Masters at Georgia Tech or MIT Media Labs for CS

[kmh331]

I intend to eventually do a PhD in Computer Science, specializing in Artificial Intelligence and/or Machine Learning. Ideally I would like to do my PhD at Berkeley, so would be reapplying a year into my Masters.

My question is: If I have the option to go to Georgia Tech for a Masters or get a Masters at MIT Media Labs in lab that is software-focused, which should I choose so that I will have the best chance of getting into a PhD program at a top-ranking AI/ML department like Berkeley's?

On the one hand, MIT is MIT. But the Media Labs are more design-focused and are a less traditional CS Masters than what I would find at Georgia Tech.

I'd be very grateful for any advice or points I haven't considered.

[RoboTicks]

MS CS in GT is not that selective a program. And until and unless you do pathbreaking research here, you will find it hard to get admitted to berkeley.

Although If you choose to attend MIT, it should be a betetr decision in view of your goals because Media labs at MIT is definitely a leader in the area and at MIT you definitely will get a chance to work across departments as well. So you might as wll get a change to work in conventional CS rather than the applied research in Media labs. Once you are in MIT, you can always request a change of major to CS as well, because of a shift of interest.

PS: thats just my point of view, I would like to hear from others.

I intend to eventually do a PhD in Computer Science, specializing in Artificial Intelligence and/or Machine Learning. Ideally I would like to do my PhD at Berkeley, so would be reapplying a year into my Masters.

My question is: If I have the option to go to Georgia Tech for a Masters or get a Masters at MIT Media Labs in lab that is software-focused, which should I choose so that I will have the best chance of getting into a PhD program at a top-ranking AI/ML department like Berkeley's?

On the one hand, MIT is MIT. But the Media Labs are more design-focused and are a less traditional CS Masters than what I would find at Georgia Tech.

I'd be very grateful for any advice or points I haven't considered.

Edited March 17, 2011 by RoboTicks

[kmh331]

MS CS in GT is not that selective a program. And until and unless you do pathbreaking research here, you will find it hard to get admitted to berkeley.

That's a really good piece of info to know, thanks.

Although If you choose to attend MIT, it should be a betetr decision in view of your goals because Media labs at MIT is definitely a leader in the area and at MIT you definitely will get a chance to work across departments as well. So you might as wll get a change to work in conventional CS rather than the applied research in Media labs.

This definitely seemed like a point in favor of ML to me; you can take any MIT classes you'd like, which means I could take a lot of traditional CS courses.

The particular lab to which I've applied also publishes a lot in mainstream CS and AI journals. It's a culture that would encourage producing the kind of quality research papers that PhD admissions committees want to see.

[wayfaerer]

I've read up a lot about the Media Labs - and from what I can tell the main options after finishing a Masters there are to go into industry, or complete a PhD at the Media Lab itself. Like you said, the Media Lab is a non-traditional program, and while the CSAIL in MIT had an amazing reputation for the areas you're talking about, the MIT Media Lab is more known for creating products and "cool" things end to end - with interdisciplinary focus.

If I was you, I'd jump at MIT, and then try to continue for a PhD at the Media Lab itself - but if you're 100% sure you want to go to a PhD program like Berkeley, Georgia Tech seems to be the better option. Especially if you have funding

[kaza]

Media Lab no question. you can take MIT graduate CS cousework . more importantly, you can get letters of recommendation from MIT course 6 collaborators

but once you go to the Media Lab, I can't imagine you wanting to leave for a ph.d. program somewhere else. the media lab is just dope