HELP! UC-Irvine v.s UPitts in Materials Science (PhD)

[emily612]

Hi! My friend has been admitted in UC-Irvine and UPitts. Is there anyone who knows anything about these schools? 

 

Such as:

 

1. How is the employment rate of UCI and UPitts? Which one is easier to find a job for an international student after graduation?

 

2. Is it hard to find a thesis advisor in UCI? Or in UPitts? Because she got admissions from both but she can't find one now.

 

3. How is the PhD life in UCI or UPitts? Is it difficult to pass the comprehensive exams in UCI or UPitts? 

 

 

Thank you all! We really appreciate for your help!

[emily612]

Please...everyone, we really need help... 

[dustoo]

Hi Emily612,

 

I am a MSE undergrad at Pitt currently looking at PhD programs, so I figured I would give you some information - I've been doing research in the department for 3 years and know very many of the graduate students. So:

 

1) I don't really know numbers for employment rate, but I can give some anecdotes. For people in the group I am working with, there have been some students who found good positions after graduation (e.g. postdoc at Princeton, FIU), as well as students who had trouble finding positions after graduation (but eventually found jobs at Applied Materials). However this is entirely dependent on what area of interest you are in - some of the faculty have great ties to industry, especially in metallugy and steels (Pittsburgh specialty). I would say that most students find decent positions after graduating, while they may not be as good as post-grad positions coming from a Top 5 university, they may be comparable to Irvine. 

 

2) Many students at Pitt don't know who their advisor is at first. For example, we have a few new students (Masters and 1 PhD) in our group this semester - they were checking out different advisors in the Fall semester. While you may not get to work with the person you really really want to work with, if you come with a few professors in mind (a good idea at any institution to not depend on just one advisor) then it would be rare for you to not have a chance to work with one of them. 

 

3) I personally love living in Pittsburgh. If there were more competitive schools in the city doing research on the types of materials in which I am interested, then I would stay here in a heartbeat. The weather can be a bit funky, but the city has the most college students of any city other than Boston, beautiful parks, and an awesome blend of international cultures. The graduate students here seem to work hard - but not too hard. Some advisors are really pushy with their students, some are much more relaxed and the students push themselves - that really comes down to the advisor and research group. The qualifier exams seem very doable - perhaps not easy, but I only know of one student who did not pass them, due to a complex mix of factors. Even students in our group who I felt would have trouble with them were able to pass - but of course you will have to study hard. The graduate students all seem to get along fairly well, and like I said, Pittsburgh is a great city for students. 

 

I don't really know very much about UC Irvine - my first ever trip to California will be to Santa Barbara this weekend. Is your friend an international student? I would hope you have had a chance to visit each school, or at the very least, contact some professors you are interested in working with, and ask to speak with their graduate students. In my search for a school, I have found that to be an incredibly, incredibly valuable source of information. 

 

I hope all this information can help out a little bit.