Ph.D. options: U of Waterloo v.s. PSU

[ClasPin]

Hi,

I am an international student. I applied for PhD programs last year but got no offers from U.S. schools. I am now in U of Waterloo, Canada and enrolled as a master student. Recently a professor in PSU informed me that he just received a new grant and would be able to take me in his research group. If I accept the invitation, I will have to make a transfer before receiving my master's degree here in Waterloo. Meanwhile, I also have the option to continue my Ph.D. study in the same place (no problem in admission).

My first choice for future career is to pursue a position in academia. Waterloo is a good university and has great reputation in Canada. However, I just feel that it is mainly because of their undergraduate programs (Waterloo has great co-op programs and sends a lot of students to Microsoft every year). PSU seems better in terms of pure research and academic environment, but I am not sure if that is really the truth, or if the advantage is that significant to make the transfer worthwhile. My research interest is system software related things, e.g., OS, VM, and it seems that the professor of PSU is better match to me, who is now digging into system security issues. While in Waterloo, I am doing reliable software research, kind of math but more software engineering thing.

Any suggestions? I am more interested in how academic people in the U.S. view Waterloo. Thank you in advance.

[WishfulThinker]

Well, if you feel that you would be happier at PSU, might as well make the change.

By the way, How's Waterloo for Grad School? I'm applying there for Fall 2013 admission (Master's), hoping to do software engineering research as well, although I'm guessing you're doing more formal methods related work.

[ClasPin]

Well, if you feel that you would be happier at PSU, might as well make the change.

By the way, How's Waterloo for Grad School? I'm applying there for Fall 2013 admission (Master's), hoping to do software engineering research as well, although I'm guessing you're doing more formal methods related work.

If you want to stop by master, then I think Waterloo is a good choice. People I knew here are competitive in job markets. Are you applying to CS? Just note that some professors in ECE also do software engineering research, and you may want to check it out.

[SANDIEGO]

I'm not exactly sure what school PSU is, it could refer to a number of different state universities (penn, pittsburgh, portland) but I'll assume you're referring to Penn since that seems the most well know of the bunch. Personally I think U Waterloo is a top CS school in Canada and the CS reputation is better. I could be coming from a biased point of view though and others should pitch what they think.

[capybaralet]

I've only heard PSU refer to Portland State, but then I live in Portland...

[anacron]

Waterloo is quite well known for theoretical CS: scientific computing, numerical analysis, quantum complexity theory, etc. If you were interested in theory then I would have suggested that Waterloo might be better. However, if you know OS/systems is going to be your focus then Penn state might be better since there's funding and the prof wants you.

Is there anyway you can delay this decision until after you get your MS? I think you'd have a good shot at 'better' schools with an MS from Waterloo, especially if you end up publishing and doing a thesis.

[ClasPin]

Waterloo is quite well known for theoretical CS: scientific computing, numerical analysis, quantum complexity theory, etc. If you were interested in theory then I would have suggested that Waterloo might be better. However, if you know OS/systems is going to be your focus then Penn state might be better since there's funding and the prof wants you.

Is there anyway you can delay this decision until after you get your MS? I think you'd have a good shot at 'better' schools with an MS from Waterloo, especially if you end up publishing and doing a thesis.

Thanks for your reply. The problem here in Waterloo is that, I feel myself lacking passion on the research topics. I can try to get the M.S. degree first, but I am not confident that I can publish anything impressive in the following 2 years. People say that when professors pick students, they will pay more attention to the applicant's publication if he or she is a graduate student. I'm just fearing that if staying in Waterloo will make things worse after 2 years.

Edited January 7, 2013 by ClasPin