Which school should I choose: Syracuse University or University of Texas at Dallas?

For some majors it almost doesn't matter- you'll get a job offer no matter which school you go to. What will it pay? Compare the ROI opportunity at each school.  SU iSchool has about 97% placement. What about UTD? The discipline can impact whether the school makes a difference. Look at what students are doing for projects. SU also offers online grad program if that helps. What's most important http://ischool.syr.edu/future/career/outlook.aspx

Information Management at Syracuse iSchool is one of the best as well as costly. They have the most updated courses , top class faculty and good tie up with companies in New York City.

Both these universities have a good reputation. Try to get some facts ready for the placement percentage, on campus jobs, living expense too while you make your decision. Syracuse is expensive but you would probably save some bucks off the campus job. At the end of the day you would surely want to land up in a great company so try to check on the companies that will be available during career fair etc. Hope this helps

It ultimately comes down to what you want to pursue? Being a CS Graduate at UTD i can assure you a good time. Resources are modest and professors are knowledgeable. With the ever growing IT industry, Dallas is one of the hottest places for a CS job with mind wrecking salaries (one reason being the bay area running out of water most of the companies are jumping to Seattle and Dallas). Frankly speaking I have no idea about Syracuse. Its not that you have to choose a School depending on jobs but ultimately when you look at the future that is what matters the most unless you want to be a scientist in which case university with good resources for research is important. One criteria that companies look for while selecting a person is his place of residence. If the person if from the same place as the company, they don't need to pay for your relocation. When it comes to cost, Dallas is pretty cheap compared to other cities but UTD isn't. There is a lot of competition for on campus jobs (excluding TA/RA). TA/RA are usually given for PhD students but if you show decent interest in the area, professors don't mind taking you. Some of them offer paid RA positions some don't. If you have plans to do PhD after MS, UTD is offering complete fee waiver plus lot of incentives like instant TA/RA post with roughly $11-$13 per hour. NOTE: You are going to encounter a lot of Indians if its a Grad School that you are about to join. I am mentioning this because Indians give a tough competition in all departments in the Grad School may it be on campus jobs, off campus jobs etc.

I graduated from Syracuse and am from Tyler Texas. No one outside of the Texas area has heard of UTD whereas Syracuse has name recognition all over the country. Not sure if that is a good reason to go there though as it is much more expensive.

As a UTD graduate, it is very under rated.  It is an excellent school that in recent years has gained a tremendous amount of traction in the rankings, but not where it should be.  Since it was founded as a school to train PhD's and as a graduate school only, it is considered a research university.   One factor to consider is the alumni network and where are they placing students.  Syracuse has been around longer (UTD was founded in 1969) but unless the alumni network is active in the placement and value of their degrees, honestly over time it doesn't matter if you graduated from Syracuse, UTD, or University of Podunkville.

Ask yourself: Would I miss winter?