Stanford MS EE Funding/Fellowships anyone?

[anuishp]

Hey All

Congrats to all those that have been Admitted to Stanford's MS EE program. Like me, I am sure most of you must be eagerly waiting/researching about funding options at Stanford. Does anyone have any news about what the funding situation is at Stanford? How many students usually receive fellowships? Is there anyone who has received a fellowship?

[was1984]

The MSEE is a cash cow for Stanford. I doubt very seriously you will receive any funding as an M.S. student.

[HassE]

Hey All

Congrats to all those that have been Admitted to Stanford's MS EE program. Like me, I am sure most of you must be eagerly waiting/researching about funding options at Stanford. Does anyone have any news about what the funding situation is at Stanford? How many students usually receive fellowships? Is there anyone who has received a fellowship?

congrats on being admitted to stanford, just curious what does your application profile look like.

[ibangz]

The MSEE is a cash cow for Stanford. I doubt very seriously you will receive any funding as an M.S. student.

This is sadly true And I must say they offer a lotta of these, these days

[anotherflunky]

This specific topic comes up a lot... terminal MS degrees in engineering are generally not meant to be funded. Some like UIUC fund them because they expect that a lot will continue onto PhD. The Stanford MSEE is deliberately separate from the PhD-track process and so it never receives funding. They consider MS students to be customers, not researchers. Why do you think admission to it is so easy? As someone else said, it's a cash cow.

[ibangz]

This specific topic comes up a lot... terminal MS degrees in engineering are generally not meant to be funded. Some like UIUC fund them because they expect that a lot will continue onto PhD. The Stanford MSEE is deliberately separate from the PhD-track process and so it never receives funding. They consider MS students to be customers, not researchers. Why do you think admission to it is so easy? As someone else said, it's a cash cow.

I believe UIUC funds it's MS program because it is thesis-based?

I know that UMich's terminal MS too, is not funded and admission to is really easy and it does not have a thesis option whatsover.

[anuishp]

@haeye- I will post my profile on the "Admission Statistics" page soon

@Everyone- so if this course is a cash cow for Stanford, do you guys think its not worth it?

[brassgod]

@Everyone- so if this course is a cash cow for Stanford, do you guys think its not worth it?

I was rejected by Stanford so you can dismiss my opinion on this.

I was hoping I would get accepted to Stanford, but I knew that I would probably end up not going just because it's expensive. I have some loans from undergraduate school, and I think it is a lot of money I have to pay back, which would take me about a year to do it with my current job. Stanford would have added another ~$80k on top of that. Even with an M.S. from Stanford, it would be tough to justify the degree for the salary I would be making in industry.

Job-wise, industry doesn't care too much where you got your M.S. degree from (i.e. Cal Poly vs. Stanford). So I would pick the program that is the best fit with funding.

[HassE]

I was rejected by Stanford so you can dismiss my opinion on this.

I was hoping I would get accepted to Stanford, but I knew that I would probably end up not going just because it's expensive. I have some loans from undergraduate school, and I think it is a lot of money I have to pay back, which would take me about a year to do it with my current job. Stanford would have added another ~$80k on top of that. Even with an M.S. from Stanford, it would be tough to justify the degree for the salary I would be making in industry.

Job-wise, industry doesn't care too much where you got your M.S. degree from (i.e. Cal Poly vs. Stanford). So I would pick the program that is the best fit with funding.

brassgod, you were rejected from the MS at stanford? I thought previous post were saying its relatively "easy" to get into the MSEE. Not trying to open the wound again, but would you mind posting your profile? Just trying to see how I stand up to you versus the admitted candidate.

[brassgod]

brassgod, you were rejected from the MS at stanford? I thought previous post were saying its relatively "easy" to get into the MSEE. Not trying to open the wound again, but would you mind posting your profile? Just trying to see how I stand up to you versus the admitted candidate.

Haha! I made it seem like I actually thought I had a chance at Stanford.

For starters, I had a 3.3 GPA so I probably didn't make their GPA cutoff, I wasn't going to apply since it seemed like a big reach, but a friend said he knows others with similar stats but less research have been admitted to Stanford's engineering M.S. programs (not necessarily EE). So I thought screw it, i'll do it.

Edited March 16, 2011 by brassgod

[anuishp]

I got in to Georgia Tech (with full funding too). So, Georgia Tech (With Funding) vs Stanford (Without funding), which is more prestigious and which one will give me more opportunities in the job market and also a chance to do an MBA from a prestigious school?

[brassgod]

I got in to Georgia Tech (with full funding too). So, Georgia Tech (With Funding) vs Stanford (Without funding), which is more prestigious and which one will give me more opportunities in the job market and also a chance to do an MBA from a prestigious school?

Dude, haven't you been reading the thread.

In my opinion, Georgia Tech vs Stanford is the same as UIUC vs Stanford in terms of funding vs. non-funding. GT is a highly regarded school too so the "Stanford is ranked higher" argument doesn't do much here.Job-wise they are the same unless you really want to come to the Silicon Valley, but that's only small bump for Stanford.

If you want to do an MBA, do you really want to have the grad school debt on top of what you'll be adding for MBA tuition?

[HassE]

Haha! I made it seem like I actually thought I had a chance at Stanford.

For starters, I had a 3.3 GPA so I probably didn't make their GPA cutoff, I wasn't going to apply since it seemed like a big reach, but a friend said he knows others with similar stats but less research have been admitted to Stanford's engineering M.S. programs (not necessarily EE). So I thought screw it, i'll do it.

how was your GRE scores and etc?

only reason I question it is because i wouldnt of minded applying to stanford, but im in a similiar boat as you. just trying to compare myself to you to see how they'd rate me.

[brassgod]

how was your GRE scores and etc?

only reason I question it is because i wouldnt of minded applying to stanford, but im in a similiar boat as you. just trying to compare myself to you to see how they'd rate me.

Quick summary:

• School: UC in SoCal
• GPA: 3.3/4.0
• GRE: 800Q/560V/4.0
• 3 REU
• 1 industry internship
• 1 semester at JPL (full-time)
• 1 year lab assistant
• No publications, conferences, etc.
• references (positive, I assume)
• Statement (good/decent)
• URM (if it matters)

Edited March 16, 2011 by brassgod

[was1984]

I got in to Georgia Tech (with full funding too). So, Georgia Tech (With Funding) vs Stanford (Without funding), which is more prestigious and which one will give me more opportunities in the job market and also a chance to do an MBA from a prestigious school?

This is a no brainer to me. Go to Georgia Tech. In my mind, an M.S. from Georgia Tech is much more prestigious than an M.S. from Stanford, because it is much more selective. Plus, you can do a thesis which is a more prestigious degree option.

The only way I'd even think about going to Stanford in your situation is if your other admit was from a school that wasn't in the top 20, and even then I'd probably still go the other way.

Congrats on Georgia Tech and enjoy your time there!

[anuishp]

This is a no brainer to me. Go to Georgia Tech. In my mind, an M.S. from Georgia Tech is much more prestigious than an M.S. from Stanford, because it is much more selective. Plus, you can do a thesis which is a more prestigious degree option.

The only way I'd even think about going to Stanford in your situation is if your other admit was from a school that wasn't in the top 20, and even then I'd probably still go the other way.

Congrats on Georgia Tech and enjoy your time there!

Georgia Tech is more prestigious than Stanford! Lol! I had never heard that before. Georgia Tech's Graduate Engineering Program is the largest in the country (According to US News). So its like what Purdue is to Undergraduates.

The only reason that is keeping me away from GaTech is the fact that I did my undergrad there, and I kinda wanna gain a perspective from a different engineering school. But I really don't know how different the two are going to be.

[anotherflunky]

It's well-known (even outside Silicon Valley) that Stanford MS engineering programs are relatively easy to get into, but the same is true of GaTech so I'd say they are about equal. Trust me, no one is going to think someone is "Stanford caliber" because they have a Stanford MS. So it's not really worth it to spend money on their MSEE because it just doesn't have the same brand name value as a Stanford undergraduate degree or doctoral degree.

Thanks to the "honors" (my ass) co-op program that lets companies send their employees to Stanford (and earn Stanford lots of $ in the process), there are so many mediocre guys running around with those MS degrees that it doesn't carry much impact. Compared to other top 10 MS degrees, I'd take most of them over Stanford, even factoring out cost. Take cost into account, and yeah, it's sort of a no-brainer. And then take into account funding and thesis option (as with your case), and I don't know why Stanford would even be in the running. I'd say their MS degrees are most valuable to internationals who just want a U.S. degree or a Si Valley job, or to those want to try to sneak into the PhD program but didn't get direct admission. People who think "Stanford is Stanford" and fork over 80k for any other reason are hilariously misguided.

Edited March 17, 2011 by gtmshine

[was1984]

Georgia Tech is more prestigious than Stanford! Lol! I had never heard that before. Georgia Tech's Graduate Engineering Program is the largest in the country (According to US News). So its like what Purdue is to Undergraduates.

The only reason that is keeping me away from GaTech is the fact that I did my undergrad there, and I kinda wanna gain a perspective from a different engineering school. But I really don't know how different the two are going to be.

I didn't realize Ga Tech has a large easy to join M.S. program. In any case, they seem about equal. Stanford definitely has a reputation for having a relatively easy to join M.S. degree, so that was my point. Take the money. Getting an M.S. degree from the same school isn't a big deal, though I'd never do it for a Ph.D.