UW-Madison vs. U Waterloo vs. UBC

[Christa]

Hello all,

I'm very lost trying to make my decision on where to go. I'm fully funded in all of those schools for a thesis- based master's degree. I'm international and ideally I would like to work in industry (preferrably with US corporations) for a couple of years at least after my master's to make sure that I want a PhD. I'd rather do the master's now for various reasons I'm not going to discuss now.

I have a few questions:

1. how hard is it to get back into academia after working in industry for several years? and do people get into PhD programs without academic recommendations?

2. generally speaking, which one of these schools has a better reputation in the US in academic insitutions and in industry?

3. Would going to Madison make it harder to find a job after a master's because of its location?

4. Is UW-Madison prestigous in the US?

5. any general advice about the schools is highly welcome.

Thanks!

[zannebrain]

I was accepted into Madison as well. It has a great reputation in CS. The city itself has a good number of technological jobs. The most prestigious of which is Epic Systems from my understanding. They're a medical company and have an amazing campus. However, there are more opportunities on the westcoast.

[jjsakurai]

Hello all,

I'm very lost trying to make my decision on where to go. I'm fully funded in all of those schools for a thesis- based master's degree. I'm international and ideally I would like to work in industry (preferrably with US corporations) for a couple of years at least after my master's to make sure that I want a PhD. I'd rather do the master's now for various reasons I'm not going to discuss now.

I have a few questions:

1. how hard is it to get back into academia after working in industry for several years? and do people get into PhD programs without academic recommendations?

Shouldn't be too hard as long as you did research during your academic years so you have atleast 2-3 academic recommendations. Make sure your profs write their recs when you graduate rather than when you apply for a PhD. I've also seen some students apply for atleast one PhD program even if they intend to pursue a PhD much later so the profs don't procrastinate in writing letters. In fields like Systems, industrial experience could be pretty valuable too. I've not seen anyone get accepted into a PhD without academic recommendations - atleast not at the top 20 schools.

4. Is UW-Madison prestigous in the US?

It's well regarded. Dunno how popular it is with the recruiters. You should check how the alumni faired and talk to current students to get an idea.

[Christa]

Thanks all. Do you have any thoughts on Waterloo in particular? I heard it's very well connected to industry.

[jjsakurai]

Waterloo is pretty well-connected to the industry. As to how it will compare to UBC or UW-Madison, I don't know. If you want to work with in the US after graduation, then that would be much easier if you study in the US as you get 12 month work permit for after graduation which is extendable by 17 months if your job is in STEM. (It's much much easier though to work in Canada after attending a Canadian university as you getting a permanent work permit is much easier. If you want to go for a PhD after a couple of years though, that may not be too important.).

Edited March 17, 2012 by jjsakurai

[j3doucet]

Waterloo very heavily emphasizes its connection to industry for undergraduates. For grads, it seems to vary by supervisor and by field. There are defiantly good ties industry present though.

Reputation-wise, people generally seem to be able to find industrial work. Academic work seems to be significantly harder to find, but everyone I know who went looking got a postdoc at least.

The point about permanent work mentioned above is important. Note though that a graduate degree can fast track you for citizenship (at least in Canada), and that once you get citizenship in one of the counties, NAFTA (our free trade agreement) covers CS, so you are free to work in either country (i.e. automatic green card).