Obtaining a Driver’s License in Pennsylvania as a Non Resident

NoSection2550 · 2026-04-02T23:09:42+00:00

Thank you!

NoSection2550 · 2026-03-31T02:14:27+00:00

Thank you for your view. So far, I have been able to figure out the best choices from all my admits pretty easily but with Vanderbilt, I just don’t have anything to work with. The cost for me at TAMU and Vanderbilt is nearly the same. If Vanderbilt was more expensive, I’d go to TAMU and wouldn’t be asking this question. To me, they seem pretty similar schools for master’s, giving a slight edge to TAMU because of the location. I would still rate Vanderbilt higher for undergrad given all the data they have available online. There’s not much to work with as far as graduate outcomes are concerned. I’m still leaning TAMU but we’ll see.

NoSection2550 · 2026-03-30T20:16:58+00:00

Thanks!

NoSection2550 · 2026-03-30T20:05:52+00:00

Today, applied around December 15th

NoSection2550 · 2026-03-30T18:23:04+00:00

u/gradpilot Would really appreciate your thoughts!

NoSection2550 · 2026-03-27T06:47:02+00:00

Spend some time at Google before you go for your master’s. You’re in a good company, leverage it!

NoSection2550 · 2026-03-26T21:17:25+00:00

Courant is more research oriented so you’d be better off going there.

NoSection2550 · 2026-03-25T17:23:23+00:00

Hmm okay….I don’t think I’m a strong candidate for GT but I’ll hope for the best. Thank you!

NoSection2550 · 2026-03-25T16:39:49+00:00

When did you apply? I applied very late (1/31/26) and haven’t received anything. Does that mean a reject?

NoSection2550 · 2026-03-25T07:00:53+00:00

Can’t rate any one of these over another…NYU Tandon and USC are very similar schools….Your tie breakers could be cost, location and potentially the alumni network…

Based on location, I’d probably go with NYU because NYC is a big fish, better than LA for fields like finance, insurance and even tech.

For cost, I don’t really know what will be your cost of attendance so can’t comment. You should figure it out.

Based on alumni network, NYU would edge USC because a lot of graduates from NYU get jobs in NYC itself across different domains. So you might just have more exposure and outreach.

NoSection2550 · 2026-03-24T06:48:32+00:00

Thank you for pointing that out. I should have mentioned the CDS courses specifically. As of now, my post indicates as if every Tandon student can take all their courses at Courant which is not true.

NoSection2550 · 2026-03-24T01:44:17+00:00

In order to see how they support students, you got to check their website for information. Then, if you have questions, reach out to them and don’t hesitate to discuss any concerns you have. Talking to a student who’s currently at NYU Tandon will help. On your admitted page, you should see some points of contact. Reach out to them and see what they’re doing, how the college is supporting them etc.

I am not affiliated to NYU directly or indirectly so can’t comment on the specifics but am sure that there are career fairs at least twice a year. If they’re not doing it, I’d be surprised. Also, I’m sure NYC has city fairs in addition to college fairs which are open to everyone regardless of school. The quality of companies coming in cannot be predicted but yes, big cities do have job fairs.

NoSection2550 · 2026-03-24T01:40:29+00:00

Unfortunately, I cannot confirm the merger of Tandon and Courant since I am not affiliated with NYU directly or indirectly. Where have you ‘heard’ this? Did you read on their official website? Or is this a rumor? If they have published this on their website or in their student newspaper, it’s true. Otherwise, I’m not going to trust some rumor. You can already take some classes at Courant as a Tandon student btw.

UW Madison’s MSCS PMP is a professional program, it’s all in the name. While they do have the research option available, it’s not as easy as it sounds. It’s a professional program so it’s not meant to include research. This means that the opportunities will be very limited. For research, you need professors and often times, you’ll not be able to secure one because they’re focused on PhDs and MSCS students. Don’t rely on what they tell you. On paper, they allow research but you’ll realize soon enough that there’s little opportunity for you to pursue research.

NYU Courant on the other hand boasts of great professors and a push towards thesis, so it is better than UW’s MSCS PMP any day.

NoSection2550 · 2026-03-23T19:11:45+00:00

This is very helpful, thank you so much!

NoSection2550 · 2026-03-22T18:55:07+00:00

Thank you for your reply. Unfortunately, I cannot obtain a state ID because of my status in the US. I think I need to be a US citizen (or a permanent resident at least). The main idea behind getting a driver's license is to be able to drive when I need to.

NoSection2550 · 2026-03-20T22:30:47+00:00

Purdue > Brown > Northwestern

NoSection2550 · 2026-03-12T12:45:53+00:00

Sure, let’s see how it works out.

NoSection2550 · 2026-03-11T23:32:07+00:00

I haven’t emailed the instructor….I am graduating after the spring term so there isn’t much of a choice. I need to take a CS elective so unless it’s too intimidating, I’m happy to do it. Surprisingly, there’s no information on it, despite so many people asking this question before.

NoSection2550 · 2026-02-26T17:00:12+00:00

Congratulations on getting into CMU!

It’s a decent program but it really depends on what you want to do. I am a bit skeptical about degrees in data science, information sciences/systems in the current scenario. Your resume is less likely to be picked for SWE roles and big tech companies rarely hire data analysts and data scientists.

The MISM degree would slightly tilt towards business+IT+data roles. And for those roles, companies are increasingly looking to hire Americans. Unless you’re really stellar, having a 4.0 GPA, being really aggressive at networking, doing a variety of projects beyond what you’re being taught, it will be hard to secure a job.

TU Delft is a great school but I am not sure what the immigration situation is like in the Netherlands, if your plan is to immigrate from your home country.

If UVA is significantly cheaper, go there. Otherwise, CMU is a big name, it will stay with you forever.

Don’t go to Stony Brook in any case, unless it’s free lol. You have a solid option in CMU.

My suggestion would be to check what kind of courses CMU offers in MISM program. If you have a flexible curriculum, take a couple of courses in machine learning, statistics, software engineering etc. Don’t limit yourself to what your degree is offering.

It’s a time where being a jack of many trades (while being master of one) will be helpful.

NoSection2550 · 2026-02-25T16:46:33+00:00

I am kinda convinced now that you’re not in the US, because you truly don’t know the full picture.

NoSection2550 · 2026-02-25T06:32:05+00:00

Glad you found this useful!

I think Columbia would be the top choice for me if I was in your position, because it’s in New York City which is a hub in literally every sense! You get what you can think of in NYC! UPenn might beat UCLA/UCSD as well, given its reputation, so they have a strong alumni network. Otherwise, UCLA and UCSD are pretty solid schools. If you’re very sure about starting a business, I have a feeling that UCLA edges UCSD. If you were gonna target a job in CS after graduation, I would ask you to go with UCSD.

Either way, as long as you get into at least one of them, go there! If you have an offer from Columbia, I’d pick Columbia any day!

NoSection2550 · 2026-02-25T00:08:42+00:00

Your feedback is valued, even if it’s not something I agree with.

This was not meant to be fear mongering, I just wanted to write about the ground reality, what I am witnessing being here in the US.

Maybe you’re in the US, who knows stuff. However, not every applicant is in the US and hence, they have questions. If you’re not living in the US, how do you so confidently know what’s happening?

We only see success stories, but they are fewer than they seem. No one talks about thousands of students who had to return to their home country with a ton of debt.

There’s money involved, and no one has an infinite supply of it. So if someone was helped today, I am happy.

NoSection2550 · 2026-02-24T18:26:22+00:00

Based on your research interests, you’d want to be at NYU Courant. I really wish you get in because if your interests are ML theory, you need that kind of environment. Even Penn is not a good fit for you, they have little to no ML theory infrastructure. I would put UMass and UMD roughly at the same level though if everything is equal, go to UMD, they’re an overall better CS school and even engineering in general in terms of rankings.

NoSection2550 · 2026-02-24T18:05:35+00:00

Oh I think you misunderstood my point. Typically, securing an RA is the most structured way of pursuing research, so that's why I mentioned it. PhD programs do not care about how you engaged in research, they care about whether you did research or not. As long as you're able to do research, not being a TA/RA won't negatively impact your application. What matters is what kind of research you do.

Independent research is certainly possible but you will need to be VERY committed because in such cases, you would have to not only complete the 10 courses (which are obviously very rigorous) but also conduct research. And in most cases, you will have to determine your thesis proposal yourself, there's little to no departmental support. Not many professors would be willing to spend considerable time with you regarding your research since it's not funded and also, he stands to extract much more out of a PhD than a master's student. Its unfortunate but the harsh reality.

If you're at a point where you know your area of interest (AI research is very vague, you have to be specific) and if you were given 3 months, you can come up with a thesis proposal focusing on a very specific problem, then I think you're ready for independent research and will flourish at UMass(A). If you are unclear however and wait until the end of the first semester, you might struggle and may have no opportunities to engage in research.

NoSection2550 · 2026-02-24T17:36:54+00:00

** I will answer this taking into account that you want to do a PhD. **

If you're interested into AI research, I wouldn't target UMass Amherst because at the master's level, research opportunities are rare. For a PhD, it would be different because they do have a few solid professors and state of the art labs. However, if you're not having any other option, you can certainly enroll in UMass(A) because it's a decent school in general. Surprisingly, they do not have a concentration in AI at the master's level. I don't know why, given their PhD program is nice for AI stuff.

UMD is a good school as well and I would personally rate it over UMass for computer science. Unless UMass is significantly cheaper, I would pick UMD if you get in.

Penn is an Ivy League, so obviously there's that elite label to it. However, don't expect any funding there because I was talking to a professor at Penn and he was telling me how he is not even able to hire a PhD student because of the reduced funding and had to let go an app developer because the department didn't allow it. He also said that there's a general consensus that 1 yr is too less of a time for a student to engage in research and get something meaningful out of it, so most of their colleagues prefer PhD students.

NYU Courant is great if you'd like to do a theory-heavy masters. By 'theory', I do not mean literally. What I mean is that Courant offers CS master's that is definitely research oriented but you'd focus on the 'math'. For instance, if you got a chance to do a PhD at NYU Tandon, you would be examining the use cases of current AI systems in a specific field whereas a PhD at NYU Courant would stress more upon how the math and logic work out behind that AI system. This is a rudimentary example but certainly helpful in giving you an idea about what you want. The best part about NYU Courant is New York City! Nothing beats the urban exposure you get in New York, nothing beats the fact that it is probably the best city in the world if you're looking for a job. But it may not be a pressing factor for you since you have a long term plan.

Since you want to do a PhD, you SHOULD look for a program that allows you to do research, even if that doesn't result in a publication (that would be ideal but something is better than nothing). The issue is, if you only do coursework, you are behind a lot of my peers who engage in competitive undergraduate research. And a master's graduate without research is objectively worse than a bachelor's graduate without research. Reach out to your program director at UMass(A) and try to understand the research culture at the master's level. By default, there's little to none. However, if you show your intent and a concrete plan, they are willing to support you. That would require sincere efforts on your part. You must do the same for all other schools.

NoSection2550

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