Re: Best schools for MSc/PhD on RFICs/MMICs in US & Euro
Very nice poll!!!
...I also have long wondered about what are really the strengths and weaknesses of the well-known institutions, especially in analog/RF design, and especially with regard to US universities.
I know there is people from all types of universities in the forum, big & small; it would be really nice to hear their opinions about the strengths and weaknesses of their EE schools, or any other particularities they can share from their insider perspectives. I think this information could be very useful for prospective applicants like Spectrallypure or myself.
For instance, I have always wondered things like these (just for the sake of giving some examples):
-What's up with Caltech? This institution is well renowned, yet it doesn't seem to go mad for publications like the other big ones. In some areas it also seems to have acceptance rates much lower than those of bigger institutions like Stanford, Berkeley or MIT. What really goes on there? What's behind this 'exclusivity'?. Finally, what are the highlights of their analog/RF curricula?
-Why is Stanford (or, to a much lower degree, MIT) so reluctant to opening their courseware on analog/RF IC design?. It's so obvious they don't go crazy towards the open courseware initiative-at least not in this area. Why is that? Compare for instance to Berkeley, which has opened a lot of their curricula. Is it just personal preferences of the lecturers? any obscure politics behind these attitudes?
-Why is Berkeley's tuition considerably lower than Stanford's or MIT's? What could justify the big differences among the tuitions for this top-line institutions? On the same token, why are GaTech, UIUC or UT Austin so much (relatively) affordable with respect to the biggest ones? In what real practical differences does the monetary gap translate for the students?
...and the all-time classical:
-Considering *only* academics & research on analog/RF IC design, which one you consider would be the overall best: Berkeley, Stanford or MIT? Why?
Well, I also hope some fellows can throw their shares!