OSU vs. PSU vs. UCSD (EE)

[spunk]

Hi all,

I've got offers from Ohio and Penn State with funding and maybe will get an offer from UCSD (I've contacted a prof.). My branch is electromagnetics. If I go to penn state I will work on remote sensing and if I go to ohio I will work on computational electromagnetics. If I manage to get an offer from UCSD I will probably work on RF-microwave systems (maybe MEMS).

Currently I'm leaned towards Ohio mainly because the prestige of ESL. The downside of ohio is that I know my potential advisor is very strict and harsh to his student. Although I'm not very emotional, I know that I may get demotivated.

The 15 April deadline causes me to freak out. Any comments will be appreciated very much.

[ibangz]

If you name the PAs, probably someone in EM field can comment more aptly. However I can guess name of the three, and the first thing strikes me is you'll have really diverse areas at hand to decide.

Needless to say, the most important factor is your interest. So think about that first. Which project do you like best?

As for the prestige I would pick ESL too (like everyone else I guess).

As for CEM I can assure all CEM researchers are harsh. That's how it is, If one line of code or even a single +- sign goes wrong, booom! It's the hardest branch of EM. So it's up to you. However the number of projects going on in ESL is so huge that you can change your advisor if things didn't work out.

Another important factor is what you want to do with your degree. Academic/Industrial jobs? PSU and OSU are kind of leaning toward more academic, research-type jobs IMO. Of course there are industries/research labs hiring people with those specialties but still assignments will be extensions of your grad work. I can't tell much UCSD project and honestly that's not my area of interest that much. Depending on what you do you might gain the kind experience that is much more desirable to a wide array of industry jobs than the other two, while you can pursue academic jobs in the field too.