Penn State(CSE Engg,PhD) vs. Uni Minnesota,Twin CIties (Elec. Engg,PhD) vs UW-Madison(Elec. Engg,PhD)

[ashu258]

Hello friends,

 

I have got offer letters for my Doctoral Degree from the following choices.

 

1. University of Minnesota, ECE Department (Electrical Engineering, PhD) - Unofficial

2. University of Wisconsin, Madison, ECE Department (Electrical Engineering, PhD)

3. Pennsylvania State University, CSE Department (CSE Engineering, PhD) - Unofficial

 

For all three schools i have applied under my area of interest : Computer Architecture & Embedded Processors.

 

I would like to know which one of these school would be the best choice for me to go to if i am aiming for a career in Industry after my PhD. Which is the best in this particular field. Also in regard to the atmosphere for an international student in these schools. Also which is the best place to live in.

 

I have contacted professor in all three school and in two of them have replied positively. They both nearly have the same credentials from what i could perceive.

 

In all three i will be getting a RA position.

 

I would really be grateful if you all help me out in any way. From my point of view different rankings rate the schools differently. In some places one is better than the other and in other rankings its vice-versa.

 

Regards,

Ashish

[Deadmeat]

Do you have visiting weekends? That is BY FAR the best way to figure out the answer, talk to faculty and other grad students. That being said why not ask the labs you are interested in working in what types of jobs the graduates get. If you want to do industry, maybe a university that has stronger ties to industry would be a good choice.

 

Living is tough, Minnesota is in a large city, Penn State is pretty much in the middle of PA in a small town. Might want to do some research on the areas to get a feel, do you like urban or more rural/suburban lifestyles? 

 

It sounds weird but if you use reddit find the schools subreddit thread. I got lot of good info on things outside academics from there (what to do, campus culture, etc). That might help you decide too.