A question for the educated (in the US)

trentlad

trentlad

trentlad

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I've earned my degree in UK and over there a system called UCAS is used to provide all available universities and colleges throughout the entire country. The UCAS book and/or website also provides a break down of all the classes that each institution offers.

After searching in USA (Michigan) for schools that provide a Masters in Electronics, either that or a brief Electronics and Mathematics review course, I've found absolutely nothing.

It seems like a lot of agencies are hogging all the info and if you utter the slightest interest they are calling you four times a day (this has quite literally happened to me). I know education in USA is very much about generating money than teaching but there has to be some reform surely.

How can you find out what universities/colleges provide post graduate courses in your area? Do UCAS style systems differ from state to state? Is there anyone from Michigan that knows a good website or company which can provide this information.

I'm really looking for help here since I've checked a few times over the past four years and found absolutely nothing. Nothing short of going to Google Maps, finding my area, typing in COLLEGE and taking note of all the names then calling them individually!!!!

My degree knowledge seems to be growing cobwebs and a class in something Engineering related is highly in need.

Any ideas?
 
Eh? If you're looking for post-grad, you really should be beyond 'UCAS' by now. Pick some institutions and start looking through their websites manually.
 
I'd pick a university that is hot on electronics and look into their MSc courses. It used to be Birmingham who were leaders in electronic engineering if that's any help.

Just go for a reputable well established university with entry criteria, not "University of Slough LOL" and you should get on fine. Any university that tries too hard to get you in should be avoided.
 
Why on earth would you want to go to Michigan? It's one of the most economically and socially depressed places in America.

Do you want electronics or "electrical engineering"?
 
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Have you been there?

Imagine summers with 75 - 90oF heat, at least one lake no further than 3 miles from you no matter where you are in the state, jet skiing, water tubing, taking out a sail boat and tipping it so you can skim your hands across the water at 30 knots, fishing at 4am in the morning when the sun is just rising and the mist from the lake is glowing and the water is as still as glass, well maintained hardcore mountain bike trails every where you go, sand bar parties where people take their boats and tie up on shallow sandy lakes and drink for days in swim shorts and bikinis, chilling out on white sand that squarks when you walk on it, smuggling your own beer into a golf course and playing 18 holes then getting confused if its the beer or the sun that's making you pass out, visiting apple orchards in August with the trees turning color and honey crisp apples tasting sweeter than honey itself.

Then in the winters imagine 2 feet of snow, skiing on virgin snow down black diamond trails, cross country skiing, ice fishing, skating on frozen lakes, snow ball fights, taking a snow mobile across that once luscious green golf course and pulling that throttle back till your teeth freeze, waking up in the morning after an ice storm has passed and turning every single thing outside into a Christmas card picture, driving in snow when your back end kicks out and you have to nail the gas to gain control or hit the brake and spin out, temperatures hitting -15oF so that you spit water into the air and it turns into powder before it hits the ground, beautiful large beads of snow falling almost every week.

Yeah you're right... every part of Michigan is crap. :D
 
30 knots? Good luck with that...:p

Have you lived there? It's not just about what you can do... There are also loads of other areas that you could say the same thing about.

Either way I assume you mean you live in Michagen and want to do an MSc somewhere near to where you live? That's not necessarily a good idea tbh as Masters are far more specialised than an udergrad degree and can potentially be very different depending on the Uni. best bet is to look at some electrical engineering job websites or whatever the "governing" body for it is and see what courses are listed. You may be in luck and find one near where you live, you may find they are the other side of the country...

EDIT: Oh, and if you want to move over there to do a masters and do what you listed then you may be in for a shock, you may not have much time to do any of that when you are actually studying, especially for an intensive course like engineering... :p
 
trentlad said:
Have you been there?

Imagine summers with 75 - 90oF heat, at least one lake no further than 3 miles from you no matter where you are in the state, jet skiing, water tubing, taking out a sail boat and tipping it so you can skim your hands across the water at 30 knots, fishing at 4am in the morning when the sun is just rising and the mist from the lake is glowing and the water is as still as glass, well maintained hardcore mountain bike trails every where you go, sand bar parties where people take their boats and tie up on shallow sandy lakes and drink for days in swim shorts and bikinis, chilling out on white sand that squarks when you walk on it, smuggling your own beer into a golf course and playing 18 holes then getting confused if its the beer or the sun that's making you pass out, visiting apple orchards in August with the trees turning color and honey crisp apples tasting sweeter than honey itself.

Then in the winters imagine 2 feet of snow, skiing on virgin snow down black diamond trails, cross country skiing, ice fishing, skating on frozen lakes, snow ball fights, taking a snow mobile across that once luscious green golf course and pulling that throttle back till your teeth freeze, waking up in the morning after an ice storm has passed and turning every single thing outside into a Christmas card picture, driving in snow when your back end kicks out and you have to nail the gas to gain control or hit the brake and spin out, temperatures hitting -15oF so that you spit water into the air and it turns into powder before it hits the ground, beautiful large beads of snow falling almost every week.

Yeah you're right... every part of Michigan is crap. :D
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Want - apart from the fahrenheit scale. 5/9*(x-32), right?
 
I hope you have plenty of funding because living and studying in the USA is expensive, very expensive. Also avoid Detroit, it is awful.



Michigan is a good place for engineering however, MSU or any if the URC institutions would be a good choice.

Google Michigan's University Research Corridor to get more info.

Expect some serious competition to get into the good colleges and remember it's gonna cost a bomb compared to the UK.
 
Oh, also...

How about the abysmal public health system (ie thousands for health insurance), lack of any real decent public transport system outside big cities, dodgy cities and hours of travel getting you nowhere? The 1-2 weeks of holiday a year when working and of course the tens of thousands of $ a year for the course (rather than £3-10k here).

I really enjoyed my time in the US, but it's the usual, the grass is always greener and some things are better at one place than the other. I'd travel to the US but I would never want to live there...
 
Amp34 said:
30 knots? Good luck with that...:p

Have you lived there? It's not just about what you can do... There are also loads of other areas that you could say the same thing about.

Either way I assume you mean you live in Michagen and want to do an MSc somewhere near to where you live? That's not necessarily a good idea tbh as Masters are far more specialised than an udergrad degree and can potentially be very different depending on the Uni. best bet is to look at some electrical engineering job websites or whatever the "governing" body for it is and see what courses are listed. You may be in luck and find one near where you live, you may find they are the other side of the country...

EDIT: Oh, and if you want to move over there to do a masters and do what you listed then you may be in for a shock, you may not have much time to do any of that when you are actually studying, especially for an intensive course like engineering... :p
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Been here for four years and pretty much hit everything on that list (bar three things) every year. I'm working as an electronics engineer right now but was a communications engineer in my previous role. I'm only a junior engineer right now since I didn't get employed in my degree field until so many years after graduating.

Graduated in UK so I know how good the uni's are back home, just wanting to find a decent school over here now.
 
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How often though? :)

Either way ignore my previous post then because you actually live there, rather than having a pipe dream.

I would suggest you look at websites though (such as whatever the equivilent of the Institute of electronic engineers is over there), it's how I found the masters I am currently on (not engineering) and you will hopefully be able to get an idea of how well the course is respected as well (maybe give a few companies a ring and see what they think, course wise).:)
 
Amp34 said:
Oh, also...

How about the abysmal public health system (ie thousands for health insurance), lack of any real decent public transport system outside big cities, dodgy cities and hours of travel getting you nowhere? The 1-2 weeks of holiday a year when working and of course the tens of thousands of $ a year for the course (rather than £3-10k here).

I really enjoyed my time in the US, but it's the usual, the grass is always greener and some things are better at one place than the other. I'd travel to the US but I would never want to live there...
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I'd agree with that. I spent half my childhood in California/Oregon/Kansas and a few years in Florida as an Adult, I much prefer the UK.

Most peoples idea of the US (not TrentLad) is based on American sitcoms, it's not like that at all.
 
Having said all that I have to say if I decide to do a PhD I will be looking at US universities/joint location ones as well as those in the UK... :p
 
trentlad said:
Have you been there?
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Yes I've been there and everyone I know who lives there is trying to leave... except they can't sell their houses. And lakes are no special thing, even in Kansas you are never further than 30 miles from a lake or reservoir where you can jetski, sail, kayak, fish. What you are talking about can be seen/done almost anywhere in the northern 2/3 of the USA.

Michigan state is severely mismanaged and has some of the highest unemployment, worst real estate problems, etc.
 
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