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How do you choose between a better school without financial support and a not as good school with financial support?


Yihuan

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I received an PhD offer from North Carolina State University with tuition waiver and TA. I also got an Master's admission from Rutgers University without any kind of financial support. My major is in Computer Science. I'm okay with both professional track and research track. It's really hard for me to decide. Rutgers is ranked way better than North Carolina State in almost any ranking, but NC state is also a nice school which offered me a great deal of money. 

 

What's your major concern while making your decision? Do you think the ranking or the financial support more important? Please help me!!! Thanks!

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I followed the money. I'd only pay for graduate school if I was either independently wealthy (I'm not, I'm very much working class) or if the ROI was quite high. How much debt could you expect from a MS at Rutgers? Also, do you want a masters or do you want a PhD?

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take a funded PhD over a masters that you have to pay for.  Research track is about what you do in the school more than which school per se and it is important to go to a school that has a fit that offers you to pursue what you want to do.  Don't get hung up on the name of a school especially since from a cursory glance i wouldn't think that much more of Rutgers than NC State.  

Best of luck!

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NC State! Way nicer place to live and cost of living is much lower. I don't think name recognition between those two schools makes much difference, honestly.

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I followed the money. I'd only pay for graduate school if I was either independently wealthy (I'm not, I'm very much working class) or if the ROI was quite high. How much debt could you expect from a MS at Rutgers? Also, do you want a masters or do you want a PhD?

Thank you for your reply. Well, I don't really know which one i want. In fact, i like it either way. My interest are in Software Engineering and Artificial Intelligence. If i go for Master program, i'm taking courses in SE, and if i go for PhD, I will focus on Artificial Intelligence. So in this case, both Master and PhD suits me fine. 

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take a funded PhD over a masters that you have to pay for.  Research track is about what you do in the school more than which school per se and it is important to go to a school that has a fit that offers you to pursue what you want to do.  Don't get hung up on the name of a school especially since from a cursory glance i wouldn't think that much more of Rutgers than NC State.  

Best of luck!

Thank you for your advice. Actually there're two things that make me hesitate. The first thing is that i'm like both master and PhD study. Just like my reply to the other guy before, i will become a software engineer if i go for master track and i'll become a researcher in AI if i go for PhD track. I'm not really sure which would fit me better. The other thing is about the money and reputation. Two years of master study will cost about 80 to 90 thousand dollars, which would be around 500k RMB (Chinese money). It's a great deal of money for an average family in China. I'm not financially independent now so i have to borrow this money from my parents, which will give them a lot of burden. So if this ranking gap does not make that much of a difference, i guess i will choose to to for PhD at NC State.

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NC State! Way nicer place to live and cost of living is much lower. I don't think name recognition between those two schools makes much difference, honestly.

Thanks. You state your opinion from a different prospect, which is both refreshing and helpful. Since i'm from China, i don't know much about  American Universities' reputation. So all the reference i can get is from all kinds of rankings. I have no idea what a 20-place gap means and this bothers me. After seeing your opinion and above, I think my mind is clearer.

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The name recognition at both schools is decent in my opinion. Definitely follow the funding.

Thank you for your opinion. Maybe the ranking gap does not make that much of a difference, right?  I guess i'll follow the funding as you guys advised. : )

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Hey Yihuan... good that you got your confusion sorted out and the funded PhD admit is pretty much an obvious choice.

However, I am in a similar dilemma between the same colleges.....just that the funding part is missing and both admits are for MS.

 

I have admits for MS CS from NCSU and Rutgers University. Both the admits are non-funded.

My specialization track is algorithms and theoretical computing. I have received reviews that Rutgers is way better when it comes to these subjects with an overlap between computers and mathematics dept (very highly reputed) and some really awesome faculty around.

 

All the factors are ruling in favour of Rutgers in terms of location(proximity to NYC), lower batch strength, higher on-campus job opportunites etc... however, cost is one factor which is letting me off. Higher tuition and higher cost of living sums up for a considerable difference among the two.

 

What do you guys opine my choice should be? Is it worth trying to fight your way out in large CS batches (120+ MS students) at NCSU or the environment at Rutgers with lower and quality crowd(mostly research profiles) is worth those additional bucks. 

 

P.S. from what I have heard, I am already at a loss trying to figure out admits whereas many a courses like algorithms, advanced data structures etc are already filled out at NCSU :(

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Hey Yihuan... good that you got your confusion sorted out and the funded PhD admit is pretty much an obvious choice.

However, I am in a similar dilemma between the same colleges.....just that the funding part is missing and both admits are for MS.

 

I have admits for MS CS from NCSU and Rutgers University. Both the admits are non-funded.

My specialization track is algorithms and theoretical computing. I have received reviews that Rutgers is way better when it comes to these subjects with an overlap between computers and mathematics dept (very highly reputed) and some really awesome faculty around.

 

All the factors are ruling in favour of Rutgers in terms of location(proximity to NYC), lower batch strength, higher on-campus job opportunites etc... however, cost is one factor which is letting me off. Higher tuition and higher cost of living sums up for a considerable difference among the two.

 

What do you guys opine my choice should be? Is it worth trying to fight your way out in large CS batches (120+ MS students) at NCSU or the environment at Rutgers with lower and quality crowd(mostly research profiles) is worth those additional bucks. 

 

P.S. from what I have heard, I am already at a loss trying to figure out admits whereas many a courses like algorithms, advanced data structures etc are already filled out at NCSU :(

Hi, nice to know you. If you ask my opinion, i'll probably urge you to go to Rutgers. 

 

The advantage of Rutgers is obvious and you have listed before. About the cost of attendance to the two Universities, i highly suggest that you check both school's websites or send an email to get the annual estimate cost for master program. Cause from what i know, the cost of the two schools has no much difference. May be Rutgers is a thousand or two expensive, but i guess it's worth it for all the advantages above. Still, you should contact school to confirm the expense. 

 

Oh, by the way, do you intend to get a job after graduation or continue for a PhD degree?

 

Good luck to you!

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Both are very good schools. I would always choose money. I don't really like NYC/Jersey area, so for me it would be a no brainer to go to NCSU. Good luck to you!

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Thanks Yihuan and skyentist :)

Btw skyentist .... considering that the annual tuition for NCSU and Rutgers doesn't differ by much (22K at NCSU vs 24.5K at Rutgers) ... its the cost of living in Jersey area which is causing the gap. However, I have heard that it is relatively easier to bag an on-campus job in Rutgers CS dept (very low intake) which could help you out with living expenses.... where as at NCSU the large number of international(Indian mostly) students at NCSU stiffens the competition to get on-campus jobs by quite a margin. Sometimes ppl don't gt any on-campus jobs for the entire duration of course. I know these are variables and subject to change over circumstances ........... but still the low batch size of Rutgers is pretty enticing in terms of better learning/interaction with professors. Also the large number of research and PhD profiles around would provide a better learnign environment. Just my thought ...... would love to know your views about the same.

 

Btw congrats for your admits..... UIUC and Stanford ...... don't know how high they rank for their courses in Material Science/Physics, still I have crazy respect for those Universities being a CS grad :P

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Both are very good schools. I would always choose money. I don't really like NYC/Jersey area, so for me it would be a no brainer to go to NCSU. Good luck to you!

Thanks for your opinion. Why do you not like NYC/Jersey area? Because i happened to notice that in some movies, they make jokes about New Jersey area. No offence to the people who live in the area, but I'm really curious about the reason for the phenomenon.

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Thanks Yihuan and skyentist :)

Btw skyentist .... considering that the annual tuition for NCSU and Rutgers doesn't differ by much (22K at NCSU vs 24.5K at Rutgers) ... its the cost of living in Jersey area which is causing the gap. However, I have heard that it is relatively easier to bag an on-campus job in Rutgers CS dept (very low intake) which could help you out with living expenses.... where as at NCSU the large number of international(Indian mostly) students at NCSU stiffens the competition to get on-campus jobs by quite a margin. Sometimes ppl don't gt any on-campus jobs for the entire duration of course. I know these are variables and subject to change over circumstances ........... but still the low batch size of Rutgers is pretty enticing in terms of better learning/interaction with professors. Also the large number of research and PhD profiles around would provide a better learnign environment. Just my thought ...... would love to know your views about the same.

 

Btw congrats for your admits..... UIUC and Stanford ...... don't know how high they rank for their courses in Material Science/Physics, still I have crazy respect for those Universities being a CS grad :P

Yeah, i agree with you. The tuition cost is almost the same, but Rutgers has more access to on-campus job opportunities as well as paid internships. It will be of much help for you to get a fine job after graduation. I think NCSU area is good for researchers, but for masters who desperate to get a well-paid job, NYC area should be a better place to go. Just take everything you can think of into consideration and follow your instinct.

 

All the best wished to you!

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