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UT ECE (SES)

One-sentence summary: A lottery ticket -- there's really no discernible pattern, but highly recommended for job hunting.

Admission Preferences​

If you have a strong GPA or solid research in software engineering, it's worth applying. Annual admission is approximately 5-10 students.

  1. SJTU IS undergrad, had ByteDance, Cisco, and Synopsys internships
  2. UT Austin ECE undergrad, GPA 3.8
  3. UT Austin ECE undergrad, GPA 3.98 (top 10%)
  4. ACSES track, GPA 3.8, received RA offer
  5. ICS track, IIT undergrad, GPA 4.0
  6. ACSES track, GPA 3.99, three years work experience

Internship & Delayed Graduation​

You can extend to 2.5 years, giving you two opportunities for US internships, which is excellent, and it's also very affordable. The school supports semester-long internships (e.g., Snowflake, TikTok, Amazon, Tesla), though not many companies open co-op positions. Free campus rides after 11 PM.

TA/RA Opportunities​

Among the cases around me, everyone who wanted a TA/RA position got one by at least the second semester. Getting one right after enrollment is also quite common (for example, a friend found a TA position in the math department). So the cost-effectiveness is truly maxed out. The ability to extend, do semester internships, and transfer to PhD gives the entire program great flexibility. Tuition is fully waived, and insurance is also covered (plus you can enjoy staff dental and vision insurance benefits for free).

Tuition​

SES tuition + insurance per semester is just over $11,000 (typically for 9 credit hours per semester), which is extremely affordable. There are also plenty of TA and RA positions that can waive your tuition + provide around $2,000/month in salary, essentially making it free to attend. My living expenses will most likely stay under $2,000/month. Total cost for the entire program is at most around $30k.

PhD Transfer​

Very easy to transfer -- as long as a professor wants you, you're in. You can also select the MS/PhD option when applying.

Job Outcomes & Data Points​

Job prospects are also very favorable, mainly because you can extend graduation, there's co-op available, you can do full-time internships during the semester, and peer pressure is virtually nonexistent. The ECE SES track has fewer than ten students per cohort. In 23 Fall summer, 7 students had nearly a 100% landing rate.

  1. SJTU IS undergrad, had ByteDance, Cisco, and Synopsys internships, landed Apple new grad
  2. UT Austin ECE undergrad, GPA 3.98 (top 10%), landed AMD new grad