Fall 14: Help me to Decide

[noman0008]

Hi,

 

I am a student from Bangladesh. I have been admitted to University of Florida, NCSU, Indiana University-Bloomington, UIC, UMBC, UTD, IIT (the last two are not funded though) for CS PhD program in Fall'14. I am wondering which of first four to choose (One of my friend is studying at NorthWestern U; so he wants me to join UIC). My area of interest is : Database, HCI. All of them have offered me decent funding. I would like to go to a good school located in a place with pleasant weather. Also, i will be taking my wife along  me. Therefore, living cost maybe vital.

 

Please help me choose. Thanks in advance. 

 

 

[hj2012]

I don't know anything about the programs themselves, but UIC will be quite expensive. Gainesville and Bloomington will probably be cheapest. You can use MIT's living wage calculator to get a sense of basic costs: http://livingwage.mit.edu/

 

In terms of warmth (and weather), Gainesville has year-round summer, while Midwest winters (Chicago) can be quite brutal. My dad is a university professor and he did a gig at Bloomington when he was younger. My mom, who accompanied him there, still complains about the place to this day. But this was nearly 15 years ago, and I expect much has changed.

 

I do want to put in a plug for Raleigh. Though I've never lived there, I've always felt that it would be a great place to live every time I visited. 

 

Good luck on your decision, and congrats on all your offers!

[noman0008]

Thank you so much.