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Duke ECE

Program Overview​

Duke has three CS-related programs: 1. MSCS 2. ECE 3. Game Design. MSCS is a more research-oriented program, while ECE is geared toward career changers to CS and job hunting.

Overall, ECE courses are more SDE-oriented, and the admission threshold is more friendly (translation: easier to get into, and many career-change applicants apply here). There will likely be an interview during the application process, which tests your spoken English.

ECE has two main tracks: MS and MEng. The difference is that MS requires a thesis while MEng does not, and MEng requires two business school courses and an internship to graduate. In previous years, the MS track had about 100 spots while MEng had 5-10. The official response is that MS and MEng have the same admission threshold — if you get into MS, you could also get into MEng, and vice versa. You can switch between them after enrollment.

Pros:​

  1. Good course quality. There is the fall trio (550, 551, 590) and the spring trio (650, 651, 568), which are essentially all SDE-related courses. Career changers with a weaker foundation can use these to build up their basics. The spring trio has a relatively heavy workload — for example, ECE 651 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING takes a lot of time — but it does help build a solid foundation.
  2. Co-op. MEng students can do one co-op, which is essentially a second chance. Companies hiring for fall co-ops include Tesla, Snowflake, TikTok, etc. Based on emails, all MEng ECE students starting from 24 fall are eligible for co-op. Relatively few schools offer fall co-op, so competition is lower and the chances of landing an offer are higher.
  3. Career-change friendly. When applying to Duke ECE, you choose between MEng and MS. Career changers and CS majors can select the Software Development or Data Analytics & Machine Learning track. Personal statements are also easier to write (the former focuses on SDE, the latter on research). Of course, you can switch tracks after enrollment.
  4. Relatively small cohort, making it easier to pass resume screening. Some companies consider how many new grads they have already hired from a given school when making final offers — they will not hire exclusively from one school. Therefore, students from smaller programs have an advantage in passing resume screens.

Cons:​

  1. Expensive — tuition alone is nearly $100K (source: school's official website). When I saw this tuition during my application, I was truly shocked. Private schools live up to their reputation.
  2. Heavy workload. As mentioned, both the fall and spring trios have substantial workloads, which may cut into LeetCode grinding time.

Admission Data Points​

Accepts career changers. Overall difficulty is not high — GPA 3.7+ with passing language scores should suffice.

  1. Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, EE undergrad, GPA 3.88
  2. Dalian University of Technology, Management major, GPA top 15%, with UC Berkeley exchange
  3. UESTC, Communications undergrad, GPA 3.75
  4. Shenzhen University, CS undergrad, GPA 3.75, with internships at Meituan, Tencent, Shopee, and Ctrip
  5. Donghua University, Software Engineering undergrad, GPA 3.9
  6. UESTC, Software Engineering undergrad, GPA 3.9

Job Outcomes & Data Points​

  1. OSU CS undergrad, on-campus internship and small-company internship in China, landed new grad at a small NYC company
  2. UESTC Communications undergrad, internships at Ctrip and a small testing company, landed Uber new grad
  3. Nankai University CS undergrad, two small-company internships and a ByteDance BA internship, landed Datavisor intern
  4. German CS undergrad, GPA 4.0, one small-company internship in China, landed new grad at a hardware company
  5. Donghua University Software Engineering undergrad, no internships, landed HP internship, then landed Amazon new grad
  6. UESTC Software Engineering undergrad, small-company internship in China, then landed Amazon new grad
  7. Duke Kunshan DS undergrad, Philips internship in Shanghai, landed intern at a small company