Hello all,
I'm a fourth year civil engineering student at UC Irvine and I'm deciding on a school to get my master's degree.
I'm deciding between MIT, UC Berkeley, and Stanford for my Masters (in Science or Engineering - I've yet to make that decision yet haha....)
I've considered tuition, location, and quality of the program.
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Berkeley - MS or MENG - they are giving me an option. I entered as MS, but they said I can change whenever I want.
MS - 1 year program (8 courses)
MENG - 2 year program (more courses, 2 minors, and research)
MIT - MENG (accepted) - 1 year program - oriented for industry
http://cee.mit.edu/m...-of-engineering
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Tuition:
UCB - 14k
Stanford - 40k
MIT - 19k (I received a half tuition fellowship)
For this reason, I've narrowed my choices to MIT and UCB since Stanford would be too much money.
Location:
I was born and raised in Southern California so I'm used to the Californian weather. However, I am open to seeing new places and experiencing new things. I have heard MIT can get REALLY cold, and I don't think I would mind that too much. I would love to experience the East Coast, as I haven't even been there before.
I also have to figure out housing - do you guys know the cost of living of these areas? I visited UCB and Stanford recently and loved both places, they have their own feel. I won't be able to make it to MIT before decision day.
Quality of Program
UCB is number 1 in terms of Civil Engineering Graduate programs, but Stanford and MIT follow right afterwards.
I changed majors into civil engineering when the earthquake in China opened my eyes to the devastation of earthquakes on society. Since then, I've oriented my academic goals to learning more about Earthquake Engineering. At the moment, I understand that I will need to be more well rounded as well - but Earthquake loading will probably dictate in California (I plan on staying California afterwards I get my Degree). I wouldn't be surprised that UCB has a better program in terms of Earthquake knowledge, but MIT is well rounded as well.
I've been told at the Open House in UCB that many Structural Engineering theories originated in UCB, and I'm sure this is a factor to consider.
Unfortunately, the WOW factor of MIT is making me lean towards MIT.... I don't want to make my decision based on pride, but I'm sure having a degree from MIT would help me get a job, because in the end, the most important thing is using this degree to advance my career.
Thanks a BUNCH for your time, and if you read all this to help me, I appreciate it very much!
Jay