UChicago vs. Columbia vs. USC

[GenLast]

Hello everyone, after being rejected by Oxford and MIT, I was offered admission to the three schools listed in the title. 

I am an international student (undergrad in International Relations) to pursue a Masters degree and my goal is to stay in the US and seek employment in data and tech oriented roles in economic/political consultancies or tech companies. I also have two years of FT work experience as an IT Analyst.  

1. UChicago: Masters in Computational Social Science (MACSS)

  + Scholarship covering half of the tuition

  + Very comprehensive curriculum for students who have no previous exposure to computer science

  + 2 year program with an almost guaranteed summer internship

  + Good reputation

   - Not sure about the industry placements, most alumni seem to be going for a PhD at top institutions

   - Bad weather (?)

   - Academically heavy courses and lots of reading & writing (not much of a problem) 

 

2. Columbia: MA in Quantitative Methods in Social Sciences (QMSS)

  + Dream school / gut feel

  + Strongest reputation

  + Arguably the best location for recruitment

   - Geared towards academics (maybe not as much as UChicago)

   - Shortest program (9 months with 4 month extension option) and costs the same as UChicago with financial assistance

   - Highest cost of living (although the others are also high) 

 

3. University of Southern California: MS in Business Analytics (MSBA)

  + Most exciting curriculum that is designed for industry placements

  + Best weather

  + Impressive career support, high number of alumni placed at my target companies

   - Worst reputation among the three (I don't know how employers would react) 

   - Costs slightly higher than the others

 

The first two options stand out in terms of general reputation but they seem to be more geared towards a PhD although they claim to be placing alumni in top private companies. 

 

All three options are STEM designated so I will have the chance to look for a job for 3 months and work for 3 years following graduation. 

Being able to find (at least an OK) job in the US is my top priority because I will finance part of my degree with loans. And it would be really difficult to pay for it earning the currency of my home country. I am not sure if the first two options will help me do that. 

I was also offered admission to the MIA program at Columbia SIPA and they offer a double degree combined with the QMSS. However, the cost of SIPA is the highest and it does not a have STEM designation (unless combined with the QMSS) so I reckon my chances of working in the US after I complete the program would be slim. 

To be honest I thought this part of admissions process would be more colorful but so far it has been even more stressful than applying and waiting for decisions. 

 

I would appreciate any help, thank you very much!

[tom_belgium]

Hey

I'm in a similar situation. Applied to MAPSS Econ and MA Econ at Chicago and Columbia respectively. Also got admitted to both, also with a 50% funding offer in Chicago.

At least from what I can tell, Chicago is more academic. So if you plan on going for a PhD, I would say Chicago is the way to go (especially considering you got funding there). 

If not though, I think you could justify the extra cost of Columbia because, like you said, you'd be situated in one of the most attractive places for recruitment. From what I have seen, however, MACSS also has good job placement. 

The good news is that there's really no wrong option here and you'd likely do very well in either program. Maybe you should just let it come down to which one of these cities is more attractive to you overall. If you'd rather live in New York and Columbia is your dream school, go for it.

[GenLast]

Thank you for you response!

I am also worried about the duration of Columbia, which is almost half of MACSS at Chicago. I am not sure if there would be enough time for me to find employment in the NYC. 

Do you think choosing USC out of these 3 schools would be unwise? It seems to be the program that has the best placements in the industry (or perhaps they advertise it better than UChicago and Columbia but even if that is the case it says something). 

Cheers!

[tom_belgium]

Don't really know much about the USC program to be fair. 

That's actually what concerned me too (program in Chicago in my case is only 9 months versus a year and a half in Columbia).

I've heard from someone in the MA Econ program at Columbia, however, that QMSS students typically do really well.