MS at Carnegie Mellon (no current funding) or UIUC (fully funded)?

[dav1d]

Hi there,

I was wondering if anyone has any advice regarding my current situation for a MS in computer science, with a focus on AI/Natural Language Processing.

My two admits are:

1. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign -- full funding (as an RA or TA)

2. Language Technology Institute at Carnegie Mellon -- no funding, but "some [24/26 say the stats] Masters students find partial or full support directly from research projects beginning in their first or second semester, either at LTI or in another academic department at CMU."

Oh, and I will most likely apply for a PhD after completing the MS program.

Thanks!

[origin415]

The only details you give us to go by is the funding, in which case go for the funding.

However since you are still considering CMU, I have to assume this program has a better reputation and better fit or something (looking at US News, CMU is 2 in AI, UIUC 7, close enough I wouldn't worry about it too much). However I still lean towards going for the funding, if you are going for you PhD its not good to have a big debt with your shoestring stipend. 24/26 had at least partial support, how big is partial? How much debt did they have upon graduation? Perhaps you could ask some grad students from there about this support?

Edited April 9, 2010 by origin415

[dav1d]

CMU has an entire program dedicated to the specialty/similar areas, whereas UIUC has various faculty members across different labs dedicated to specialty. A second reason why CMU is still in the running is that if I enter the program I am making a commitment to a specialization (more or less), whereas in UIUC I would be able to play around in a few areas (which could be either positive or negative). Also, and perhaps it is just my perception, but I believe Carnegie Mellon is also a bit more prestigious. I am not sure whether this name recognition might be important in the future for PhD applications or for job placement.

Regarding the funding at CMU, I wasn't able to obtain real concrete stats, but based on some correspondence with grad students, it would seem that once they receive funding it is full funding. I unfortunately haven't been able to get much more than that. I have heard first hand accounts of students going, receiving full funding at the end of their first semesters, and not paying a dime for tuition, but I am sure there are stories on the other side as well.

[BKMD]

I'm in your field, and I did my undergrad at UIUC, and I was admitted to the LTI PhD program (though ended up turning down the offer), so I can give you my opinion.

I visited CMU during the Open House and I have to say it is a nicer school - they have more CS faculty, they have a really awesome new building, and personally I would rather live in a more urban area than Urbana-Champaign. I did get the impression that most masters students can find funding - however it was sometimes the case that they did not get anything until the second semester, which means they would have to pay ~$20k tuition/fees.

That being said... UIUC is also quite nice (they have the second-nicest CS building after CMU that I've encountered, and I've visited campuses of other nice schools) and there is a reasonable number of faculty for AI/NLP. There are quite a few AI/IR people, as well as a couple professors who specifically focus on NLP. Outside of the CS dept there is also the Beckman Institute which also does advanced AI and speech processing. Some of the bigger professors don't have time to advise MS students, but since you are fully funded the situation might be different... this is certainly something to look into.

Personally I would take the funded offer. It's only 2 years of your life so your school/environment shouldn't be a big factor. If you were doing a PhD, then I would probably give you different advice.The programs are both very highly regarded, so even though CMU is more prestigious, I don't think this will affect your ability to get into PhD programs. I don't think it's a big enough difference in quality to risk going into debt, and honestly, getting guaranteed funding for an MS is a rare opportunity that I would jump on. (And who knows - you might end up getting accepted into CMU's PhD program a couple years from now, where you won't have to worry about funding.)