Graduate School choices

I'm not sure how important a school ranking is, but it does tell something. I go to the University of Illinois as a graduate student in EE, and there are definitely some advanced technologies and great professors here. I do not regret coming here for graduate school at all. I can't say that just becuase it is #4 ranked that it is better than everything after it, but what I can say is that I am extremely satisfied with the education and professors here. The facilities for research and class are also pretty good.

At the same time, you need to determine what exactly your son wants to go to graduate school for. For example, if you wanted to study electromagnetics, and got into Stanford and UIUC, you will probably want to go to UIUC eventhough Stanford has a higher overall ranking; UIUC does more in this field than Stanford. Conversely, if you want to maybe do some entrepreneurship things, maybe CA would be a better choice b/c I think that place fosters that more. Those are just 2 examples.

So, determine what his topic of interest is, and look at graduate schools from that perspective. See if there is heavy research in that area in your prospectve schools, and take that into heavy consideration.

If you have some questions about uiuc, you can email me.

He should look at the specialties offered by each school and chose based on that. Of course, campus environment, professor support, etc should all weigh in also.

Charles Perry P.E.

There are a lot more important things to consider in choosing a graduate program than some ranking system which may or may not be important. For instance a school's program may be ranked #1 for semi-conductor research, but if your son wants to study power systems

- that ranking is meaningless.

First criteria should be area of specialization and does that university have funded research in that field. If you or your son are going to foot the entire tuition bill, that may not be important, but no money, no faculty. If your son expects support then it is crucial that the school has the funding in his area of interest.

Another criteria is what does he want to do with his graduate degree. In a lot areas of EE, a graduate degree actually works against you in the job market - get an MBA if he thinks a graduate degree will improve his marketability. If he is going to go on to a Ph.D - choose a school that grant doctorates in his field. Some schools have a "direct to doctorate" degree program if that is his goal.

If your son is a senior EE, I would hope he has a clue of what he wants to do and why he wants to do it. If not, I would suggest he work in industry for a few years and then decide on grad school. It might also open up the option of his company footing the tuition which is nice if money is an issue.

JAK

I have to root for a Big Ten school.

Sincerely,

Donald L. Phillips, Jr., P.E. Worthington Engineering, Inc.

145 Greenglade Avenue Worthington, OH 43085-2264

snipped-for-privacy@worthingtonNSengineering.com (remove NS to use the address)

614.937.0463 voice 208.975.1011 fax

There should be a balance between funding opportunities, research interests, quality of education (ranking is one metric), and living conditions.

The difference between a top 5 program and a top 25 program can be important when looking for a job. On the otherhand, the difference between a number

12 and a number 18 is basically moot (those things change all the time).

If they invited him out then it is possible that either a particular faculty member was considering funding him or that he was being considered for some type of financial help from the school (eg, fellowship).

I wouldn't give up on those schools that didn't reply. I had a very late reply from the school that I ended up attending. The reason was that they were offering me a fellowship, and it required extra time. That doesn't mean that's what is happening in your case, but it's worth keeping in mind.

The research interests and funding opportunities are the top priorities to me. It is entirely possible to find second tier schools that have researchers doing top quality work.

And remember, graduate school is ALL about research. Faculty member want students that will produce papers, period.

Good luck, sounds exciting!

-Brien

I am in the same position described above. I am graduating from UT-Austin with a BS in EE in may. My major field of interest is Wireless Communications and Signal Processing. Having played four years of collegiate soccer during my undergraduate has negatively affected my GPA and my chances of moving on to a Master in EE here at UT. Therefore, I have applied to more reasonable schools for my potentials: Florida, UCF, USF, UC-Irvine, Stony Brook, IIT, UI-Chicago. So far I have only been admitted by USF(Tampa) and denied by Florida, UI-Chicago and UC-Irvine. I am waiting on UCF, Stony Brook and IIT. My intention is only to complete a MS and not a PhD. Any suggestions on where to go if I get in?

Thanks.

"janet k" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com...

(snip)

(snip)

This is good advice from JAK. I would add that if your son decides to wait on grad school and instead work in industry for a while that he not wait too long. In my experience, it's difficult doing grad school on a part time basis because you're wiped out from doing your regular job full-time (plus whatever reading, thinking, and other other activities you have to do outside the office). It really gets tough to balance priorities between work, school, and family when a student is also trying to be a competitive employee, a loving spouse and an effective parent. Plus, if he waits after he's working full-time he'll probably be limited to the schools in his immediate geographical area. That may or may not be a bad thing; it just depends on where he ends up working. Also, there are a number of grad school programs that are offered online or via videocassette for at least a major portion of the coursework, so that may alleviate that problem. Finally, while it is good to have an employer pay for tuition, usually there's a written commitment to stay with that employer for some specific period of time after the class is taken, and some employers only pay back a percentage of tuition based on the achieved grade (meaning that the student has to pay for the class up-front). I would ask potential employers to disclose their policy on education and training when discussing job opportunities. It may even be a negotiable part of the total compensation package.

I don't know if this helps the decision or not. It may be useful to make a "Ben Franklin" style list of the pros and cons of each option. Good luck regardless,

-MC