Hi, I am now choosing from three universities. 1. Rutgers New Brunswick 2. NYU-Poly 3. UC Santa Cruz for Master’s degree in Computer Engineering.
NYU is prestigious, Rutgers ranked the highest in Computer Engineering and CS by USNEWS, and UCSC is adjacent to Silicon Valley.
I intend to seek a Computer Science related job (e.g. Software Engineering) at a big name company (such as Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft etc.) after graduation, both NYC and Bay Area is OK.
Which one should I select?
What about their overall reputation in the area of Computer Engineering or Computer Science?
Does Rutgers or NYU-poly has any reputation in Silicon Valley?
I heard only a few big-name companies (exclude Google, Apple, Amazon etc.) would show up at Rutgers or UCSC’s career fair, is that true? If true, will this be a big problem?
If you are interested in software engineering, why are you looking at CE degrees and not CS degrees? Are you saying you are already accepted to these 3? What is your undergrad in?
Umm, Santa Cruz? It’s an hour away from the bay area (or less if you count San Jose). I guess Rutgers if they have a strong presence in an area of research you’re interested in.
Because I heard CS programs are more difficult than CE to get into, and I majored in Electrical Engineering undergrad.
I have been accepted to these 3 programs and I believe CE is not a problem since their courses are basically like CS.
Computer engineering leads to software development careers, too.
Where do you see that Rutgers is ranked the highest in CE and CS by U.S. News? I’m looking at the page, and the #1 program is MIT. Do you mean it’s ranked the highest out of the 3 programs you listed? I can’t see the entire list through U.S. News, but the NRC rankings of doctoral programs in ECE (not directly equivalent, but related) indicate that UCSC is a top 15 to 30 program; Rutgers is mid-ranked. (NYU Poly didn’t exist at the time the rankings were created, so is not there.)
I mean, it may not matter. Or what I mean is that there may be negligible differences, each with their own trade-offs, in making this decision. There are a lot of technology companies in New York - Google has a large presence there - where you could get internships if you went to NYU Poly, and NYU does have a recognizable name that might help you. UCSC is located closer to SV and a quick look at their website indicates that they have connections with SV that might be fruitful, but it is further away (~45-60 minutes) for term-time internships. Rutgers might be higher-ranked - I don’t know, but the information I have access to doesn’t indicate that’s the case. Even still, it’s 1.5 hours from New York by train, and might be difficult to have term-time internships. Some of the big companies you indicated (Microsoft and Amazon) are headquartered pretty far away from all of the cities you indicated. And proximity doesn’t always matter - MS hires a lot of people from Georgia Tech, for example. Probably from UIUC and UT-Austin too. If the school is good enough, the big tech companies will spend lots of money and time going to recruit the best talent.
So I think the thing is - you need to ask, and find out. You say that you “heard” only a few big name companies go to UCSC’s career services to recruit. Ask! Pick up the phone or email and contact the career offices of each of these universities, and talk to someone about what recruitment is like there and where alumni typically go to work.
Also realize that many people make lateral or upward moves into big companies. Many people start out at smaller or lesser-known firms and move to Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, et al. after working 1-2 other positions first.
I think it depends on what is meant by the “bay area.” It may be around 60 miles to the east bay from SC, or 75 miles to SF, but it’s only about 30 or so to San Jose or Mountain View. It’s definitely the right choice IMO unless there’s really something about Rutgers you like (maybe they are strong in a certain area of research you want to pursue). Santa Cruz did seem to have a strange vibe though when I was there (the city I mean).