IE PhD: USC vs NCSU vs UVa vs Pitt

[muffinstardust]

Hi everyone!

I have PhD admissions in industrial engineering (or systems engineering in some cases) from four schools at the moment: North Carolina State U, U of Virginia, U of Pittsburgh and U of Southern California. All schools except NCSU offer assistantship or fellowship. The situation with NCSU will be determined later.

I have five other pending applications, but I am having trouble deciding even between these four. My first concern is the academic quality of these institutions, but social life will also be an important factor in making my decision. All schools have research areas to keep me occupied for 5 years, though I like UVa and Pitt better in that respect.

Can anyone help me out in some way? Even a ranking off the top of your head would be fine.

Much thanks...

[muffinstardust]

No one has any suggestions? Come on, it's almost April 15th! =)

[youtoepea]

Hi,

It's hard to give advice regarding those schools for Industrial Engineering without truly knowing what type of research you are interested in and which professors you are considering working with. I am a PhD student at an Industrial Engineering department (not a school on your list, and -- just to give my advice credibility -- it's a school that is ranked better than all of those schools). I have visited NCSU and UVa before, and I got the impression that UVa was good at 'systems engineering', which involves more coding and programming, while NCSU was good at more traditional IE areas (production, inventory control, etc) and was starting to grow in the health care area (Denton and Ivy are good researchers). Pitt is also a good school, especially if you want to do health care operations research (Andrew Schaefer is widely famous in IE); finally, USC is OK, but doesn't get a lot of attention for its IE program -- the only thing that I know about USC is that they have the textbook-writing fiend Sheldon Ross.

I'd say all 4 schools are on equal footing, as far as reputation goes. I'd be better able to evaluate if you mentioned what type of research you want to work on, but you can't go wrong no matter what school you choose. Further, all 4 schools are in a nice location, although Pitt is most definitely the worst of the 4 (but Pittsburgh can be fun, nonetheless).

Hope that helps!

[muffinstardust]

Thanks youtoepea. I am really happy that you are trying to help me out. =)

I am most likely to work on systems simulation and modeling. I say "likely" because I am not really set on anything yet. I also like mathematical programming and stochastic modeling (and God knows what else I'll develop a liking for at the graduate school). I guess I need a project that I really believe in to concentrate in any one area in greater detail. That's why I believe a department that has good teachers and researchers in a variety of area (with respect to both methodology and application) will be better for me. UVa and NCSU offer this.

I prefer applications related to the service industry over those related to manufacturing. Working with Schaefer or Denton would really appeal to me. I have been in contact with Schaefer for a long time now and it appears that he wants to work with me too. On the other hand, Denton has told me that he doesn't have any available research positions for now. USC's research focuses mainly on production and, frankly, there aren't many people at USC whose work excites me.

My favorite among the four seems to be UVa for now, followed closely by NCSU and Pittsburgh. What do you think?

[muffinstardust]

Final comments? =))