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I will take the counter argument. Berkeley is 1 year. I'm assuming UW is 2 years. If graduate early that 1 year u could make money to pay off tuition 35k. MS starting salary is 80-100k, after tax u still get 60-70k. Berkeley is 1 hour drive from Silicon Valley and with Berkeley degree u could get interviews more easily. MIT, Stanford, Berkeley are 1st tier in engineering, all other schools come in 2nd. I think it's worth the gamble. Unless of course your parents are already retired and need the money.

Definitely Purdue or UW. VT caliber is too far off. Then choose based on which degree is cheaper/ takes less time.

Are you 100% committed to do bioE? Duke is only strong in bioE whereas UT is strong in engineering across the board. So if u want to switch specialty, UT is definitely the better choice. Also ECE job market and pay is better than bioE, so unless you're 100% committed to BioE, go for UT.

Berkeley has cheaper tuition and better rankings. I don't know what your degree abbreviations mean. San Francisco bay area is also a big metropolitan area, I don't think you'll be lacking in any networking opportunities.

Thanks for your reply. From the WSJ article I posted: --------------------------------------------------- Also notable among the batch of applications for the Georgia Tech (online) program, which starts in January, is the 14-fold increase in U.S. residents. Zvi Galil, the dean of its College of Computing, said 1,854, or 79%, of the 2,359 applicants were U.S. citizens. For the residential class that began this fall, just 128, or 9%, of the 1,371 applicants were U.S citizens. Only about 150 students enrolled in the residential program, while most of the online students are expected to matriculate. Graduate engineering programs have been dominated by foreign nationals for decades. Nearly two-thirds of all computer-science graduate students and over 70% of all electrical-engineering graduate students studying in the U.S. are from other countries, according to Stuart Anderson, author of a recent report on the subject for the National Foundation for American Policy. Sebastian Thrun, the CEO of Udacity, which is partnering with Georgia Tech as well as AT&T to create the program, said the large number of U.S. applicants highlighted a demand among adult students. "There is a really huge number of people in this country that would love to get an education while having a job or raising a family or staying at home," Mr. Thrun said. "But that need is being unmet." Mr. Galil said he hopes to expand the Georgia Tech model to 10,000 students. The school hires an additional teacher for every 60 or so students to facilitate online chat discussions. Every applicant with a four-year college degree who graduated with at least a 3.0 will be accepted, but that acceptance is conditional on making at least a B in the first two courses. The residential program accepts fewer than one in five applicants and that selectivity is good for the school because it enhances prestige—but Mr. Galil said qualified applicants are turned away. A residential student recently approached Mr. Gail and complained that the online program would devalue his degree if it grows too large because so many more people would have it. Mr. Galil said he told the student: "You're not here because you're good, you're here because you're lucky. When we admitted you, we turned away 500 other students who were as good as you or maybe better." --------------------------------------------------- The OMS program certainly, to enroll up to 10,000 student, would not be as selective as the on campus program, which has acceptance rate of 15-20% (1 in 5 applicants) and about 150 students enrolled each year. The point of OMS program is to provide access and affordability for those seeking a CS education, and will be much more lenient in accepting candidates. That said,some OMS students enrolled may not pass the first 2 classes with B's, or do not have the dedication/commitment to finish the 12 classes online to obtain the MSCS degree. But I would think GT would adjust its policies of OMS if it really becomes a problem of devaluing the on-campus MSCS degree. But the scale of thousands that OMS will admit is certainly a large number for awarding MSCS degree.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304470504579166112833252206 Georgia Tech plans to enroll thousands of students for its omscs program (online master of science in computer science), which leads to the exact same degree MSCS (no word "online" on diploma) as the degree of on campus/residential MSCS student. This is confirmed by GT via email and stated here: http://www.omscs.gatech.edu/faq/ How will this degree appear on my diploma and/or transcript? The name "Online Master of Science" is an informal designation to help both Georgia Tech and prospective students distinguish the delivery method of the OMS program from our on-campus degree. The degree name in both cases is Master of Science in Computer Science. Would hundreds to thousands of people all over the world earning MS CS degrees from GT seriously devalues the MS CS degree (since the GT MSCS degree becomes too "rampant")? I was accepted to GT's on-campus/resiential MS CS program, but due to this concern that I do not want my degree seriously devalued, I feel I do not want to attend GT for MS in CS. Is my concern legitimate/well-founded?

Maybe see if a government agency that needs Middle Eastern speakers/experts will pay for your school, if you're okay working for them.

How long does the PhD take? If you have money for tuition I would choose Harvard. You can graduate in 2 years and go off making money (PhD is 4-6 years?). Also 1st place vs 27th is a bit of a distance. But if biostatician must hold a PhD for a decent job, then OSU. If master is acceptable, choose Harvard.

Can u do MS in GT in ME and then some other MS degree in other fields like EE or BioE? Or do GT MS, apply for other programs, drag out the MS study time/don't graduate until you got admissions results. I say this because schools may not admit someone who already has an MS in the same field.

Rock the GRE and u have a shot at MENG programs. I know a guy with internship but no research experience who got into Cornell MENG in CS ( Computer Science ). They receive about 650 applications and accept the top 140 which usually results in an incoming class of 100 for the Ithaca program. They aim to poduce an incoming class of 30 students for the NYC program. So admision rate I would guess hovers around 20%. Just apply and u never know.

Any top ranked 25-50 CS programs would have recruiters come to your schools to interview. It is up to you of how good your ability/skills and experience are for employers to hire you. Can you make an app, build a website, database? If you can it's easy to find a job, even if you go to a mediocre school.

The Cornell CS M Eng website clearly says no transfer credits. Also it is a year program anyway, you need to finish your degree in 1 year. So that sounds like it would fit your schedule.

Don't you have 1 year after graduation to look for a job before you would have to return to your home country? I imagine it is a lot easier to look for a job in Berkeley, since you can go to Silicon Valley in 1 hour. From Cornell it would be harder to go to the companies to do interviews. Usually employers do on campus interviews first and then onsite interviews for new hires. Also Berkeley carrying more prestige may give you a leg up in securing a job.

Call me a rookie, but isn't PhD research more about how much hardwork you put into it/insights you made? Your faculty advisors don't make too much of a difference? So Harvard faculty should be good enough for your research and career development. I think go to Harvard. Just the networking opportunities with the most influencial and intelligent people in US will probably help you greatly in your career later on. Also UW does not hold much of a prestige outside Washington, except in CS. Harvard is all around a better school.

UT Austin: Austin warmer, vibrant tech startup community, has AMD, Samsung, Intel, facebook, Apple. Dell headquarters in Austin. Samsung has been trying to heavily recuit UT ECE students with 3.8+ GPA (high standard, huh)? Apple is looking for people who know GUI. Although I think UCSD has Qualcomm and much better weather and beaches. If UCSD is your state school then definitely go to UCSD. Engineering is about what you can create, so as long as your school is decent, doesn't matter where you went.

Forgot to mention Dell, headquarters here in Austin and founded by UT alumnus. I felt Northwestern doesn't have much prestige outside of Chicago. I'm from Calif and lived in Austin for a while. I don't think people talk about Northwestern at all.

UT Austin: higher ranking, more prestige nationwide. Much cheaper tuition, Austin warmer, vibrant tech startup community, has AMD, Samsung, Intel, facebook, Apple. cost of living lower than chicago