Purdue vs USC (Computer Science )

[call2]

Which university, University of Southern California or Purdue is ranked better in the following areas(US news ranking shows #20 for both of them.)

1. Computer Science research in Algorithm and systems

2. Teaching/Quality of Professors

3. Post MS/Phd job scenario.

I have got an admit in Phd(algorithm and theoretical computer science from Purdue ) and MS in computer science from USC.

[m.giugno]

What are you intending to do after your degree?

PhD and MS are really different.

And most of all: what's the funding situation?

[gopal1234]

Which university, University of Southern California or Purdue is ranked better in the following areas(US news ranking shows #20 for both of them.)

1. Computer Science research in Algorithm and systems

2. Teaching/Quality of Professors

3. Post MS/Phd job scenario.

I have got an admit in Phd(algorithm and theoretical computer science from Purdue ) and MS in computer science from USC.

Purdue is best.No funding for masters in USC.USC lots of admits of masters

best

vj

[call2]

Hi ghionus.Thanks for replying. I don't have funding n either in USC or Purdue. But I heard that in Purdue ,it is easy to get funding once u join.I would like to do a job which is more than common development after graduation.

[m.giugno]

If you really like research or related duties I would say go for Purdue. But that's a long road to the degree. You will be way more prepared than a MS graduate but, the question is, are you ready not to join "real" world/job market for 5 years or something if your final goal is not to join academia/research and development?

Anyway, USC is really expensive..

[BKMD]

Your question is which one has a better CS department. Personally I would say USC, though it depends on your specific area which I'm not familiar with.

However, the question I would really ask is if you should do a PhD or MS, since as others said, they are very different. If you want a job beyond standard software engineering (which seems to be the case), then a PhD is probably better. However, I would be VERY wary of taking a PhD offer that is unfunded. Realize that this is very rare (though it seems to be somewhat standard at Purdue if I remember from last year). Be sure that you feel reasonably confident that you can get funding pretty soon, because 5 years is a long commitment to make to pay for school. You might consider doing a masters first and then re-applying for a PhD.

[call2]

Thanks ghionus and BKMD for replies.@BKMD my areas of interest include algorithm/systems. I am not very sure about funding scenario @Purdue(Purdue website says more than 50% of incoming CS graduate students secure funding ), but if I am not able to secure funding even after 2 years I think I can at least get an MS degree while pursuing Phd and drop out(worst case). I am not 100% sure about this option also. Is it viable.

[gvijay1234]

Purdue admits are harder to get comparatively. USC needs money so they admit people with low gre scores and undergrad scores.

You might find it easier to do well in the courses as the filtering is really bad at USC.

The masters students are called "cash cows".

Getting funding for masters is out of question

http://www-bcf.usc.edu/~dkempe/

check his work out and also the chair of cs ,ming de hwang etc

You need to work for atleast one to two semesters to consider you for phd

Purdue has some great people for security like Elisa Bertino etc

See the courses for both and decide.

USC MS cs general is not difficult at all.