Egyptian_06

Thank you Mutou. I want to mention that the "UMD" I am talking about is the University of Maryland - College Park. In fact, its rank is higher than that of UCLA regarding the CS graduate program. What is your opinion now? Forgot to mention that the rank differece is very slight. UMD's rank is 13 while UCLA's is 15.

Thank you misho007 for your reply. However, the USNews site requires a premium registration in order to show the rankings. Can someone with a premium account send the Systems and AI rankings for 2006?

Can someone post the 2006 USNews rankings for Computer Science specialities: Systems and AI?

Career wise, regarding working in a "university" after PhD, is it better to obtain the PhD form UMD or UCLA? I know that it depends on the person's achievements. However, I am wondering which university, UMD or UCLA, provides the better environment and conditions for such achievements?

Both offers include full tuition waiver.

Until the moment before I write this reply, I was going to write my acceptace to UCLA's offer. However, what prevented me from doing so is the receipt of an offer from UMD. Now I have only one day to reply. Therefore, your advice is much more strongly needed and much more highly appreciated. Please help me pick one of these two offers: Offer #1: Program: PhD CS - UCLA Type of financial aid: 9 months Fellowship then 3 months Full RA. Prospective research group: Networking - Dr. Mario Gerla. Net salary (after taxes): 1350$/m for the Fellowship - Do not know yet about the RA. Housing: 850$/m Offer #2: Program: PhD CS - UMD Type of financial aid: TA + A small block fellowship paid at the start of the year. Prospective research group: NIL. Salary (taxable): Don't know whether $15,526 is for 9.5 months or for 9.5/2: "Your minimum guaranteed salary for the first two (9.5 month) academic years will be $15,526 (taxable) per academic year." Housing: Have no idea Below is my point of view. Please give what you see too. ** Pros of UCLA: * Identified research group and professor from the begenning. * Renowned professor. * Since UCLA has a quarter system. Thus, I can finish three semesters while I am in the fellowship, shortening the period to get the PhD. ** Cons of UCLA: * High cost of living especially given that I can not share housing. ** Pros of UMD: * Very nice community * Higher rank than UCLA ** Cons of UMD: * Not assigned to a research group, will take time to find one. * No first year fellowship. * Heard that average time to get a PhD is SEVEN years, because students get involved in research that is irrelevant to their thesis. Please bear with me. I am very sorry for bothering you with my questions. However, I have only one day to reply.

Thank you Cavenaghi. My profile is: Undergraduate: BSc in CS- Distinction with honors (89.9%) - Alexandria University - Egypt. Class rank: 3rd. Graduate: MSc in CS - GPA: 3.97 - Alexandria University - Egypt. Research Experience: 3 years in the form of a Master Thesis. Research Interests: Distributed and Intelligent Systems - Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks - Intelligent Transportation Systems. Teaching Experience: TA for 3 years in CS Department, Alexandria University. Working Experience: 3 years in software houses. Publications: One IEEE VTC publication - first author. TOEFL: 287 (6.0). GRE General: Q:790 V:350 A:4.5 GRE Subject: Computer Science: 800 (77%)

Thank you ml2316 for your reply. However, I do not want to rely on my wife's work since it is not guaranteed. What do you think fellows?

Dear All, I have been offered PhD in CS with financial aid from both UCLA and UMN-TC. Although I feel attracted to UCLA, I am afraid that the financial aid offer will not be enough for covering my life expenses because I am a married student and I do NOT intend to share housing. Please consider the following two options: Offer #1: Program: PhD CS - UCLA Type of financial aid: 9 months Fellowship then 3 months Full RA. Prospective research group: Networking - Dr. Mario Gerla. Net salary (after taxes): 1350$/m for the Fellowship - Do not know yet about the RA. Housing: 850$/m (To emphasize: please do not consider the option of sharing). Offer #2: Program: CS - University of Minnesota TC Type of financial aid: 4 months TA then 8 months RA. Prospective research group: Database. Net salary (after taxes): 1350$/m for both the TA and RA. Housing: 650$/m. As you may figure out, I am afraid that my wife and I will face (or more worse, suffer from) financial difficulties in UCLA due to the high cost of living. In your opinion, which offer should one take? Since I have only three days to decide, your advice is strongly needed and highly appreciated. Thanks, Egyptian_06 (Although he is my friend, please do not confuse me with Egyptian_80)