Value of master's from ETH Zurich

Question

I will receive an NYU CS degree in 2 months but don't have a job offer yet. I have gotten into this master's program though I worry not many in the US know the brand.

Is it worth getting a MSc from ETH Zurich to specialize in ML?

madscience · Accepted Answer

It might not be a super recognizable brand name, but any recruiter worth their weight would look into it and realize it's a legitimate university. You should be fine to move forward with it.

MLE3760 · Answer

As you've already deduced yourself, in the US, most employers will recognize it as a valid uni, but it won't have any "prestigious" associations, like the Ivy-league would.I would seriously urge you to think about what your goals are. If you want to have a career in ML, IMO, the best thing you can do is get as much work experience in an ML-related job as possible. The second best thing is getting work experience in a traditional software engineering job. Masters/PhD in ML is only in a distant third place.Now, since you're quite close to your graduation, presumably don't have much work experience, and the market for juniors is fucked atm, the masters might be the only realistic option (and ofc not a bad one at all!). But even then I would encourage you to at minimum find a working student position with a good software company (Zürich actually has many!) ASAP and focus on that more than your masters. IMO the ability to land good working student positions is a significantly bigger selling factor for ETH than the teaching quality. As someone who recently completed my masters in ML at a VERY similar Uni, I regret not doing this and only focusing on my studies. As tired as the trope is, you will learn significantly more "actually useful" stuff at a job than in the classroom. It will also make landing a full time job easier, as you will have some experience and some work available to show your potential employer. Also don't forget to practice leetcode and general interviewing skills regularly! This will again have an infinitely larger impact on your job offers than exam grades or even successful graduation! Ofc, if you wanna do research, forget everything I said and focus on your Masters + PhD. But the competition is also pretty insane there, and you'll have to be very good to actually land a good position in academia.Best of luck!

Value of master's from ETH Zurich

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