UIUC Prof. MCS vs Princeton MSE

[jayjayma]

Hey guys. I need some major help deciding between UIUC professional MCS and Princeton MSE program. Which degree will hold more weight in industry? UIUC has higher rankings in cs, but Princeton has the prestige behind its name. I have no plans to go into academia/PhD. Please advise. Thanks.

[spark1989]

very difficult decision imo. I think you'll probably end up with equally good job(in IT) from either place. However, if you may want to work in some non-IT field in future, then may be princeton is better.

In short, UIUC is not going to give you any significant advantage over princeton in cs, if at all there is. My vote goes to princeton.

[finknottle]

Have you got any funding from Princeton ? If yes, then that is definitely something to consider. Even otherwise, it will be easier to get funded later on at Princeton than at UIUC since MCS is a professional program. The CS dept at UIUC won't support you financially in anyway. You would be free to look for funding elsewhere though. Leaving that aside, I feel that CS at UIUC is a much better option in general. Princeton is a much smaller dept. and great for theory, but since you aren't interested in academia/PhD, I don't see that as an advantage.

Edit: I think you will have to write a thesis at Princeton since its a normal MS. I don't know if you can do something else instead for the required credit, but you should also keep that in mind. If you aren't into it, it can become a nightmare. There won't be any thesis at UIUC.

Edited March 28, 2012 by finknottle

[buddy16cat]

If you look at the US and News and World Report ranking, they don't even rank colleges for CS that do not offer a PHD program so this magazine ranking has more to do with PHD ranking. Outside of this magazine ranking, a Princeton degree carries much more prestige. You also have to consider those that want to hire you won't know anything about CS let alone how some magazine ranks your college in it. From what I understand the MCS at UIUC is easier to get into than other graduate programs. If you can do the thesis that will be required, go to Princeton. I would think that many employers would value their name if they don't know anything about CS programs.