Which is a better program for someone who wants a job in the tech industry? CMU INI (bicoastal program), UT Austin MS CS, or GaTech MS CS?

A2A. Lets go by each of the points you are concerned about. Reputation of the university. CMU definitely has a better reputation than the other two. Among Gatech and Austin, it depends on the degree program. Reputation of the degree program. In terms of how competitive admission is to each program, Austin MS CS > Ga tech MS CS > CMU INI. I don't know much about the bicostal program. Course structure. Not sure about INI, but Austin and Gatech MS CS are pretty good. Placement opportunities and average salaries. CMU INI's average is 100k. I'd say you get great opportunities at all three places. Internship opportunities. Ditto for internships Peer group. This is closely related to university and program reputation. I'd rank Austin MS CS peer group as the best among the three, but its not a huge difference. Overall development. If you factor in location for development, I'd say Austin is the better choice. Lots of opportunities in Austin, and its a very vibrant city.

I'm the one who had asked this question two years back. I ended up choosing CMU INI and am very happy with my decision.For other people who might be in a similar situation, this answer might help!CMU INI INI is not a part of School of Computer Science (SCS) It does not matter because students from both SCS and INI would be sitting in the same classroom taking the same courses from the same faculty members. Only thing that would differ is their program requirements and degree name One problem you would face is that there are a couple of classes that are very hard to get into. For example, 15-418/618 Parallel Comp Arch has a waitlist of 150 students for 25 slots. There is a quota for students in SCS, but even then, not all of them get in. There's no quota for INI students. A few (3-4 every sem) do get in, but that's about it. PS. Note that 25 slots are shared by all MS/PhD level programs at CMU. This includes MCDS, INI programs, MS ECE, MS CS, etc Reputation of INI degree programs compared to MS CS program Companies don't care. Only your friends back home do :) Job opportunities These depend on the courses you take. You will get calls from most companies you apply to. After talking to friends who attended other schools in US, it seems that getting an interview with the Internet giants (Google/Facebook/Amazon/Microsoft etc.) is not hard. However, getting a call from the smaller companies with limited recruiting resources (Uber, Airbnb, Yelp, etc.) is much easier at CMU than GaTech,UIUC, USC, etc. The average of 100k is slightly misleading. The median for MSIN 2015 batch is 115k, and MSIT is 110k. This does not include stock options, yearly bonus or joining bonus, which often raise your salary by at least 50% per year Course Structure MS CS/MCDS require 96 units for graduation. At CMU, a semester long course = 12 units. Therefore, they require around 8 courses (9 if you include 15-213 Computer Systems). INI requires 144 units which is 12 courses (13 if you include 15-213). For MSIT, you have 4 track + 3 restricted electives. Track courses have to be related to your track - Info Sec, Software Management, Mobility, etc. However, the tracks are flexible and you would find courses such as cloud computing, web app dev or IoT dev in Software Management, and courses such as Distributed Systems in Mobility. And then, there are restricted electives which can any course in CS/ECE/INI For MSIN, you have 3 restricted electives (which eventually become 6 if you take the curriculum option instead of thesis) If you choose to complete your degree in 20 months instead of 16 months, you can take extra courses. You'll most likely get tired of so much coursework, though. Peer Group INI is less selective than Austin MS CS, and is at par with UCSD/GaTech. Most students who get admitted to INI are good, and you definitely wouldn't be surrounded by slackers. Even if they weren't that motivated when they came here, INI's degree requirements will make them change. Also, most of them are good students and either did very well in their undergrad academics, or did some good work at a company for 2-3 years. I think the average INI admit has around 2-3 years of work experience. I should also point out that CMU's MS programs are pretty huge compared to all other universities (INI has 3-4 programs, LTI has 3 programs, CSD has 1 program. RI, MLD have their own programs and so does ISR. (LTI, CSD, RI, MLD and ISR are all part of SCS) And then, there's ECE (people mostly seem to take CS courses there), and some from Heinz). Consequently, you will have no trouble finding a peer group that fits you. Overall Development This is where CMU lags behind compared to GaTech and Austin. The heavier degree requirements and CMU's stress culture means that you would have little time to do anything but coursework. Some people will take part in dance during Diwali, etc., but that's about it. No sports, no free time to explore the country, etc. The only drawback of Austin is that there's almost no variety in coursework. The only reason you should choose Austin MS CS over a program in INI is if you know that you want to do a PhD and are planning to use MS as a stepping stone (get good recommendation letters and research experience). In such a situation, you don't care about the coursework which happens to be Austin's biggest weakness.Georgia Tech vs CMU INI is a much harder decision. GaTech can be very cost effective if you find a RA/TA on campus. If finances are a major concern, go to GaTech. It is better for a coursework-oriented MS than Austin/Purdue/UCSD/UCLA. However, as far as the quality of coursework, job opportunities and research opportunities are concerned, CMU (or MIT/Stanford/Berkeley) are in a league of their own.