Hi,
I am admitted to University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) Professional MCS and University of Southern California (USC) MS CS (Technical Professional) for Fall 2015. I would like to get some opinion from UIUC or USC CS graduates, current students, faculties, staff, or anyone who might have some information which can help in the decision-making process.
My background and consideration:
- 1 year experience as software developer and 6 years as web developer in the US, and 1.5 years as data analyst overseas.
- I want to go back into the industry after I graduate. I am not interested in research or continuing to PhD.
- UIUC is more well-known, but USC is location-wise closer to tech companies. Which factor do you think is more important during job-hunting?
- Area of interest: software engineering, web development, mobile development, general programming, and database.
- Which university is better suited for my area of interest above?
- If the school has some courses which teach languages/technologies currently used in the industry (Python, Ruby, PHP, Objective C, etc.), then that's a plus. I understand that I can learn these on my own, but taking an actual course gives me more motivation :) And it does not necessarily have to be in the form of a formal class either, workshops are fine.
- I know USC has some of these courses through their Information Technology Program (ITP). Does UIUC offer similar courses or workshops?
- Security concerns.
- I didn't think about this when I looked for schools to apply but I've been warned by a few people (one of them is USC graduate) that USC is located in a dangerous neighborhood. I was told that there were a few horrible incidents and that I had to take extra precautions (things like stay at home when it is already dark outside) if I were to attend there. The thing is when I did my Bachelor degree in CS, there were countless of times where I had to take evening classes or stay late in the computer lab for my school assignments, so I'm just wondering if this security concern will be detrimental to my studies.
- How is the security in Urbana-Champaign? I know we still have to be careful one way or another, but is the school/town generally safe?
- Some additional questions for those who have studied in USC or UIUC:
- What do you like and what don't you like about the school or the CS department?
- How supportive and helpful are the International Student Office and Career Center?
Thank you! Your opinion is greatly appreciated.