CMU ETIM vs Purdue MEM

[Shreyansh]

Hi everyone!

I've been accepted to the Dual Master's Program in Mechanical Engineering and Engineering & Technology Innovation Management at CMU and the Master's in Engineering Management Program at Purdue. I'm having a hard time deciding between the two. I'm a mechanical engineering undergrad with no work experience, and my short-term aim is to find a job in the industry after graduation.

CMU

Pros: (i) An MS in Mechanical Engineering means I have the option of choosing a core engineering sector job after graduation. The E&TIM MS would open up sectors like product management, technical consultancy, operations and supply chain management etc. for me. 

(ii) The brand name, plus the inherent emphasis on technology that comes with any program at CMU.

(iii) Small batch size.

Cons: (i) Expensive. Costs twice as much as Purdue.

(ii) Has a 3-month internship component, compared to a 12 month long co-op program at Purdue. Since my primary aim is to work in the industry after graduation, I suppose a longer US-based work experience will give me an edge, in addition to better networking opportunities.

(iii) The mechanical engineering department at CMU is not as good as that at Purdue.

 

Purdue

Pros: (i) Relatively cheaper. Which means I have the option to go back to my home country and pay back my education loans from there, in the worst case scenario where I don't like the US work culture at all (can't do this with CMU since the loan is much larger).

(ii) As stated earlier, a 12-month long co-op internship gives me a better chance of securing employment after gradation. Plus there's an opportunity to convert that internship into a job. This co-op is the biggest plus in my opinion.

(iii) Small batch size.

Cons: (i) Most of the alumni here go into core engineering jobs initially, before moving on to engineering or product management profiles. This makes me doubtful as to how this degree is different from a traditional Mechanical Engineering MS degree.

(ii) The school's overall reputation is a bit lower than CMU (?)

Any ideas you guys might have on my dilemma?

[DiscoTech]

1 hour ago, Shreyansh said:

Hi everyone!

I've been accepted to the Dual Master's Program in Mechanical Engineering and Engineering & Technology Innovation Management at CMU and the Master's in Engineering Management Program at Purdue. I'm having a hard time deciding between the two. I'm a mechanical engineering undergrad with no work experience, and my short-term aim is to find a job in the industry after graduation.

CMU

Pros: (i) An MS in Mechanical Engineering means I have the option of choosing a core engineering sector job after graduation. The E&TIM MS would open up sectors like product management, technical consultancy, operations and supply chain management etc. for me. 

(ii) The brand name, plus the inherent emphasis on technology that comes with any program at CMU.

(iii) Small batch size.

Cons: (i) Expensive. Costs twice as much as Purdue.

(ii) Has a 3-month internship component, compared to a 12 month long co-op program at Purdue. Since my primary aim is to work in the industry after graduation, I suppose a longer US-based work experience will give me an edge, in addition to better networking opportunities.

(iii) The mechanical engineering department at CMU is not as good as that at Purdue.

 

Purdue

Pros: (i) Relatively cheaper. Which means I have the option to go back to my home country and pay back my education loans from there, in the worst case scenario where I don't like the US work culture at all (can't do this with CMU since the loan is much larger).

(ii) As stated earlier, a 12-month long co-op internship gives me a better chance of securing employment after gradation. Plus there's an opportunity to convert that internship into a job. This co-op is the biggest plus in my opinion.

(iii) Small batch size.

Cons: (i) Most of the alumni here go into core engineering jobs initially, before moving on to engineering or product management profiles. This makes me doubtful as to how this degree is different from a traditional Mechanical Engineering MS degree.

(ii) The school's overall reputation is a bit lower than CMU (?)

Any ideas you guys might have on my dilemma?

Outside of CS, the brand name of CMU is overrated. I am sure it is a fine department, but no one is ooh-ing over it unless you did something with robotics.

However, you're not going into straight up engineering. I would pay attention to the quality of the business schools given the management/operations component to your program. Tepper is far superior to Krannert and, therefore, likely has better success at placing students into management roles.

[Shreyansh]

1 hour ago, DiscoTech said:

Outside of CS, the brand name of CMU is overrated. I am sure it is a fine department, but no one is ooh-ing over it unless you did something with robotics.

However, you're not going into straight up engineering. I would pay attention to the quality of the business schools given the management/operations component to your program. Tepper is far superior to Krannert and, therefore, likely has better success at placing students into management roles.

I don't think either of Tepper or Krannert would be involved in placing students for these programs. These programs are offered and managed by their respective colleges of engineering, and the role of the business schools is limited to offering half the courses.

Purdue has, in addition to its career fair, a dedicated team and contracts with some companies to specifically help students from the Engineering Management program secure a co-op. At CMU, there's just the regular career fairs and grad school professional development center. Does that change your take in any way?

[DiscoTech]

14 minutes ago, Shreyansh said:

I don't think either of Tepper or Krannert would be involved in placing students for these programs. These programs are offered and managed by their respective colleges of engineering, and the role of the business schools is limited to offering half the courses.

Purdue has, in addition to its career fair, a dedicated team and contracts with some companies to specifically help students from the Engineering Management program secure a co-op. At CMU, there's just the regular career fairs and grad school professional development center. Does that change your take in any way?

If you believe that the reputation of the respective business schools is only incidental to placement success, I retract everything I said. Someone more knowledgeable about MEM programs would be a better source of advice. 

Good luck. Sounds like you have good options either way.

[Shreyansh]

Thanks for your insights! Really appreciate it. 

[TheMostPowerfulApplicant]

Here is the deal, MEM degrees (and their many cousins like ETIM) are very new degrees that companies in industry don't really know what to make of them. Especially without any work experience, your MEM degree isn't really going to get you any different job coming out of graduation because a company isnt gonna take the risk of giving a higher level position. 

An MS in ME degree is much more understood and thats what I think is the main advantage of CMU option