Free Non-Ranked Vs Ranked University

[cutenemo]

a friend needs help

What would you choose:

"Free" not-ranked university at your home country with $3500 salary

or

top Ranked university (UCLA) abroad, not-funded (loan needed)

[lyonessrampant]

For a Master's I'd go with the free option and then apply to funded Ph.D. programs abroad (if that's what you want to do). If the MS is your terminal goal, then it would depend on whether the UCLA degree would do more to get you hired. If you're looking at returning to your home country to work, I would think that the school there would have networks that would do more to get you a job than UCLA.

[Neuronista]

For a Master's I'd go with the free option and then apply to funded Ph.D. programs abroad (if that's what you want to do).

This is exactly what I did. I got my MS from the local university, and now I'm looking for a US university for my PhD.

I didn't feel the need to travel since my university already offers MS degrees in my field. This way I was able to get some feel of graduate school and some good research experience here at my home country without the hassle of traveling and living in a new place etc. I am hoping that this experience would prepare me for the "big thing" (PhD in the US). Also, I was able to save some money for doing the PhD abroad

But my question is: does getting an MS degree from a small, local university affect, to any degree, the chances of getting accepted into a decent US university for a PhD later on?

i.e., do US adcoms prefer applicants with degrees from the US, or at least from a internationally well-known university?

Just wondering.

[cutenemo]

thank you all

yeah that is exactly my concern I'm only afraid that getting the masters from the local university here would affect the future phd choices

[Neuronista]

yeah that is exactly my concern I'm only afraid that getting the masters from the local university here would affect the future phd choices

What do others think? Can anyone help us on this one?

[vitaminquartet]

It depends on what you can afford, what your goals are, what your field is.