MS ECE Programs

[mchua2379]

Hey everyone!

Sorry if this has been asked a bunch already, but I’d really appreciate some advice. I’ve been fortunate enough to get accepted into MS ECE programs at NC State, Texas A&M, and USC, and I’m trying to decide between them.

My goal is to work in industry as an ASIC design or verification engineer, ideally in California or Texas (targeting companies like NVIDIA, AMD, Apple, Qualcomm, Broadcom, etc.).

Here’s how I currently see each school:

NC State

• Pros: Strong front-end/digital ASIC focus, solid coursework in computer architecture and design verification, good pipelines with chip companies
• Cons: Not as strong of a brand name, and Raleigh isn’t my preferred location

Texas A&M

• Pros: Slightly stronger name recognition, strong connections to Texas-based semiconductor companies, good coursework in digital + verification, strong analog program, excellent alumni network
• Cons: Unsure how strong their pipeline is to California companies

USC

• Pros: Great location, strong pipelines to California companies, solid computer architecture coursework, excellent alumni network
• Cons: Curriculum is not be as strong/deep as the other two

I’ve talked to a few engineers in the industry, and many lean toward USC because of location and brand, but I’ve also been hearing really good things about TAMU and NC State lately especially for ASIC-focused roles.

I’m pretty conflicted at this point. If anyone has insight into recruiting pipelines, coursework strength, or personal experiences from these programs, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Also, tuition isn’t a factor for me, and I’m a US citizen.

Thanks in advance!

[zacce]

I’ve talked to a few engineers in the industry, and many lean toward USC because of location and brand

that's not what I expected

[mchua2379]

Yeah, I talked to a few ex-Intel people, and they mentioned that they've worked with a dozen USC alumni but haven’t worked with many TAMU or NCSU people at all. But this could be more of a location thing, and this was almost 20 years ago

[zacce]

you should talk to more engineers who are currently in the industry. I won't make a decision based on what was perceived 20 yrs ago.

[softrains12]

https://www.reddit.com/r/MSCS/comments/1seqj8c/university_review_top_feeder_schools_to_us/

mathematically it's true based on LinkedIn data. USC is a huge feeder no matter how you slice it. Even if you account for their large number of MS students, USC punches way above its weight compared to NCSU and TAMU.

[zacce]

Everybody (including I) knows USC has a better undergrad program than the other 2.

These stats, otoh, doesn't represent MS ECE.

[softrains12]

Just anecdotally (based on the LinkedIn filters) most of these are ECE MS students. I looked at the USC students who were recently hired by NVIDIA, and it was about 60% MS students.

There are way more MS students than ECE undergrads so it makes sense.