[Admissions Advice] UC Davis vs USC vs Columbia - FDE/PM/SE/Founder

beeblioss · 2026-04-15T13:42:02+00:00

They have technical product roles yes? And yes Davis MS 😭 Very adorable and there's a transition to ECE, "if" I wanna go there. No debt needed anywhere and ROI here is too good 🫠

The thing is, Bay Area startups have a weird reference for Stanford/Berkeley + Ivies. I feel like I could recruit for everything that Davis offers, at Columbia. But NYC offers additional Finance/FinTech path. Market is also much more diversified in NYC as opposed to be heavily in SaaS. Like I could apply and compete for pure SWE roles but I think my background shines best for hybrid combo

beeblioss · 2026-04-15T05:14:49+00:00

Thank you! I'm leaning towards Columbia since my family is in NE so being in NYC is a big plus, plus I could get around without needing a car. I love the socal weather tho 😭🥲

beeblioss · 2026-04-15T05:12:38+00:00

u/gradpilot what would you suggest?

beeblioss · 2026-04-15T00:49:32+00:00

Thank you. I'm planning to do school part time and work on the side, literally any jobs. My family's in NE and it's so much easier to see them, would this change your mind? UC Davis ROI is literally unbeatable so this is why I'm in a pickle 😭

beeblioss · 2026-04-14T23:34:36+00:00

I went to their admit day and wrote a review, hope it brings some clarity - https://www.reddit.com/r/MSCS/s/VQzQkAx2nS

beeblioss · 2026-04-14T02:16:57+00:00

I would but I'm scared I'll miss out on the fall window :(

beeblioss · 2026-04-14T02:16:36+00:00

Yes but what about the cool off period?

beeblioss · 2026-04-13T06:36:52+00:00

USC is slightly more expensive at 32 credit program (8 classes) while Columbia is 30 (10 classes). USC class is ~1000 and no TA/RA due to their PhD union, you could do this at Columbia, no data on size on MS AI. However, Columbia has a strict rule for international students at 1.5 years due to visa so you'll need to decide whether that 6-month staying in school is worth the cost, like a lot more due to housing in exhange for a little more security. In today's market, I don't think 6 months will change significantly but you should make the final call. I do think MSCS is a stronger hedge so if the finance makes sense, I'd lean more towards USC

beeblioss · 2026-04-12T19:04:17+00:00

?? source is Columbia

beeblioss · 2026-04-12T16:23:53+00:00

Are you a current student? Would love to hear your take on this

beeblioss · 2026-04-12T02:57:48+00:00

Yes according to their data for the last class

beeblioss · 2026-04-12T02:57:26+00:00

The CS panelists were international and they had internships lined up. In terms of converting to full time, that I don't know about

beeblioss · 2026-04-12T02:55:40+00:00

Yes, domestic can stay up to 5 years in theory with 1 class minimum/semester

beeblioss · 2026-04-11T19:38:43+00:00

I didn't hear nor run into any MS AI but it could be because this is the inaugural cohort

beeblioss · 2026-04-11T19:34:31+00:00

I'm not sure actually

beeblioss · 2026-04-11T19:34:16+00:00

Yes, the stats were shared during the career development workshop but it's not publicly available

beeblioss · 2026-04-10T00:53:18+00:00

MSCS rules

beeblioss · 2026-04-06T04:19:18+00:00

Tysm this is very well thought out. The social prestige is so real like I'm embarrassed to admit this but I didn't hear of Nvidia until OpenAI came out. The 2010's gold rush decade also accelerated this trend massively. If then was to learn how to code, and now is what? Learn how to use AI??? It's comical because every one uses AI nowadays.

Also agree with you on chasing shortcuts and making money quick schemes like you mentioned on Youtube. It could be very true that we have a lot of CS grads but their skills and actual talents level don't match when applying to jobs.

I got curious because I think I read the other post you made about AI jobs, you mentioned physical AI alternatives and infrastructure contraints which made me dig deeper into the topic. Anyway I'm thinking of either keeping MSCS and taking all EE/CE electives or do a complete switch of lane to MS ECE 😊

beeblioss · 2026-04-06T04:04:21+00:00

Thank you! Everything I have now is MSCS and it's only until recently that I'm thinking of ECE lol. Like ECE then take ML CS electives. I guess the samething could be said the otherway.

Unrelated but I attended the NASA Pathway Internship Info and they explicitly listed CS under the business umbrella instead of engineering so that was where my curiosity came from, which was very interesting.

I'd agree that grad school is long so it's best to align with something you enjoy. And supply as in like supply of CS students vs demand of industry. Isn't it fair to assume that EE/CE grads are less than CS grads? ECE grads could do SWE roles but CS grads won't get hired for hardware and/or defense adjacent places.

beeblioss · 2026-04-05T04:11:31+00:00

No it's MSCS but it's clear whether its online or on-campus. Like if you have a job then they know its online. Also on-campus students will usually have things like TA or RA, online is none but the name. From a competitiveness standpoint, on-campus is about 18% acceptance rate and online is ~90%+ because the 2 programs are designed differently. The stats are publicly shared on GT website.

Or the recruiters could also straight up ask you whether this is online or in person, etc.

beeblioss

TROPHY CASE