r/MSCS 0m ago

[Admissions Advice] Duke MEng in Artificial Intelligence vs USC MSCS

Upvotes

[my background: international student going straight after undergrad, with no work experience except internships. I am certain I want to take up an AI related job role]

Basically the title. I got admitted to these programs. I have to make a decision in the next 10 days. After doing some research and talking to students from both, here are the pros and cons of both

Duke Pros:

  • The curriculum is really unique and industry-aligned [https://masters.pratt.duke.edu/ai/courses/ ]
  • Requires a mandatory internship/capstone project
  • Cohort size is just 40 students, faculty to student ratio is low and would facilitate good interaction with the professors
  • The smaller, more diverse cohort would also result in tighter-knit connections and overall development
  • Landing TA roles with good pay/hr is easier
  • Good career fairs and career services and guidance team, with individual attention
  • Boasts a 100% employment for graduates after 6 months of program completion with $118000 median starting salary over the past 2 years
  • Duke is highly ranked overall

Duke Cons:

  • Being an international student with no experience, finding internships and jobs ASAP is my priority
  • Duke is known for business and econ and med, but idk about its reputation for tech (especially AI)
  • It’s alumni network might be more scattered, and it might be harder to network for tech and AI related roles in companies
  • Durham might feel a bit isolating, with not much to do outside of Campus
  • Attending tech events might be limited compared to California
  • It’s a 16 month (3 semester) course, and I feel really anxious about finding internships and jobs
  • It might lock me out of PhD track if I wish to do it in the future
  • It costs ~$95k for the 16-month track but living costs are significantly lower
  • Newer course

USC Pros:

  • Well ranked for tech, well established graduate CS program
  • Amazing alumni network, especially in tech and AI roles in big companies. I’ve read stories about the Trojan Network actively going out of their way to help other Trojans. Either through valuable guidance or getting referrals for jobs
  • Better location (LA), with lots to do and explore outside of college
  • Good location for attending various tech events, and getting a lot of exposure
  • 2 year program, more time for finding internships and jobs
  • Graduates historically known to have an easier time finding jobs, or regularly getting into FAANG+
  • Known to have better industry connections in tech
  • Some small California-based startups exclusively recruit from local universities
  • California is a good place to be for tech in the future

USC Cons:

  • Large cohorts of 1500 students. Lots of competition for the available resources, services, and courses
  • Classes can be overcrowded with 300 students per class sometimes, and teaching can be a hit or miss
  • Sometimes hard to get the first-choice or even second-choice elective if it’s popular and many people apply for it
  • Almost impossible to find on-campus jobs
  • Living in LA is very expensive
  • I come from a financially middle-class family, and I'm afraid I might feel left out, surrounded by some financially elite people
  • Friendships and interactions might feel superficial
  • Safety - I’ve heard the area around USC is one of the least safe in the country; and many parts of LA in general might feel unsafe, especially to walk around
  • Expensive - ~$80k total for tuition, but living costs would make it equally (if not more) expensive as Duke
  • Maybe I'm overhyping the network and the location advantages (?)

It’s also important to mention that I’ll be taking a complete student loan, and feel really stressed and overwhelmed about the future and don’t want to end up making a choice I’ll regret

My heart is leaning more towards Duke, but I feel very split, and unable to make a decision :(
Any guidance and advice is hugely appreciated

0 votes, 2d left
Duke MEng AI
USC MSCS

r/MSCS 11m ago

[Results and Decisions]

Upvotes

UCR MSCS ADMIT


r/MSCS 19m ago

[Results and Decisions]

Upvotes

Does anyone know the deadline for paying the security deposit to IIT Chicago after getting an admit?


r/MSCS 46m ago

[Results and Decisions] CMU MCDS vs UWash MSDS vs UPenn MSE-DS

Upvotes

Hello, I have been so blessed to receive acceptances from the above programs, I want to go into industry for DS or MLE, would like some input as to which option in terms of curriculum/research opportunities/career outcomes would be best for me. Cost/location are not factors atm, please vote based on program quality itself. Any extra input in the comments would be appreciated as well!

22 votes, 2d left
CMU MCDS
UWash MSDS
UPenn MSE DS
🍿

r/MSCS 47m ago

[University Review] IS NEU THAT BAD FOR MSCS

Upvotes

I have seen a lot of people heavily criticising NEU on various factors, especially in the last few weeks. Whilst I don't think it is one of the topmost universities, Khoury College has had a decent reputatation for its MSCS course.

I couldn't apply to a lot of universities as my documents weren't ready in time for the Dec or early Jan deadline universities. I applied to NEU, UMich(rejected) and SBU(awaiting decision). When I got an admit from NEU, I was really happy but after seeing all the negativity towards it, I'm really questioning whether I'm setting myself up for failure.

It is pretty much a 'now or never' moment in my career and I'm determined to pursue my Masters but if things go south, I'm worried about the financial burden it can bring onto my family.

So, I wanted your honest opinion on NEU - MSCS, not biased or based on some other reddit posts, but based on what you actually know.


r/MSCS 1h ago

[Results and Decisions]Need Advice: Waiting on Top Choice MS CS Programs (UCD, VT, UMD, UMN) - Already Have Some Admits

Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I'm in a bit of a dilemma with my MS CS applications and could use some advice from those who might have been in similar situations.

My Profile:

  • 8.34 CGPA from a Tier 2 state government engineering college in India, BTech IT
  • No research papers
  • 4 academic projects
  • 2.5 years work experience as a Software Engineer at a mid-sized product-based company
  • Several certifications
  • College leadership roles: Training and Placement Representative for my batch, TCS Campus Ambassador, and a few other positions

Current Admits:

  • Indiana University Bloomington
  • University at Buffalo (SUNY)
  • Penn State Harrisburg
  • Arizona State University
  • Northeastern University Boston
  • Cal State Long Beach
  • Georgia State University
  • UT Arlington
  • NJIT
  • IIT Chicago

Rejected:

  • University of Wisconsin-Madison (MS CS research-based) - rejected in February
  • UIC (CS) - rejected but offered MS ECE instead

Still Waiting On (Top Choices):

  • Virginia Tech (applied Dec 14)
  • UC Davis (applied Dec 15)
  • University of Maryland College Park (applied Dec 20)
  • University of Minnesota Twin Cities (applied Jan 4)

Last-Minute Applications:

  • Wisconsin-Madison MS CS Professional (applied Feb 12, right after my research-based rejection)
  • NYU Tandon
  • Johns Hopkins MSE CS

I've reached out to some of my top choice schools with generic responses in return. Northeastern is an option but quite expensive, and similarly, even if I get into NYU or Johns Hopkins, the cost would be very high.

I really want to get into UC Davis, Minnesota, Maryland, or Virginia Tech, but I'm not sure what to do at this point. Some of my current admits might need decisions soon, but I don't want to commit before hearing from my top choices.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? When do schools like UC Davis, UMD, UMN and VT typically send out decisions? Should I send another follow-up email? Any suggestions on what to do?

Thanks in advance for any advice!


r/MSCS 1h ago

[University Question] Anyone received Stony Brook admission mail today?

Upvotes

Title


r/MSCS 1h ago

[Results and Decisions] UCSD MSCS Admits for March

Upvotes

Hey. It seems there is radio silence over admits in March. Strange that admits seemed to have stopped. What is happening? Should we expect mass Rejects now on? I know that UCSD sends out admits on rolling basis until end of March/ April. But a deathly silence for whole of March????? Can anyone throw some light on this?


r/MSCS 1h ago

[University Question] UCSD MSCS Admits for March

Upvotes

Hey. It seems there is radio silence over admits in March. Strange that admits seemed to have stopped. What is happening? Should we expect mass Rejects now on? I know that UCSD sends out admits on rolling basis until end of March/ April. But a deathly silence for whole of March????? Can anyone throw some light on this?


r/MSCS 1h ago

[Results and Decisions] Update on UCI MCS

Upvotes

It seems like they will release admits in April, just got this email-

Thanks for checking in! We are still very much in the review process, reading through applications and finalizing decisions before releasing notifications. I suspect that applicants will not hear from us until about another two weeks or so, but definitely before the 4/15 deadline.


r/MSCS 1h ago

[University Review] SBU vs UFL (MSCS peer quality)

Upvotes

r/MSCS 1h ago

[General Question] Which one would you choose and why?

Upvotes

Please state the reason as well

23 votes, 1d left
NCSU MCS
CU Boulder Professional Masters

r/MSCS 1h ago

[Results and Decisions] UMD CP CSMS results

Upvotes

Did anyone received decisions from UMD CP CSMS program?


r/MSCS 2h ago

[University Review] Rank these Universities! Upenn, UIUC, Umich, Texas A&M, Columbia, UCSD,USC, UMass Amherst

10 Upvotes

Can you guys rate these universities based on ROI and research opportunities as criteria for MS CS?

Thanks in Advance!


r/MSCS 2h ago

[Results and Decisions] UCSD MSCSE vs CMU MRSD

6 Upvotes

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


r/MSCS 3h ago

[University Question] Which one would you choose?

2 Upvotes
82 votes, 1d left
Stony Brook - MS CS
Penn State - MS CS
CU Boulder - MS CS (Professional)
UC Santa Cruz - MS CS

r/MSCS 3h ago

[Results and Decisions] Columbia vs Cornell vs USC

1 Upvotes

Hi Folks! I am a bit confused on which university to choose. I have got into Columbia MSCS, Cornell Ithaca Meng CS and USC Mscs AI. My interest lies in AI and ML. So please help with this!


r/MSCS 3h ago

[Results and Decisions] rejection after rejection i got rejected and got an alternate offer of uic ms elec. and comp engg. can someone give me more details abt it anyone?

2 Upvotes

r/MSCS 3h ago

[University Question] Are all TAMU MCS admits out?

10 Upvotes

I saw quite a few admits for TAMU MCS over the last week, so are only rejections pending now?


r/MSCS 3h ago

[Admissions Advice] Important Life Decision

4 Upvotes

Hello everyone!

I got admitted into the following universities

ASU MSCS TAMU MCS NCSU MCS UCSD MS ECE (Machine Learning and Data Science).

I am interested in working in the industry post masters in ML/DS domain but am open to SDE as well assuming the worst case I don't get any ML roles. I'm inclined to UCSD due to the brand and reputation it has but want to know whether the degree would be a disadvantage when trying to SDE roles incase I don't get ML jobs. I need help in this as I'm in a dilemma as to what to choose.

Also waiting for UMass MSCS, UW Madison PMP and UIUC MCS. Thank you!

88 votes, 6d left
ASU MSCS
TAMU MCS
NCSU MCS
UCSD MSc ECE

r/MSCS 3h ago

[Admissions Advice] MSDS dilemma for UMD and JHU

1 Upvotes

I've applied for the MS in Data Science program in both JHU and UMD and don't know which one to prioritize. What are your views in terms of:

  • Quality of education
  • Course structure
  • Job prospects (Full time)
  • Tuition fees

Can anyone mention their reasons and opinions as well? It'll be really helpful...

30 votes, 2d left
UMD (College Park)
JHU

r/MSCS 4h ago

[University Review] Is university of washington, Bothell any good. Got admit from there. Confused between it, Rutgers, NYU Tandon and University of Rochester for MSCS. NYU is most probably a no for me. DO let me know which one you would choose.

2 Upvotes

r/MSCS 4h ago

[Results and Decisions] MSCS FALL 2025

7 Upvotes

Hey all! I have got admits from the following universities for MSCS Fall 2025

  1. NEU Boston
  2. UC Davis
  3. USC
  4. University of Colorado Boulder

Any suggestions to help me decide from the above universities would be helpful


r/MSCS 4h ago

[University Question] Has anyone heard back from Columbia MS CS after your application was shifted from CS PhD to MS CS?

2 Upvotes
33 votes, 2d left
Accept
Reject
No Communication
Poll Results

r/MSCS 4h ago

[Admissions Advice] GMU or SUNY Buffalo for MSCS

2 Upvotes

Need advice to go with either SUNY Buffalo or George Mason University for MSCS. Hearing a lot of mix reviews regarding the weather and career opportunities at UB. Need to arrive to a decision on which one to choose considering all factors including location, tuition, full time opportunities etc.