Carnegie Mellon vs. Univ of Southern California

[nram]

Hi!

I have applied for the Fall 2011 session and have received an admit from Carnegie Mellon and am waiting for USC to reply. If USC also admits me then which univ should I choose for my MS in electrical engineering in signal processing? I have a personal preference for California because of the weather but don't want to base my decision only on that. Please comment with respect to the following points:

1. CMU is ranked higher than USC for elec engg but does ranking really matter and is there that huge a gap between the 2 univs.

2. USC has endless funding or so I've heard. What about the funding in CMU?

3. Specifically for signal processing which univ has better courses and faculty.

4. which is more costly?

5. job opportunities after I complete the program.

A 3rd univ which is also on my list is Georgia Institute of Technology. Please comment on it if you feel it is better than CMU or USC.

I need to make a decision before April 15th so any facts before that would be of immense help.

Thanks!

[zxmung]

Hi, I just want to know which school did you choose last year? Cause I've got the same problem as you now...

CMU or UCLA or USC or even UW Seattle? It is really hard for me to choose one between them. BTW, my prefer direction is IC design.