Done Posted March 15, 2012 Posted March 15, 2012 Hi, I planned to apply for a Ph.D. but after consideration I delayed my application bc I wrote 2 (Mechanical Engineering and Business) Bachelors in only 2.5 years and thought I would need to do more research. So my plan was to do the Master at the Robotic Department of the Technical University of Munich (I am German) and to go to the Carnegie Mellon University for 8 month to publish and research (I already have both admissions) and then apply for a Ph.D. But as my professors already wrote all my LORs I just applied for a Master at Columbia University just because I did not want to tell them: Well u spend so much time on my recommendation but now I do not need it anymore..... Long story short yesterday I got accepted to Columbia and now I do not really know what to do, especially because I did not even consider the option. So right now I try to figure out how much I can and will profit from a Master in Mechanical Engineering from Columbia University? How hard is it to get a well paid job afterwards if u come from an ivy school? As I have 2 degrees I could imagine to work in Consulting/Banking or to write a Ph.D. and do research. Overall I am just lost and I need to make a decision till April the 16th so there is not much time left, because I just did not prepare for this situation. So thanks for every kind of input!
Dapi Posted March 18, 2012 Posted March 18, 2012 If you ultimately want to live/work in The US, then I would come here. I don't know the ME reputation of Columbia, but in general, yes, a name does count especially if you want to go into consulting. Congrats on your acceptance. New York city is a great place to live and study.
dedicateddan Posted March 19, 2012 Posted March 19, 2012 Columbia has a rather small mechanical engineering program. It's considered a very good school overall, though slightly less so in engineering. It is right in New York City, a huge business and finance hub, so you'll be easily able to get in contact with potential employers in the city. It's fairly common for people to transition from mechanical engineering to business/finance. Most employers tend to give a lot of credit to the school where you got your most recent degree, so you'd have little difficulty getting a fairly well paying job with a mechanical engineering degree from Columbia. Before you graduate, paying tuition might be an offer though. That being said, you seem to be receiving acceptances to a variety of programs and are doing a lot of things to improve your resume. If you were to apply to schools in a year or two, you would probably receive some pretty good offers.
Done Posted March 19, 2012 Author Posted March 19, 2012 Thanks to both of u! @dedicateddan: What do u mean by "paying tuition might be an offer though". Do u mean a company might pay my tuition? And do u refer "If you were to apply to schools..." to the time after Columbia - in case that I will go for an Ph.D. or MBA - or do u suggest to wait for another year?
ANDS! Posted March 22, 2012 Posted March 22, 2012 I would go with CMU. Yes it is Columbia; but as someone pointed out - they aren't really known for the ME program (though USNews has them listed 15 overall for engineering). I would get the research under my belt at CMU and then move on to bigger and better programs.
washdc Posted March 22, 2012 Posted March 22, 2012 Also isn't the Technical University of Munich 1st or 2nd in the country (Germany)? As in the Harvard of Germany? So, in my opinion.. I would go there and then to Carnegie Mellon. You can easily get back into Columbia for a phD afterwards. Also has Columbia offered full funding? Paying 50K/year + cost of living in NYC might put you into a huge financial crunch that I know a lot of Europeans don't consider because schooling in Europe is much cheaper than it is here.
dedicateddan Posted March 22, 2012 Posted March 22, 2012 I meant to say "paying tuition might be an issue, though."
Done Posted March 22, 2012 Author Posted March 22, 2012 (edited) Also isn't the Technical University of Munich 1st or 2nd in the country (Germany)? As in the Harvard of Germany? So, in my opinion.. I would go there and then to Carnegie Mellon. You can easily get back into Columbia for a phD afterwards. Also has Columbia offered full funding? Paying 50K/year + cost of living in NYC might put you into a huge financial crunch that I know a lot of Europeans don't consider because schooling in Europe is much cheaper than it is here. Yeah its first in Germany and 4th in Europe.....so it def is not a bad school! Money isn't the problem. The master costs about 42.000 dollar for the 30 credits and living in ny isn't much more expensive than in munich for me. So overall it is "just" 30.000 euro more than munich. I also have to admit after Columbia I will prob go to a consulting or investment firm. I have the feeling Columbia is not the best place for research, although the program isn't ranked that bad, but it's great for getting you a good job in business?! But I haven't accepted the offer yet so I am open for every kind of input. As I said for me its hard to evaluate how much I can profit from Columbia, as everything happened so unexpected. Edit: I forgot to mention that I already did my undergrad at the Technical University of Munich Edited March 22, 2012 by Done
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