Stanford Aero/Astro vs. Funded Program elsewhere

[tryme90]

Hey everyone!

So I was accepted to Stanford's Aero/Astro MS program which was really exciting news two months ago. Since then it's been a constant struggle of looking for funding from the department, getting more stressful by the day! I actively pursued a couple backup universities, and have full funding for my degrees at University of Arizona (PhD), Tucson, and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (MS), FL. I really want to go to Stanford though, but the more that I read about it, the more it seems that it's not worth getting into so much debt to go there for a Master's degree. It's all made harder by the fact that as an international student I don't have access to so many other sources of funding in the United States.

The research at Stanford directly aligns with my goals: I want to study controls on Unmanned Aircraft Systems, and during my visit to the campus, I was thrilled to find out about the awesome research they do there. The research at the other universities is focused more on Aerodynamics and Fluid Mechanics, both strong secondary interests of mine. They do some controls research as well, but it's nowhere near as good as that at Stanford.

The situation is obviously made harder by a two body problem with my long time girlfriend in Tucson. And for that reason, it really is a choice between University of Arizona, Tucson and Stanford.

I suppose my questions are: is it worth it to get into so much debt? As an international student, the aerospace industry is rather unforgiving in the United States. Will I give myself a chance for a better career by going to Stanford vs. any of the other universities? I am willing to work as hard as I can to get funding once I am at Stanford, but it seems counter-productive to be taking on so much stress when I should really be focusing on learning and getting more experience.

Edited April 10, 2016 by arth990

[Samuel Low]

Hi there! I'm facing the exact same situation as you were in 2016. Got my admit to Stanford AA, awaiting for more information about funding, although I am highly certain that I did not get the Stanford Graduate Fellowship as I was not invited for the interview. Any thoughts you could share as a fellow international student? What path did you eventually take?