motivation

HI

What is the bes place to live in the states from the following points :
1) weather 20-30 C
2) cost
3) people are friendly
4) extras

I am looking for a good place to take my Msc in comuter science , can any body help in choosing the right place or at least giving hints for not going to a certain places >>

List of University

Carnegie Mellon University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Stanford University
University of California - Berkeley
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
Cornell University
University of Texas - Austin
University of Washington
Princeton University
California Institute of Technology
University of Wisconsin - Madison
Georgia Institute of Technology
University of Maryland College Park(MD)
Brown University
University of California-LosAngeles
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Rice University
University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
University of Pennsylvania
Columbia University
Duke University
Harvard University
Purdue University
University of California - San Diego
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Yale University
University of Southern California
University of Virginia
The Johns Hopkins University
New York University
Rutgers University
Stony Brook University
University of California - Irvine
University of Utah
Ohio State University
Pennsylvania State University
University of Arizona
The University of Chicago
University of Colorado at Boulder
University of Minnesota - Twincities
Washington University in St. Louis
Indiana University Bloomington
Northwestern University
University of California, Davis
University of Rochester
Virginia tech
Dartmouth College
University of Florida
Michigan State University
North Carolina State University
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Texas A&M University–College Station
University of California - Santa Barbara
University of Pittsburgh
Arizona State University
SUNY–Buffalo
Syracuse University
University of California, Santa Cruz
University of Illinois at Chicago
Boston University
Iowa State University
Oregon Health and Science University
University of Delaware
The University Of Iowa
University of Oregon
Vanderbilt University
Case Western Reserve University
Northeastern University
Oregon State University
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville
CUNY - Grad Sch & Univ Center
George Washington University
University of Southwestern Louisiana
University of Texas - Dallas
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Louisiana State U & A&M College
Louisiana State University
University of Kansas
New Mexico State University
University of South Florida
University of Kentucky
Wayne State University
Southern Methodist University
Lehigh University
University of Texas - Arlington
Illinois Institute of Technology
Kansas State University
University of Connecticut
University of Houston
University of Maryland - Baltimore County
University of Central Florida
University of South Carolina-Columbia
Old Dominion University
Washington State University
Temple University
Naval Postgraduate School
University of Alabama - Huntsville
Mississippi State University
Stevens Institute of Technology
University of Massachusetts - Lowell
University of North Texas
University of Oklahoma
University of Missouri - Rolla
University of Alabama - Birmingham
State Univ of New York-Binghamton
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Florida State University
Tulane University
Kent State University
Oklahoma State University - Stillwater
New Mexico Inst of Mining & Tech
George Mason
University of California, Santa Francisco

honeymommy

Wouldn't it just be easier to apply to the ones that interest you regarding good education, then check out the weather, people etc, once you have an offer?

Thats a hell of a long list by the way.... Just forget the rest and go to stanford.. You'll be so busy studying anyway, so won't have time to go out... LOL

Good luck with your search and future...

ScousePete

What kind of extras would you be looking for? Watch out when a stripper talks about extras, can end up costing you a lot of cash. Not that I'd know or anything

Duncan Roberts

That list doesn't seem to have any flow or reason to it. It goes from ivy league to slightly better than a community college to private universities. Some of those colleges will be extremely difficult to get into, other will be pretty easy. Some will cost you $100,000s some $10,000s. You need to be more specific as to what you are after in terms of quality of education, cost and what your undergraduuate grades were. I would say look at Georgia Tech though. It's in Atlanta so it's pretty warm, kind of good living costs, ood education and it's about middle of the road for pricing.

IanandHolly

It looks as though you just did a search for Uni's that offered the program you are looking for, however, that is not an advisable way to do a search for a potential graduate school. A starting point yes... but there are many many other things to consider.

Ideally you need to now take that list and get online and look to see what type of research each department is geared towards. You will want to look at what the professors' areas of interest are and then contact those departments that have interests similar to your own. It is essential to find a department and a program that will have a focus which would suit you. If you want to focus on software security programming, you definitely don't want to go to a school whose department is a leading researcher in graphics. (I'm not into Com-Sci so I don't really know what fields of research are these days but you get my drift)

You really shouldn't select a graduate school because it is in an area with a good climate. Also, you will find friendly and mean people no matter where you go. Cost is a factor but you should definitely check into possible assistantships etc. The availability of such extras would be a big selling point of a program.

If you really cannot stand to be in an area w/temperatures below 20 then you will probably want to stick with the southern states and California. Though there are some really really excellent schools in the north.

If you go to one of them you will be faced w/temps of -20, especially since the academic year runs from Aug/Sept through till May/June. Autumn and spring rarely get to above 17 when you live in the North. I know some areas in Pennsylvania have already had snow.

Rather than focus on Temperature you might want to consider Big City vs. Smaller University Towns in more rural locations. Would you rather be in an area like london or exeter.

Moving on from the those issues...

You then need to figure out if have all of the qualifications required for the program.

After you get your list narrowed down you ideally want to put the schools into 3 groups.
*Will definitely get accepted a backup school.
*Most likely will get accepted, your target school.
* Would love to get accepted but its a reach school.

You want to apply to 2-3 of the first group, 5-6 of the second, and 2-3 of the third. It covers all bases and this is the method recommended by many universities. Though it can cost some ££$$££$$ because of application fees.

In the end, you really need to be honest w/yourself. You need to know how capable you are, if you are up to Ivy League standard, or if you are scraping the bottom of the barrel and would be getting into a grad program by the skin of your teeth. You also have to have a clear idea in your head of what you want to accomplish with the degree. If you are going for the sake of going, the better schools will not accept you unless you are good at feeding them a line of B.S. However, some of the less prestigious schools will take anyone on.

If you have any more specific questions feel free to ask because I'm sure there are quite a few of us on here who have been through the process before that can offer some more assistance.

But good luck w/your search.
Holly

warksgirl

Hello,

First, good luck whichever institution you choose.

Somebody suggested a big city. I think that is a very good idea and I'd go so even further to suggest Chicago.

Chicago winters can be harsh however the downtown area is very vibrant and there are lots of young people who reside in the city centre. There's a lot to do, there are lots of beaches on the lakefront where people meet up and hang out all day. (btw, The Great Lakes are huge) It's always struck me how much vitality there is downtown when we go there.

I know that there are others here who've been in this area longer than myself and who have actually lived in the city... maybe they could add their opinion?

If you are a long way from home, building a social life will be important. Universities in cities are likely to have a bigger mix of people from other places.

motivation

I ask many people , profs and students but I didn't get like this complete answer .
Thanks alot

By the way this is the ranking of Top Us graduate schools in CS from usnews for the year 2002 .

My list after moving through all the websites and asking many people was this:

Stanford University
University of California - Berkeley
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
University of Texas - Austin
University of Washington
University of Maryland College Park(MD)
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Rice University
University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
University of Pennsylvania
Columbia University
Duke University
Harvard University
Purdue University
University of California - San Diego
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Yale University
University of Virginia
Rutgers University
Stony Brook University
University of California - Irvine
University of Utah
Ohio State University
Pennsylvania State University
University of Colorado at Boulder
University of Minnesota - Twincities
Indiana University Bloomington
Virginia tech
University of Florida
Michigan State University
North Carolina State University
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Texas A&M University–College Station
University of California - Santa Barbara
University of Pittsburgh
Arizona State University
SUNY–Buffalo
Syracuse University
University of California, Santa Cruz
Boston University
Iowa State University
University of Delaware
The University Of Iowa
University of Oregon
Vanderbilt University
Case Western Reserve University
Northeastern University
Oregon State University
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville
George Washington University
University of Texas - Dallas
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Louisiana State University
University of Kansas
University of South Florida
Wayne State University
Southern Methodist University
Lehigh University
University of Texas - Arlington
Illinois Institute of Technology
University of Connecticut
University of Houston
University of Central Florida
Washington State University
University of Alabama - Huntsville
University of Oklahoma
George Mason
University of California, Santa Francisco

I know it is long list agaian ?!!

NC Penguin

For someone who wants to take a graduate degree in Computer Science, I would think you would be able to search the web effectively to be able to answer your own questions! Seriously.

I have heard that CMU (at the top of your list) in Pittsburgh is excellent for IT degrees. I worked for a US company that was started by CMU IT grads and it became so successful that the parent company, a huge global IT company decided to take full ownership and it became an office of the parent company (it's a long story).

I think you really need to conduct your research yourself to get your answers.

e.g. costs. Sky's the limit when paying for graduate school. How much can you afford? I think cost will be at the top of the list as criteria for choosing an institution, especially if you're from overseas.

dunroving

I have no idea which college is best for you - a college that is great otherwise may have a crappy program in what your are studying.

I will say that (a) the Nashville area has everything you are looking for, (b) UNC Chapel Hill is prestigious and the Chapel Hill area has what you are looking for, and (c) the earlier suggestion of Georgia Tech is a good one university-wise, except I wouldn't want to live in the Atlanta area as a student (or otherwise, in fact). Just my preference - I lived in Athens for 4 years and hardly ever went to Atlanta. Too much traffic, didn't like downtown, high cost of living.

honeymommy

May I ask what country you are in, and your nationality please...

MightBe

I think you are an out and out dreamer.

AdobePinon

That's a mighty long list you've got there, buddy! I suggest you narrow the list down using your own stated criteria. Maybe come back when you've got five schools left. (Like someone stated, many of your 'choices' don't even meet your temp requirements.)

In an attempt to be at least marginally useful (rather than just laughing my ass off), I'll offer you the following link to get started: http://www.city-data.com/

NC Penguin

Either you're a millionnaire (or offspring of one) or a dreamer 'cos Stanford and many on the revised list are private universities!

My best friend's husband did a PhD in Stanford. Let me tell you that the cost of living is astronomical out there in Palo Alto (center of "Sillicon Valley"). So, even if you can afford the tuition fees, you're more than likely to be wiped out by cost of housing, bills and motor insurance.

I work for an offshoot of one of the universities in your top fifteen (not on the academic side) and that university is considered conservative and it's really competitive to get in. I don't even know if it's Computer Science dept is any good. It's Law and Bus. School's supposed to be good though. It also doesn't fit in with your temperature requirements (bizarre criteria to make the Top Five if you ask me). Where I live, we get four seasons so it can get into the 40s in the summer!

BritGuyTN

I'm with dunroving - Nashville is great - I live there

The city is cool, cheap and doesn't get too cold

Anywhere North of Kentucky is too cold to stay within your criteria

Atlanta is the New York of the south, and carries with it all the crap you get with huge cities - traffic just being one of them

How old are you? - If you are typical college age I would also consider UT in Knoxville

If you are older than college age Knowville will make you want to slit your wrists

Manc

Well if it helps you're search here are my top ten

1. USC

2. Oklahoma

3. Auburn

4. California

5. Texas

6. Utah

7. Michigan

8. Florida State

9. Boise State

10. Louisville


luckily, the BCS agree with me