USC vs UCSD vs UW(Seattle) Me eng. Master

[gowreck1]

I was accepted from USC, UCSD.

Both universities are ranked almost same in engineering field in US NEWS.

And departement ranks (Mechanical Engineering) are almost same, too.

Also, I've heard master program in USC is not as good as PhD program. (becasue of too many students)

How about UCSD???

Actually, I also got an admission from UW(Seattle). However, the Engineering program on UW is not as good as other two universities, I think.

Do I need to consider to go to UW?

I'm really confused to decide.......

Do you guys have any recommendation about this decision?

Please help me~~~

[chi0]

I would certainly consider UW-Seattle. I had a chance to visit there and had a great experience. I have noticed that UW is consistently ranked in the mid-20s or 30s in mechanical engineering, putting it on the same level with many of the UC schools (including UCSD, I'm sure).

Aside from the rankings, the campus is phenominal, Seattle is an awesome city (surely more affordable than L.A.!), and the faculty in the ME department are very energetic about their work. UW ME has a core group of seven new, young faculty members who have already won early-career awards and are gaining recognition. The department is definitely on the way up. All the current grad students seem really happy, too. The drawback about UW is the state funding situation - the state of Washington has decided to cut funding to UW by 15-30% for this year as they deal with a budget crisis. But none of that really matters if you establish a research roject with a professor who has guaranteed funding, and many of the faculty either have, or are pursuing, grants from NSF, NIH, etc. that will allow them to operate independent of the public funding situation.

I loved everything about UW, but the RA project I was offered wasn't *quite* as good of a match for my interests (also, my better half applied, visited, and loved the school - for a different department - but was more interested in her research elsewhere). So I won't be going there, and I'm kind of upset about that, because so much about UW is awesome. So, should you attend UW? That depends on your preference and what you're looking for in a grad school. But should you consider it? Take this as a big hell-yes.