altaire12

Hi, I am admitted to University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) Professional MCS and University of Southern California (USC) MS CS (Technical Professional) for Fall 2015. I would like to get some opinion from UIUC or USC CS graduates, current students, faculties, staff, or anyone who might have some information which can help in the decision-making process. My background and consideration: 1 year experience as software developer and 6 years as web developer in the US, and 1.5 years as data analyst overseas. I want to go back into the industry after I graduate. I am not interested in research or continuing to PhD. UIUC is more well-known, but USC is location-wise closer to tech companies. Which factor do you think is more important during job-hunting? Area of interest: software engineering, web development, mobile development, general programming, and database. Which university is better suited for my area of interest above? If the school has some courses which teach languages/technologies currently used in the industry (Python, Ruby, PHP, Objective C, etc.), then that's a plus. I understand that I can learn these on my own, but taking an actual course gives me more motivation And it does not necessarily have to be in the form of a formal class either, workshops are fine. I know USC has some of these courses through their Information Technology Program (ITP). Does UIUC offer similar courses or workshops? Security concerns. I didn't think about this when I looked for schools to apply but I've been warned by a few people (one of them is USC graduate) that USC is located in a dangerous neighborhood. I was told that there were a few horrible incidents and that I had to take extra precautions (things like stay at home when it is already dark outside) if I were to attend there. The thing is when I did my Bachelor degree in CS, there were countless of times where I had to take evening classes or stay late in the computer lab for my school assignments, so I'm just wondering if this security concern will be detrimental to my studies. How is the security in Urbana-Champaign? I know we still have to be careful one way or another, but is the school/town generally safe? Some additional questions for those who have studied in USC or UIUC: What do you like and what don't you like about the school or the CS department? How supportive and helpful are the International Student Office and Career Center? Thank you! Your opinion is greatly appreciated.

I realized this post is more than 6 months old but I'm curious. @harddecision, which school/degree did you end up choosing? What do you think about the school that you chose? I got admitted to both USC CS (Technical Professional) as well as UIUC MCS and have a hard time choosing.