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Ask HN: Where to go for the cheapest EE degree in the U.S.? In the World?

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Re: Ask HN: Where to go for the cheapest EE degree in the U.S.? In the World?

#41

Post by sannee »

mlejva wrote: post #29
a-saleh wrote: post #23

EE Means electrical engineering? In czech republic I have seen a year of study for non EU citizens between 3000 and 5000 Eur a year, 3 year study is the standard length. Cost of living for a student was around 4000-6000 eur a year, when I was student (~5 years ago), should still be comparable.

I should note that two things've changed: (a) college dorms are often full and students may not get one & (b) rent went up a lot in last 1-2 years because of a shortage of rentable apartments. But you definitely can live very cheap here if you manage to either get yourself a dorm or find roommates (+ apartment). (I'm CS student in Prague)

Basically, if you want a dorm here, you have to start reserving in May/June.

Re: Ask HN: Where to go for the cheapest EE degree in the U.S.? In the World?

#42

Post by phasetransition »

peter_d_sherman wrote: post #20
chrisseaton wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You literally want the cheapest degree possible? No consideration for value or quality whatsoever? You can probably find some institution somewhere in the world which will give you a degree that is legal according to their local laws for $5 and no time. Is that what you want? But even cheaper than that in terms of money would be free via a full scholarship, which you can get any many institutions if you're good enoug…

I'm not looking for a piece of paper, no. I'm looking for a hands-on learning experience with competent instructors, and the collegiality of classmates. The instructors don't have to be Harvard or MIT grade (note that electrons will still flow in the ways electrons flow regardless of if I learn those ways from a Harvard or MIT Professor, or someone else). I'm just a value shopper for education, nothing more, nothing…

You can arguably learn more about the practice of EE from Dave Jones' YouTube channel, or local hardware Meetups, or "The Amp Hour" than college classes. And those are free.

And go spend a couple of hundred bucks on Horowitz and Hill (2nd or 3rd Ed.) if you want to learn about analog. That's a good bang for the buck.

In the traditional path, your best bet will be spending your last two years at an abet accredited state school that is teaching focused, not research focused.

Re: Ask HN: Where to go for the cheapest EE degree in the U.S.? In the World?

#43

Post by brettgriffin »

spilk wrote: post #35
pc86 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd be interested in a comparison of your earnings over those five years of service compared to the median income for the first five years after graduating from public/private/Top-10 schools. I still think you'd be getting the best deal overall but the community college + state school route may seem more competitive in terms of cost after factoring in the relatively low pay of O1-O3s.

I think after 5 years of military service as an officer and a military academy EE degree you could easily obtain very lucrative military contractor work, but of course this is generally going to be in the weapons/electronic warfare sphere which may or may not be ethically compatible to some folks.

The two aren't mutually exclusive; you could easily get contractor work with five years of EE after going to another school (provided you can pass the background and security checks).

Re: Ask HN: Where to go for the cheapest EE degree in the U.S.? In the World?

#44

Post by kamyarg »

I would say METU @ Ankara, Turkey: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Technical_Universi...

You can see prices(~200$/term -- thanks to value drop in Turkish Lira) here: http://oidb.metu.edu.tr/en/tuition-fee-amounts

The EE department is infamous for being competitive.

Pros: Ankara is very cheap, the campus is huge and very active, the technopolis is also very active with companies such as Siemens, Udemy, OpsGenie etc. English is the main course language. Turkey is beautiful and central for your summer plans. It accepts SAT with minimum 1200 out of 1600, so for a native speaker with good math skills, you should be able to get in easily, it is very competitive for Locals, arguably the best Engineering Uni in Turkey with a huge alumni network in EU/US/CA.

Cons: Ankara is a bit boring, but campus being huge makes up for that, some low-level staff(canteen clerks etc.) don't speak english, students would be happy to help-out. Some Prof decide to teach mixed with Turkish, but this is not very common, exams are always English.

Disclaimer: I have studied as foreign student in CS(CENG) department, I made a really good choice choosing METU and CENG, EE I am not sure. Feel free to reach out if you have questions.

Re: Ask HN: Where to go for the cheapest EE degree in the U.S.? In the World?

#45

Post by fuklief »

roma1n wrote: post #25

The French École Normale Supérieure will pay you around 1200 euros per month to study there. There are strings attached though (10 yrs public service commitment).

It's more around 1300 euros actually :-) And it's only possible for EU citizens afaik.

Re: Ask HN: Where to go for the cheapest EE degree in the U.S.? In the World?

#46

Post by ultrasounder »

The cheapest yet probably recognized all over the world ( to a certain extent) and with good track record of quality instruction would be the Indian Institute of Technology, India. And they have quiet a few of them spread across the country. EE dept was especially strong in my hometown (Madras) 10 years back and I am sure that's the case now. URL. Cost FREE. Yes.https://www.iitm.ac.in You heard that right. But you have to go through a one of the most rigorous entrance examinations in the world(IIT-JEE) to get placed. But once you get in like they say, your life is made. Email in the profile so feel free to reach out.

Re: Ask HN: Where to go for the cheapest EE degree in the U.S.? In the World?

#47

Post by pstch »

programLyrique wrote: post #33

Tuition fees in public universities are low in France: https://www.campusfrance.org/en/tuition-fees-France For instance, a bachelor degree is 170 euros per year (+ 90 euros of student life and campus service fees). Housing can be expansive in some cities like Paris... For instance, the bachelor degree of EE at Sorbonne université (former Pierre et Marie Curie university before it merged with the historical Sorbonne):…

The rules on this are a bit complicated, though : officially, this price does not apply to anyone who has worked more than two years since their last diploma. Persons in this situation may have to pay thousands of euros (1k/2k per year) to go to a public university. In most cases, the price is covered by some institution (such as "Pole Emploi", which handles unemployment) or by some professional reconversion organization.

Note that many universities don't follow these rules at all, and will let you sign up (paying the normal price) even if you worked more than two years since your last diploma.

I don't really know how it works for foreigners, and many people (including social workers and advisers) are confused by this.

Re: Ask HN: Where to go for the cheapest EE degree in the U.S.? In the World?

#48

Post by learc83 »

kop316 wrote: post #15

(This is a US centric reply, I can't help as much if you are not in the US) So a couple of question to pose first: - Can you live at home? If so, do you plan on living at home? - Are you looking for scholarships? - Are you working while at school? - Why are you going for absolute cheapest? Why not best value? I ask these because they are important questions that will shape what you look for. I hesitate to say "cheape…

>If you go to a crappy college

If it's an ABET accredited program, there's a limit to how crappy it can be.

Most companies don't care where you went as long as it's ABET accredited. Sure going to a well known school doesn't hurt, but school reputation isn't nearly as big of a problem in engineering as it is for other majors.

You should get an internship though, or better yet do a co-op.

Re: Ask HN: Where to go for the cheapest EE degree in the U.S.? In the World?

#49

Post by startupdiscuss »

praneshp wrote: post #40
startupdiscuss wrote: post #8

I would have to guess that the best value is Germany. Darmstadt is a lovely little fun, hip town and they have a reputable engineering school at TU: https://www.tu-darmstadt.de/studieren/abschluesse/bachelor/e... There is a lot of scholarship money to fund your living expenses here: https://www.tu-darmstadt.de/international/home/funding/index... But the actual costs are very low. A few hundred dollars a semester. I c…

I spent a few months in Darmstadt. Agree about all the positives you mentioned. One negative I want to add is that relatively few people speak English.

I did the same thing -- a summer in grad school doing research -- but I did think it was a great opportunity to learn German.

Re: Ask HN: Where to go for the cheapest EE degree in the U.S.? In the World?

#50

Post by startupdiscuss »

ultrasounder wrote: post #46

The cheapest yet probably recognized all over the world ( to a certain extent) and with good track record of quality instruction would be the Indian Institute of Technology, India. And they have quiet a few of them spread across the country. EE dept was especially strong in my hometown (Madras) 10 years back and I am sure that's the case now. URL. Cost FREE. Yes. https://www.iitm.ac.in You heard that right. But you h…

Can anyone person from any country in the world apply after sitting for the exam?
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