pakhair everyone

[FromTheHeartOfMountains]

salam everyone. I've read a lot of posts on this and another forum and decided to sign up as a member

About me: Born and raised in New York but I've also spent 5 years in Pakistan.Pakistani pashtun from a mid sized town some 45 miles south of Peshawar. I work as an electrical engineer and would like to meet more pashtuns hopefully. One can never have enough friends

Day ma pakhto day taso pakhto na lag pashantay mukhtalif da. Kosash kum say noor um zada kum.

[Friend]

You are warm welcomed to the world of real Pashtuns and some pseudo ones.

[HalloIsBack]

Welcome to PF and have a lot of fun with Pashtuns and Non-Pashtuns!

[Admin Khan]

Nice to see a fellow EE and a New Yorker. Welcome aboard.

What field of EE are you interested in? You studied EE here in NY?

[Pisho]

Pakhair raghle.. Khuday de woke che stasi wakhtoona ba sha terezhe pa PF ke

[FromTheHeartOfMountains]

dera manana day toolo. Ka khair we gup bo lagee taso tolo sara

@Admin, are you an EE? that'd be sweet!. yeah I went to NYU and studied power although I have a passion for computer science and programming as well. Currently Im working with industrial electronics( low/high voltage and current sensors.) I graduated last year

[Haris]

Pa khair raghle.

[Afghanistan2010]

Pekhair raghel grana....
khuday de wake che sta ratlan pe dai zai ke de sta ow mong de para pe neekai ow kamyabe wagarzawee.

[Admin Khan]

dera manana day toolo. Ka khair we gup bo lagee taso tolo sara

@Admin, are you an EE? that'd be sweet!. yeah I went to NYU and studied power although I have a passion for computer science and programming as well. Currently Im working with industrial electronics( low/high voltage and current sensors.) I graduated last year

You mean PolyTech right? I don't think NYU has an Engineering school. They recently signed an agreement with PolyTech, that will make them allies, but not necessarily merge. I believe PolyTech is still an autonomous institute, with an affiliation with NYU. I know many Afghans who graduated from PolyTech last year, with a degree in Civil Engineering though. I like PolyTech grads, although their CS department is a bit mediocre for the pricetag(Think Stony Brook CS department instead).

If you like Computer Science as well, why didn't you go for CpE? PolyTech has a solid CpE program, with great professors such as Dr.Memon.


Anyways, I think I am getting too excited here, welcome and pleasure to meet you!

[randolph85]

salam brother!

[FromTheHeartOfMountains]

You mean PolyTech right? I don't think NYU has an Engineering school. They recently signed an agreement with PolyTech, that will make them allies, but not necessarily merge. I believe PolyTech is still an autonomous institute, with an affiliation with NYU. I know many Afghans who graduated from PolyTech last year, with a degree in Civil Engineering though. I like PolyTech grads, although their CS department is a bit mediocre for the pricetag(Think Stony Brook CS department instead).

If you like Computer Science as well, why didn't you go for CpE? PolyTech has a solid CpE program, with great professors such as Dr.Memon.


Anyways, I think I am getting too excited here, welcome and pleasure to meet you!

You are correct as Polytech still functions independently as far as majors go although there is a lot of "crosstalk" between the main NYU campus and us. We have nyu ids and my degree says that as well. Many students come over here to take some classes ( and often regret it) and a lot of engineering guys go over to West 4 for humanities ( and some regret that as well!) It have been ( NYU-Poly) like this since 2008 and with the president of the university leaving with no one else replacing him, NYU-Poly has pretty much become nyu's school.

I agree that paying Poly's price is not worth it if there is no scholarship because I'd rather go to another school out of state and pay less while getting a better college experience. The reason why CS is better at poly is because you can work in the city and attend classes which we know is really important. Getting a degree is a joke , it's the experience that mostly counts. A know a bunch of guys working for goldman and google and most have had internships during the school year. I think i'll be going back for master's inshallah since Columbia doesnt offer what I'm looking for and other schools arent as good within in the NY area ( cooper union is impossible to get into). I didnt go in to CS because I was told many EE's work in CS roles ( I had a couple myself) and with an EE I would have more options later which has been the case. Anyway, a minor in CS is just as good

Bro, there were many muslims in Civil but I only knew like 4 muslim bros in EE . wish I had more bros to hang with.. What do you do?

[Admin Khan]

You are correct as Polytech still functions independently as far as majors go although there is a lot of "crosstalk" between the main NYU campus and us. We have nyu ids and my degree says that as well. Many students come over here to take some classes ( and often regret it) and a lot of engineering guys go over to West 4 for humanities ( and some regret that as well!) It have been ( NYU-Poly) like this since 2008 and with the president of the university leaving with no one else replacing him, NYU-Poly has pretty much become nyu's school.

Hey, it's not that bad. Poly is a really, really good school. It's a solid, tight-knit Engineering school with brilliant professors -- where you can build amazing relationships with the Professors. I think for EE, you made a pretty good choice.

The only options you would've had(Columbia is out of the equation, since their price is outrageous):
1)Stony Brook University
2)City College, CUNY.

Stony is a major research university, generally ranked top 50(above PolyTech) in the nation. I also realized Stony is part of the AAU(something NYU POLY is lobbying for, but has failed to get in).

City College is generally Top 200(ranked below PolyTech).

Stony might be too far for you, so Poly really is the only plausible option you had for your Engineering degree, so don't regret anything. You made a good choice. If you were a Civil Engineer, I might've felt bad for you since it's really hard to find a job in that field nowadays. EE's seem to be doing better though, CS is in general is the cream of the crop of Engineering schools.

I agree that paying Poly's price is not worth it if there is no scholarship because I'd rather go to another school out of state and pay less while getting a better college experience. The reason why CS is better at poly is because you can work in the city and attend classes which we know is really important.

Brother, I'm very active in CS. Poly's EE is good, but their CS with respect to it's price, is an insult. If you really, and I mean really, want the best bang for your buck; check out

https://www.cs.stonybrook.edu

or

https://www.cs.rutgers.edu

Stony Brook is ranked the 2nd best CS program in NYS, and NYU Poly doesn't stand a chance to it. If you look at those ACM competitions, it's always SBU vs Columbia. So don't waste your money on a M.S in NYU POLY. Some Graduate surveys, like the NRC, rank SBU really high in research throughput. Rutgers is also really good.

Getting a degree is a joke , it's the experience that mostly counts. A know a bunch of guys working for goldman and google and most have had internships during the school year. I think i'll be going back for master's inshallah since Columbia doesnt offer what I'm looking for and other schools arent as good within in the NY area

I think Stony might have what you are looking for. I just checked their faculty page, and I am honestly shocked. Faculty is what generally accounts for the departments prestige,
check this out and compare it to Columbias or NYU's;
I guess one of the reasons I recommend you it, is it's ridiculously low cost.

Here is a copy and paste from their website that I just read:

Established in 1969, the Computer Science Department at Stony Brook University is consistently ranked among the top Computer Science research departments. A Gourman report indicated Stony Brook's undergraduate program was ranked 15th nationwide and 2nd in New York State. The most recent NRC survey ranked it among the top 20 graduate programs in the U.S

http://www.cs.sunysb.edu/people/faculty.html

( cooper union is impossible to get into). I didnt go in to CS because I was told many EE's work in CS roles ( I had a couple myself) and with an EE I would have more options later which has been the case. Anyway, a minor in CS is just as good

I'm a big fan of Cooper Union, but with an 7-8% acceptance rate, they are impossible.


EE's can't do what CS guys do. That's really a myth, unfortunately.

Interesting fact:
President of Stanford University, is a Stony Brook CS Ph.D. So brother, don't waste your money when you have great state schools under your radar. Poly for C.S isn't a wise idea(unless it's free).

[FromTheHeartOfMountains]

Haha and I have met another CS vs EE warrior. It depends though. If you chose networking EE, then yeah programming is going to be hard. But I know 4 guys at factset ( they pay like 85+ starting and I interviewed with them but didnt get it ) and all of them are EE. Experience matters the most. Yes I agree that it's not worth paying tens and thousands for something that could be acquired at a state school. My friend didnt go to to Stony because they offer civil but there is no civil engineering department ( this was back in 2007 so im not sure whats going on now). Honestly I thought Poly's grad CS program was pretty good because of it's job placement which pretty much matters the most. Going to stony would mean that I would have to live near it and I don't think you can compare the opportunities in Manhattan with those in the areas near Stony. Education wise? yes of course Stony is a better choice although I'd still stick with nyu or columbia ( not poly). The alumni and the job placement matter a lot and you can make more . Check linkedin for the number of stony vs nyu/columbia grads at the top fortune 500 companies that are present in the area. Numbers speak for themselves

Never ever fall for rankings.. Rice university opted out a few years ago and their rank dropped like 30 spots lol. They mean nothing in the grand scheme of things unless you are talking about the brand names like the ivies or the techies likt MIT. I'm sure there are many smart dudes in Stony that are better than the average MIT kid, but let's be honest about the job options and opportunities available to both. I rather be a C student at MIT than an A at another other school not known for its brand

Poly is a small school so AAU wont mean anything. It's for big schools that have huge facilities man. We barely have a gym haha. And yeah stony has more research as it's a public institute. no doubt. You can acquire funds easily. Most of our porjects were subsized by private companies that were looking to hire guys with good research experience. I would not come to poly for research reasons because the funding seems limited in many areas except in EE ( we have many Israelis here and there is no shortage of money for them. Come to think of it, Poly has a campus in Tel aviv ... My Israeli professors were really hardcore in their exams. I tried to avoid them

As for EE, I have one license and just need the experience for the PE. Inshallah I can get a company to pay for my masters otherwise I'll just wait.

[Admin Khan]

Haha and I have met another CS vs EE warrior.

I love EE, with a passion. In fact, generally, I recommend CpE over EE and CS. In your case, since you are talking about an M.S in C.S, and I happen to know a thing or two about C.S, I'll chime in once again -- hope you don't mind. I just can't see a Pashtun brother of mine shower in debt, for no reason what so ever. Especially if I've visited both campus, met graduates of both campus, and seen the results of both graduates.

It depends though. If you chose networking EE, then yeah programming is going to be hard. But I know 4 guys at factset ( they pay like 85+ starting and I interviewed with them but didnt get it ) and all of them are EE.

Because CS has such an explosive growth, companies can't find enough graduates. So they are at times forced to hire EE's(who are talented) otherwise, most screening softwares auto-screen for a C.S or CpE degree. EE's automatically get thrown out the process -- unless it's an in-person interview, and you can demonstrate knowledge and skills. I know many SBU CS grads, who made over 100K with no internships whatsoever. From what I've heard(and read online), and seen with my own eyes, Google, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Northropp, CIA, and other companies scoop up these graduates(they have a information assurance concentration, which the the government loves).

Experience matters the most. Yes I agree that it's not worth paying tens and thousands for something that could be acquired at a state school. My friend didnt go to to Stony because they offer civil but there is no civil engineering department ( this was back in 2007 so im not sure whats going on now).

Now with respect to Civil, Pass on Stony Brook. I'd then be touting the City College horn, since I've heard many good things about CCNY. City College has a solid Civil program, that I'd recommend over most state schools, and even over PolyTech(with respect to cost).

Honestly I thought Poly's grad CS program was pretty good because of it's job placement which pretty much matters the most.

Do you have any statistic of the grad program? Let me tell you a few things that I know, from my experience.

The following is respect with CS only, not CpE or EE, just CS:

PolyTech is a small department, or dare I say a Baby compared to Stony. Stony Brook has a building, the size of the entire PolyTech campus called the Computer Science building, devoted to CS. Aside from that building, they have CEWIT, and a new building being constructed last time I visited. This means something huge. Companies like Google, Apple, would avoid Poly, and visit Stony since they graduate more students, of far higher caliber. ACM results speaks for this. I, along with my PolyTech buddies knew that ACM was all about Columbia vs Stony Brook vs Princeton. Yale, PolyTech, and other schools were just there to spectate and rank far lower than them. Stony would come with 3 teams, and all 3 teams owned PolyTech. Now, aside from them being 40-50 miles away from Manhattan, I was doing a quick Google search, and this is what I found:

A panel of Google, visiting Stony Brooks undergraduate class to judge their project. This is huge bro.

http://www.cs.sunysb.edu/about/news/GoogleContest2011.html

Given the relatively low cost of Stony vs Poly, and how much better Stony is compared to Poly, and how Stony has about 65 faculty members, vs PolyTechs <20(this is also huge, since the more faculty, the more research, the more tasty courses, the more companies want to hire you).

Going to stony would mean that I would have to live near it and I don't think you can compare the opportunities in Manhattan with those in the areas near Stony.

Long Island is a magnet for tech companies. And remember, I just Google'd and realized Apple, Google all commute to hire Stony Brook graduates.

Education wise? yes of course Stony is a better choice although I'd still stick with nyu or columbia ( not poly). The alumni and the job placement matter a lot and you can make more . Check linkedin for the number of stony vs nyu/columbia grads at the top fortune 500 companies that are present in the area. Numbers speak for themselves

Since SBU CS is from the 60's, there are probably more CS graduates of SBU when compared to Columbia and NYU. I'll tell you why, SIZE. SBU CS has an entire building devoted to one discipline. Even Columbia can't afford that, which is why a 50K per year school like Columbia is ranked lower than Stony Brook(3K per semester) according to Phd's.org, which uses quality data for their judgements.

Never ever fall for rankings.. Rice university opted out a few years ago and their rank dropped like 30 spots lol. They mean nothing in the grand scheme of things unless you are talking about the brand names like the ivies or the techies likt MIT.

Rankings might not mean a lot, but they do speak volumes about the program at times. It shows the quality, but I do agree that one can't go strictly off of rankings, you look at the success of students. And if a school, for 3K per semester, has managed to even produce someone of the link of Dr.Hennesy(president of Stanford) along with I'm sure countless other Alumni, then it's fair to assume those rankings hold some water.

I'm sure there are many smart dudes in Stony that are better than the average MIT kid, but let's be honest about the job options and opportunities available to both. I rather be a C student at MIT than an A at another other school not known for its brand

MIT is a whole different level, although based on their faculty list, I saw many MIT Ph.D's teaching their courses, so the experience might not be that different. When you have Google visiting your undergrad course, and your ranked top 30 in the nation(SBU claims top 20, but I'd disagree and say no, they are top 30)then the opportunities don't really differ. I'm active in CS, and I can tell many companies would prefer an SBU student over a Poly one, just because of the curriculum and course rigor.

Poly is a small school so AAU wont mean anything. It's for big schools that have huge facilities man. We barely have a gym haha. And yeah stony has more research as it's a public institute. no doubt. You can acquire funds easily. Most of our porjects were subsized by private companies that were looking to hire guys with good research experience. I would not come to poly for research reasons because the funding seems limited in many areas except in EE ( we have many Israelis here and there is no shortage of money for them. Come to think of it, Poly has a campus in Tel aviv ... My Israeli professors were really hardcore in their exams. I tried to avoid them

Poly is an excellent, and I repeat excellent school for EE, that I'd recommend to many people. But when you talk about CS, comparing Stony Brook and PolyTech is like an insult. Like I said, when you visit SBU, you will realize their CS department is the size of your entire school(when you include their CEWIT, and new building coming soon).

As for EE, I have one license and just need the experience for the PE. Inshallah I can get a company to pay for my masters otherwise I'll just wait.

MashAllah brother, I'm very proud of you. Don't quit your studies.

If you want to see the real rankings of schools, with respect to meaningful statistics, this is a reliable site that I use:

http://graduate-school.phds.org/rankings/computer-science

Choose what matters to you the most, and look at the rankings. If things like diversity don't matter, give it a 0. If things like student outcome matters, give it a 5. Try it out. They use actual data supplied to them, this isn't an automatic algorithm. It's with respect to available data from these institutions. Notice how you might not find PolyTech, and that's because Poly is a little baby when compared to UIUC, SBU, Cornell, CMU, and other quality CS programs.


In conclusions, CpE>(CS+EE) Computer Engineering FTW!

[FromTheHeartOfMountains]

good info. It seems you know your way around CS. I'm in the process of learning python just for the fun of it so I come across a lot of CS forums and other discussions. Stack and reddit have huge followers and there is a ton of info there ( you probably knew that already but anyway hopefully I can learn some things from you) .

btw, any other new yorker pasthuns here?