u/BoomerZoomer27

After waiting so long, I finally got a rejection from Columbia. Was a hell of a bumpy ride. My status disappeared on April 1, and then came back 2 days ago, and then I got rejected.

Feels a little bad but what can you do? Congratulations to all those who got in.

My status disappeared 1.5 months ago, and when I checked again this morning, it was back to the "moved to faculty review" thing. Seems like I'm cooked

Hello everyone, while I'm waiting on Columbia MSCS, I thought it'd be prudent to ask about your thoughts on TAMU and USC. From what I've read and researched:

1. TAMU

• Cost effective, more opportunities for TA/RA as the cohort is significantly smaller
• Thesis, keeps the door open for a PhD (not really interested in pursuing a PhD but I read that some research experience can also look good for job applications)
• More tight-knit community
• Network is valuable in Texas

2. USC

• Expensive! Zero to no opportunities for funding.
• Large cohort, not sure how much attention is given to each student
• Mainly a professional program
• Strong hiring in California and its alumni have a large footprint in major organizations
• LA isn't isolated, plenty of social opportunities as well

A little about myself: I'm a US citizen who is finishing his B.Tech. from a Tier-3 Indian university. My only work experience is 3 months of a summer internship in which I worked on LLMs and quantum machine learning. My main objective after graduation is landing a high paying job.

I am having trouble deciding. While I can afford USC, I am wondering if paying almost twice (or even more) the amount of money as TAMU is worth it. I would really appreciate some advice!