Georgia Tech ECE Ph.D vs Stanford EE M.S

[Gulliberlli]

Hello, I 've got admitted from two schools so far, and I do not have financial support for Stanford M.S course. Will it be worthwhile to have a loan for Stanford M.S course for two years ? or should i go for the former with funding (TA RA) ... I have no idea how good GIT is.. 

FYI, I am an international student with Bachelor's degree from one of the most prestigious school in East Asia and I do not know if I should take one of these offers or reapply after my master's in current laboratory.  (I was aiming for top 3 ph.d.... )

am an undergraduate topper(1st in class with summa cum laude) and have one pub.... 

Much appreciation if you give me any advice on the selection... and wonder how good  the offer of Ph.D GIT is as well. 

Edited February 26, 2016 by Gulliberlli

[compscian]

Do you really want to do a PhD, or is your objective to work in the industry after MS? If it's the latter, the obvious choice is to go for Stanford. You'll have to take out a loan, but since you'll be working after two years, you can pay it off easily. Stanford in general offers more employment opportunities due to its brand recognition and location in the Bay Area.

If you want to do a PhD: it's a bit tricky. Are you happy with doing a PhD in GIT? It's definitely a top 10 program and well known throughout US and many other parts of the world. If you are happy with the professors in GIT, you should go there. It's very hard to switch from MS EE at Stanford to PhD. Also, I would advise against taking a loan since you'll be studying for the next 4-6 years and hence cannot pay it back soon. The financial pressure which will result from the loan is not worth it. If you are very unhappy with the professors at GIT, you can try and do an MS from Stanford and apply for PhD programs again. However, there is no guarantee that you will get into a PhD program better than GIT after your MS. I personally wouldn't take the risk. I'd follow the money and go to GIT.

[blacknighterrant]

14 hours ago, Gulliberlli said:

Hello, I 've got admitted from two schools so far, and I do not have financial support for Stanford M.S course. Will it be worthwhile to have a loan for Stanford M.S course for two years ? or should i go for the former with funding (TA RA) ... I have no idea how good GIT is.. 

FYI, I am an international student with Bachelor's degree from one of the most prestigious school in East Asia and I do not know if I should take one of these offers or reapply after my master's in current laboratory.  (I was aiming for top 3 ph.d.... )

am an undergraduate topper(1st in class with summa cum laude) and have one pub.... 

Much appreciation if you give me any advice on the selection... and wonder how good  the offer of Ph.D GIT is as well. 

GA Tech is a far better option if you want a PhD. GA Tech is ranked at #6, the only schools ranked above it are Standford, MIT, UC Berkley, UIUC, and Caltech. Regardless of your qualifications top 3 PhD programs are nearly impossible to get into, even with a perfect gpa and gre scores and multiple publications in major journals, especially for international students. In addition, depending on the specific research you want to do in electrical engineering, GA Tech may be better than Stanford. Getting into a program for masters would not at all guarantee acceptance into the school's PhD program (Stanford is fairly known as using their masters program as a way to fundraiser more than anything else, its not very concerned about its maters students. That said the degree would be useful in future applications and job searches, but would guarantee nothing), why make a $94,000 dollar bet that even when successful wouldn't really help much with your job prospects. Both a Stanford or GA Tech degree would open doors at every major company and give you a chance to succeed in your field, after the door is opened, it is up to you to impress future employers. If all factors are the same, a Stanford degree would look better, unless you are near Georgia, but it will not make the difference and get you a job over someone else unless everything else is identically or the person hiring you was also a Stanford grad. Your interview and other stats will make far more of a difference than if you went to Georgia Tech or Standford because both are top level institutions. Another thing to consider is alumni network, while Stanford is an elite institution with amazing alumni everywhere, the fact that it is so elite may actually be detrimental in some ways. Simply put smaller class sizes and less students = less graduates. Less graduates = less alumni working in the industry that could potentially help you find a good job. Stanford has higher reported salaries after graduation, but this isn't really something you should take too seriously because the metrics could be skewed as a result of location. People that went to GA Tech may be more inclined to stay near Atlanta, which would not pay as well as working in California would, but they could move to California and work there if they wanted to.

[nguyenngocluong]

19 hours ago, Gulliberlli said:

Hello, I 've got admitted from two schools so far, and I do not have financial support for Stanford M.S course. Will it be worthwhile to have a loan for Stanford M.S course for two years ? or should i go for the former with funding (TA RA) ... I have no idea how good GIT is.. 

FYI, I am an international student with Bachelor's degree from one of the most prestigious school in East Asia and I do not know if I should take one of these offers or reapply after my master's in current laboratory.  (I was aiming for top 3 ph.d.... )

am an undergraduate topper(1st in class with summa cum laude) and have one pub.... 

Much appreciation if you give me any advice on the selection... and wonder how good  the offer of Ph.D GIT is as well. 

 

I am also an international student from Asia and also got admission for Georgia Tech ECE PhD with Graduate Research Assistantship. Can I ask where are you from ? If you decide to go to Georgia Tech, let's keep in touch since I am also considering to accept the offer from Georgia Tech. We can help each other once we get there

Edited February 27, 2016 by nguyenngocluong