Is the USC distance education program a good idea for electrical engineering grad school?
My company would probably reimburse me for a master’s in EE from USC with a minimum GPA of 3.0, while I’m working offsite in the bay area. As a student there, say I email a question to a professor or tutor, will he/she email back promptly, or will I typically get left out in the cold several days while wondering about a homework problem?
I am currently an on-campus Computer Engineering (which is in the EE dept.) student at Univ. of Southern California, and the professors will email you back promptly, usually within 24 hours. If you have the chance to watch the lectures live, you can also call in and ask questions over the phone, while the professor is giving the lecture. Every lecture is recorded and the quality is okay, but they do offer high quality snapshots of what the professor is doing; you will find that most students, including on-campus students, prefer watching the lectures online than going to lecture.
April 8th, 2010 at 6:53 pm
First you would have to be accepted to USC. good luck on that.
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April 8th, 2010 at 7:05 pm
I just looked it up. Will my source help you? It probably will, I hope so.
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http://74.6.239.67/search/cache?ei=UTF-8&p=Is+the+USC+distance+education+program+a+good+idea+for+electrical+engineering+grad+school%3F&u=www.usc.edu/ext-relations/news_service/chronicle_pdf/1997.11.17.USC_Chronicle.pdf&w=usc+"university+of+southern+california"+"university+of+south+california"+"the+university+of+southern+california"+distance+education+program+programs+good+idea+electrical+engineering+grad+school&d=LRmhKxg5RUUS&icp=1&.intl=us
April 8th, 2010 at 7:29 pm
I had the opportunity to take NMSU long distance courses for my M.S in I.E. and it was great. The professor was teaching real time somewhere on campus while i was taking his / her class one hundred miles away. In addition the study material in the web was very complete and available at any time. I hope this helps
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April 8th, 2010 at 7:47 pm
Have you ever tried distance ed? It is not like attending class and the structure is not conducive for some people to be successful. I personally like the brick and mortar option. But if that is not possible, you should consider the risks versus the rewards. And I’m sure USC (Southern Cal or South Carolina?) is a good school. These are questions that should be directed at advisers as well. Just take their answers with a healthy dose of skepticism since they may tell you to do it to increase the schools income. Try and ask former students the same questions.
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April 8th, 2010 at 8:31 pm
You should find out how that sort of a degree is viewed by future employers. A few calls to the employment offices of big name firms should give you an idea. Be a bother to do all that work and find out that your degree was considered a "mail order" degree, comparable to a prize in a cereal box. Check to find out if it will carry its full weight.
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MSEE
April 8th, 2010 at 8:57 pm
If your interested North Carolina State University has a program that is similar, but the turn around time on questions is much better.
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EE Grad Student and Professional Engineer
April 8th, 2010 at 9:29 pm
I am currently an on-campus Computer Engineering (which is in the EE dept.) student at Univ. of Southern California, and the professors will email you back promptly, usually within 24 hours. If you have the chance to watch the lectures live, you can also call in and ask questions over the phone, while the professor is giving the lecture. Every lecture is recorded and the quality is okay, but they do offer high quality snapshots of what the professor is doing; you will find that most students, including on-campus students, prefer watching the lectures online than going to lecture.
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