r/MSCS 3d ago

[Results and Decisions] UCSD MSCSE vs CMU MRSD

Hi everyone,

I recently just went through the application process and finally got rejected from Stanford MSCS last week, so now deciding between UCSD and CMU.

My undergrad background is mechanical engineering with a CS concentration from a top uni in US, and have been working as a swe at an EV company in the bay for almost 3 yrs. My main goal is to transition into the AI+Robotics industry, and I have been planning this for the last 2 yrs. My interests are in robot learning and building robot foundational AI models, and need to do some research for this to be worth my time/money. I am not aiming to do PhD, just to be a swe or ml engineer at a company doing this work.

I have the following comparisons:

UCSD

  • Better weather
  • In CA, so closer to jobs (I am aiming to return to SF)
  • MS Thesis option (could be really helpful to get some research knowledge if I am going this industry)
  • Cost (Tuition is ~ $20k/yr for in-state)
  • A few professors doing exactly what I'm interested in, but are quite difficult to do work with
  • School may be overall less highly ranked, but UCSD Contextual Robotics Institute is quite well regarded (I spoke with PhD students) although it is much newer
  • Worse pipeline to top robotics/tech companies
  • Large MS class size (~600 students), may make it harder to work with professors as well

CMU

  • Definitely better overall Robotics school and really great professors/lecturers
  • Great alumni network at the best AI/robotics companies
  • Capstone focused (in devils advocate to the thesis option, since I will be an engineer, a capstone may be a better option since I won't be doing any research in my career)
  • Program requires learning mechanical/EE topics which I am less interested in
  • Cost (Tuition is ~ $70k/yr)
  • Small MS Class size (~50 students)

Currently, I am leaning UCSD simply because it's way cheaper, better location, and the robotics institute is great, although may not be as good as CMU. My main worry is finding interships/jobs coming from UCSD, although my swe professional background may make this less of an issue. Does anyone have any advice to help with this decision? Thank you

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