UCSB vs USC (ECE MS)

[RichardLee]

Hi everyone, I am looking for some help. So I have these two admissions for 2017 Fall programs:

USC MS ECE, Wireless Networks track;

UCSB MS ECE, Communications, Control and Signal Processing track;

 

My undergraduate major was EE with little emphasis on telecommunications. Personally I enjoy studying wireless networks and the Internet of Things, and I plan to look for internships in relevant industries. I realised this after completing my undergraduate final project, when the application was already finished. Now it seems I should try to change my emphasis to Computer Engineering if I go to UCSB. I wonder how hard it would be to transfer a major.

 

Neither offered me funding or TA position. But maybe there is a chance to work as RA in UCSB?

 

Although USC has better ranking and matches with my interest, I am worried about the huge amount of enrolled students. I am still considering UCSB for the better studying environment and lower expense.

Any suggestions, comments or ideas are welcome. Thanks.

 

[Entangled Phantoms]

5 hours ago, RichardLee said:

Hi everyone, I am looking for some help. So I have these two admissions for 2017 Fall programs:

USC MS ECE, Wireless Networks track;

UCSB MS ECE, Communications, Control and Signal Processing track;

 

My undergraduate major was EE with little emphasis on telecommunications. Personally I enjoy studying wireless networks and the Internet of Things, and I plan to look for internships in relevant industries. I realised this after completing my undergraduate final project, when the application was already finished. Now it seems I should try to change my emphasis to Computer Engineering if I go to UCSB. I wonder how hard it would be to transfer a major.

 

Neither offered me funding or TA position. But maybe there is a chance to work as RA in UCSB?

 

Although USC has better ranking and matches with my interest, I am worried about the huge amount of enrolled students. I am still considering UCSB for the better studying environment and lower expense.

Any suggestions, comments or ideas are welcome. Thanks.

 

If you are a domestic student, you can get in-state tuition after a year IIRC. USC will continue to be overpriced in year 2.

[DiscoTech]

7 hours ago, RichardLee said:

Hi everyone, I am looking for some help. So I have these two admissions for 2017 Fall programs:

USC MS ECE, Wireless Networks track;

UCSB MS ECE, Communications, Control and Signal Processing track;

 

My undergraduate major was EE with little emphasis on telecommunications. Personally I enjoy studying wireless networks and the Internet of Things, and I plan to look for internships in relevant industries. I realised this after completing my undergraduate final project, when the application was already finished. Now it seems I should try to change my emphasis to Computer Engineering if I go to UCSB. I wonder how hard it would be to transfer a major.

 

Neither offered me funding or TA position. But maybe there is a chance to work as RA in UCSB?

 

Although USC has better ranking and matches with my interest, I am worried about the huge amount of enrolled students. I am still considering UCSB for the better studying environment and lower expense.

Any suggestions, comments or ideas are welcome. Thanks.

 

USC is a glorified diploma mill unless you're in their PhD program. They are known to push the envelope on reporting to stay up in the rankings. Here is where they got busted for goosing the number of faculty they have in the National Academy of Engineering (link). Per USNWR, their engineering school claims to have research expenditures of $200M/year. However, when they report numbers to someone who cares about whether they lie on such things, they only report $69M/year in expenditures (NSF Herd Survey). 

If you just want a job after your Masters, USC might do the trick. If you want a meaningful research experience, that might be trickier.

[abcde12345]

Note that UCSB is rank 3 in materials engineering, very highly regarded. Not sure if you want to put a materials twist in your research..

[RichardLee]

On 4/7/2017 at 1:53 AM, DiscoTech said:

USC is a glorified diploma mill unless you're in their PhD program. They are known to push the envelope on reporting to stay up in the rankings. Here is where they got busted for goosing the number of faculty they have in the National Academy of Engineering (link). Per USNWR, their engineering school claims to have research expenditures of $200M/year. However, when they report numbers to someone who cares about whether they lie on such things, they only report $69M/year in expenditures (NSF Herd Survey). 

If you just want a job after your Masters, USC might do the trick. If you want a meaningful research experience, that might be trickier.

Thanks for the advice! I didn't know about this.

[RichardLee]

On 4/7/2017 at 10:42 AM, abcde12345 said:

Note that UCSB is rank 3 in materials engineering, very highly regarded. Not sure if you want to put a materials twist in your research..

That would be a whole new area to me, since most of my undergraduate study are about signals, communications and wireless networks.

Is there any suggestion about computer or communication engieering in UCSB ? It seems there are few applications to these program. I know the Electronics & Photonics track is famous, haven't heard much about the others.