选校求助 CS ms Georgia Tech vs Columbia

偏就业就选地理位置吧

偏就业就选地理位置吧
剑痴 发表于 2010-4-11 04:10

我同学说Gatech就像中国的USTC……

12# 独魔圣剑

中国的ustc都去美国了，美国的ustc往哪去啊？

参考 simonjin 转的文章，如果就业想去 IT 公司，大概 GaTech 会好一些吧……虽然说是美国的 USTC，不过个人认为（猜测）GaTech 会吸引很多人过去，问题也不大。去玩钱的公司，这年头不大现实吧 = =

. Waral dи,另外从同学的同学听说，Columbia 从 MS 转 PhD 的机会不小（与 simonjin 的文章相印证）。如果考虑 MS 毕业之后读 PhD，也放不下 Ivy 和 NYC 的话，Columbia 可以考虑。（限 CS）

看了gatech cc网站上的招聘信息栏，感觉有点不靠谱
http://www.cc.gatech.edu/about/jobs
不过clemson的同学还是很推荐gatech的。。。

老印似乎更抱团啊，有在那个学校的老生专门回答问题
Q : How many credits do I need complete for a degree in MS - CS ?
A : For a Masters degree in Computer Science here at GaTech, you would need to complete a total of 36 credits as opposed to 30 credits in some other branches.

Q : How many credits/Course do I need to take every semester ?
A : To maintain a full-time status, you need to take 4 courses every sem. If you get funding / wish to spend more money than usual, you can take 4 courses and make only 3 count for graduation (the remaining one course will not be graded. just to reduce the course load / extend the graduation).

Q : What are the options through which I can complete my 36 credits ?
A : There are 3 options to choose from.
1. Coursework option : All 36 credits via courses (12 in all). In this option, you can take upto 4 courses from other departments.
2. Project option : 27 credits via courses and 9 credits through a longterm project. In this option, you may take only 1 course (or none) from other departments.
3. Thesis option : 24 credits via courses and 12 credits for a thesis. NO course from other departments.

Q : Are there any compulsory courses to be completed ?
A : Yes, you have to complete 2 compulsory courses here
1. Computability and Algorithms
2. Any 1 of (Advanced OS, High Performance Computer Architecture, Compilers).

Q : Where can I get the syllabus, course structure etc. ?
A : Most courses can be found here : http://www.cc.gatech.edu/classes (Note: you can take only courses numbered 4xxx and above, and a max of 2 courses in the 4xxx level. the rest needs to be 6xxx and above).

Q : My I20 says that the cost of attending is $61k. Is this for the entire course or a single year and what is my tuition fees ?
A : Your tuition fee for attending the CS programme is around 39k and it is for the entire course. Do NOT be baffled by what you see in your I20.

Q : What are the red-hot areas of research ?
A : Systems, AI, Information Security, Graphics and Visualization, Computational Science (High performance computing et al.) have some top notch researching going on here.

Q : What are my chances of funding ?
A : In the first semester, the chances are almost NIL. You have to be exceptional (relevant research experience of 2-3 years with the same project profiles in a top firm etc.) to land up with one straight away. Even with that, it is pretty slim. It is slightly better in the second semester provided that you work with a Prof and do some smart work and impress him. Even this is not guaranteed now as the strength is huge and the spots are less than before.

Q : What is the batch strength ?
A : The Fall 2008 batch strength was around 100 and I have been told that the Fall 09 strength is around 200-250 (roughly).

Q : How is the on-campus Job scene ?
A : Again, since the intake has increased manifolds, the on-campus scene looks grim. Luck factor plays a main role here. Its not about skill but its about getting there first which matters. Almost 90% people from Fall 08 batch did manage to get some on-campus job or the other while some did not want one since they wanted to focus on the courses. It looks tough for the Fall 09 batch since many departments within the campus are facing a budget deficit and are cutting down / hiring only local students. Important things to do are networking with seniors who already have a job etc.

Q : How is the internship and full-time job scene ?
A : Internship : The internship scene looked bad until the last month of Spring (i.e April) but many people landed up with an internship in the last month. I would place it at 80-85%. The remaining are the set of people who either did not try hard enough and gave up too early (or) who wanted to do research in the campus (or) those who wanted to goto only 'BIG' branded companies.
Full-time : Full-time scene is good when comparing to most other places. People who are good have got some good offers while there are some who are still searching for one (after graduation). GaTech brand certainly does play a role but only IF you are good enough. Having no intent to study / work hard / having minimal basic knowledge will take you nowhere even with a 'GT' tag. It is a big misconception that being in a good school would get you a job for sure (have seen this attitude among many Fall 10 appers. So please . .)

Q : How do we apply for jobs and Internships ?
A : There is a campus wide career fair as well as a CS/ECE specific career fair every semester where you get to speak to the companies. Around 320 companies are attending this year's fair (only around 50 or so are interested in International students though). will update more on it after the fair which is on September 14-17. There is also a career center at GaTech which helps you in appying through a website where companies priodically post openings, and students can submit their resumes here.

Q : Does GaTech CS offer Spring admits ?
A : NO, Spring admits are only for domestic students. Deadline for Fall admission is Feb 1 (all application materials MUST reach within this date).

Q : This is my profile. Will I get an admit / what are my chances ?
A : For that, you have to use the profile evaluations forum and your post here will soon be removed

Columbia

Q1. How is the Computer Science Department in terms of Reputation, Faculty, Resources and Research Work.
Ans. The department as such is quite large in terms of number of faculty ,number of students and of course, the amount of funded research work going on. Specifically, the following fields have some active research work along with big names/pioneers in their field: NLP, Computer theory, Realtime networking, Vision and to some extent Machine Learning. Computational biology is picking up.

Q2. How is Columbia for Specialization in Networking and Systems ?
Ans. Read above. IMO Realtime network field here is among the best ones in US. Prof. Henning Schulzrinne heads the Internet Realtime Lab and there are other good profs too. Take a look at the IRT webpage in the CS dept. website.

Q3. What are the chances of landing a TA/RA position? Have you had, or have a TA/RA ?
Ans. The only right answer here is "It depends". I know its not helpful, but thats the reality we need to face. There are far too many factors affecting the chances. Regarding some statistics, AFAIK this semester the department funded around 10 students as MS-TA's and around 6-7 students got RA's under different profs.

Q4. [MOST IMPORTANT] What is the current job scene at Columbia ? How Many people got placed ? How Many Job Offers do you have ? What is the package ?
Ans. The current situation dosen't look good. For that matter, its like this at most of the Universities I know of. As of now, around 8-10 students have managed to land up with internships. But, the interviews are in progress and we are all hopeful. But, when you contrast this to previous year, almost everyone had internships and many had more than one offers. The avg. pay might be anywhere between 5000-6000 USD per month. In general, most of the companies, especially the IT ones, have started to look for "exact profile matches" even for internships.

Q5. What was the turnout at the Last Job Fair ? What Companies Showed up ? How have the previous Job Fairs Been ?
Ans. IMO the jobfair this year hasn't been helpful. Many companies did turn up but very few got back, which is what is important.

Q6. How much is the cost of living for 3 semesters ? what housing have you
chosen ? have u taken up an on campus job.. if yes,which ?
Ans. Take a look at earlier posts reg. the tuition fee. If you share a 2 bedroom apt. with 3-4 persons, the living expenses might come close to 900$/month incl. utilities and food, assuming you cook at home.
Regarding oncampus jobs, there are plenty available. IMO if you seriously look for it, you will get it. They pay anywhere from 10$ (libraries) to 25$ (programming).

Q7. According to you, which is better between Columbia and Georgia Tech ?
Ans. This is highly subjective. You have to take a call. As I mentioned earlier, some fields are extremely good here. So, take a look at the courses and the research going on here and decide for yourself. But, as you might know, GaTech is ranked higher for Computer Science. So, try collection some objective information and decide for yourself.