MS-CS at Columbia or M.Eng CS at Cornell

[supriya84]

I am an international student and have got offers of admission from Columbia University for their MS-CS program and Cornell University for their MEng program. I have 2.5yrs work ex in the Indian IT Industry and 5 yrs work ex in my own startup. I have been a consistently good student all through my school and undergraduation years. I am having a difficult time choosing which college would be better for me.

 

1. Cornell is a 1yr program so I can start working sooner. However, do companies give equal weightage to 1 yr MEng and 2 yrs MS courses when it comes to hiring?

 

2. How are the placements for MEng in CS at Cornell as compared to that for MS-CS at Columbia? Is getting a job immediately after the course equally possible in both colleges?

 

3. Will taking 30 credits in 2 semesters be really tough? Or is it simply that a 2yr traditional MS course is a safer way to go?

 

4. Since Cornell is a 2 semester program, there is no scope for doing an internship during the course. Will this be a disadvantage in any way for someone who has never worked in the US for getting a job after graduation?

 

Bottomline, I would like to know which program someone in my position would choose and why.

 

Any helpful info/experiences will be highly appreciated.

[xbar]

I haven’t gotten into these colleges, but i would like to suggest few things:

 

4. If you want to do an internship, you should defer for Fall − 2014 season and join Spring - 2015. You can take up internship during summer (3 months break)

 

3. Unlike most colleges(3 credit), each course at Cornell is of 4-credits + 6 credits of project, so this boils down to taking 6 courses. This is good if you want to develop depth in a particular area, else MS in Columbia is far better option. They are also similar with regard to costs and placement.

 

 

Regards