIUC as compared to Stanford's proximity to Silicon Valley be a major factor?

Hopefully, others will give you more reassurance, but I would point out:

- Chicago is a big city with almost 10 million people within the surrounding metro area.
- With all the money you are saving by going to UIUC, worse come to worse, you could travel across America on a luxurious job hunt, staying at the best hotels and flying back and forth across America, and you would still have saved a lot of money compared to going to Stanford without aid, especially when you factor the interest rate.

[zander]

@CalmLogic and others taking interest in my situation... As I am not doing a PhD, I am afraid that my potential MS-level recruiter would not know (or care about) specialized US News rankings anyway. They may have general perceptions, and in that respect probably Stanford is right at the top, and UIUC may be a "good public school with a good engineering program". Research yardsticks may not be the right measure of employability after MS. This was the reason why I was afraid initially and still have some doubt in my mind even after so much assistance from your side.

Please reply with yet another post and show that this is only a misconception on my end! Thanks once again.

[CalmLogic]

A good sign: Intel hired more students from UIUC than Stanford in 2006: Jobs at Intel - United States, Student Center, Campus Page

They may have general perceptions, and in that respect probably Stanford is right at the top, and UIUC may be a "good public school with a good engineering program".

Certainly, that would not be the case with companies that do a lot of college recruiting. Oracle, for example, is a very large recruiter of international studnets and I am sure they know where to find the gold

Also, if you look at the statistics from Intel, there are a number of "good public school[s] with a good engineering program" that are not on their list.

BTW:

Top ten U.S. technology companies receiving H-1B's (2006):

Microsoft 3117 IBM 1130 Oracle Corporation 1022 Cisco 828 Intel 828 Motorola 760 Qualcomm 533 Yahoo 347 Hewlett-Packard 333 Google 328

H-1B visa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Engineering Expo - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: Students (seems like only a subset of companies known to hire UIUC graduates since Intel is not listed)

Stanford Computer Forum - Directory - Affiliates (scroll to bottom for list of companies)

Of course, Career Fairs are just one way to interface with recruiters, so I wouldn't wait for a Career Fair to start developing contacts at companies.

In 2007, the consensus at Edulix was the same as we are saying here: For an MS degree, it is better to go to UIUC with aid than to Stanford without aid, and two people made this point:

Stanfy [Stanford] is relatively liberal in giving MS admits as compared to UIUC... infact on edulixsome guys gettin into stanfy MS got bumped at UIUC MS

Help! MS-CS - UIUC vs Stan

I don't know if it is true Stanford has a higher acceptance rate for the MS, but it wouldn't be surprising given the tuition rate at Stanford and the fact that UIUC is offering aid to so many MS students.
It is interesting to note that Stanford is very public about saying they only accept about 10 percent of applicants for their PhD CS program but refuses to state their acceptance rate for MS students.

[CalmLogic]

An interesting point about job placement:

Most of the job application here at the US takes place online. ie. You go to company websites and apply there online. If they like you, they will interview you over phone first and then fly you to their location. So it ultimately depends on you! This topic is something debatable. A person who hasn't got a job blames in on the location and person who has got a job doesn't even think about it. Edulix

I don't know about company's paying travel costs, but it is a good point that the Internet makes location less of an issue.