wisc_guy Posted March 31, 2008 Posted March 31, 2008 Hi I have visited both U of Minnesota -Twin Cities and UIUC. Here are my concerns. Minnesota - The department there is named after CEMS (Chemical Engineering Materials Science), however they offer both Materials Science and Chemical Engineering degree separately. The chemical engineering is ranked 1 or 2 while I am not sure about the materials science ( I think it is around 15 ). The city is very good, the faculty is nice to talk and so are the grad students. It is like a dream place for me. However, I am just concerned about the difference of Materials Science versus Chem Eng status since they basically have the same faculty but only differ in classes to take. By concern here I mean: how the treatment during the 5 year, how company or university would look into hiring people from Mat Sci Minnesota. I do find many professors whose research interest match with me. UIUC - the program is ranked 2nd and the facility is very enormous (XRD, electron microscope, etc.). However, the city is nothing compared to minneapolis and I find fewer professors that match my interest ( although I need to keep my options open). But I think PhD graduate in Materials Science from UIUC might have a slight prestige than Minnesota (it will be different if I am in the Chem Eng department at Minnesota). Anybody knows or has experience with this?
perkinqq Posted April 1, 2008 Posted April 1, 2008 UIUC is no city and that's probably it's biggest weakness, but as a PhD candidate in Material Science, you also have to consider how much time you'll have for a social life in general. This is not to go with the cliche that all graduate students do is study, but I still think it is pretty much one of the main defining differences between the two. I've been at UIUC for 4 yrs and it definitely has it's charm; when I go crazy for the city, I'll drive up to Chicago now and then to breath a little. It's not a place I could see myself settling down in, but I've already considered myself just a temp visitor, hehe...ask yourself what your priorities are (under the conditions that both are already HIGH priority): social life > academic opportunities OR academic opportunities > social life and see where Minnnesota and UIUC fits. If you have any questions with regards to champaign life, etc. I would be more than willing to answer them
mareserinitatis Posted April 1, 2008 Posted April 1, 2008 Don't know if this helps at all, but I visited UMN this past weekend. They have a kick-ass facility with XRD and TEMs. (Look up their characterization facility.) I don't think you'll be missing out on anything there, in case you were interested. Other than that, my field is completely different, so I can't say anything about the relative prestige. Good luck!
wisc_guy Posted April 1, 2008 Author Posted April 1, 2008 To perkingg.. what is your field of study? Also, do you have a view on how the ranking really matters if I am looking for a institutional job. To mareserinitatis.. yeah, I think so. Thx for the reply.
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