u/megafireguy6

Currently working in the defense industry doing PCB design and am absolutely bored out of my mind with how slow everything is, along with the mediocre pay. Looking at the potential salary of ASIC/VLSI design roles is really tempting me to go back to school. I graduated from an average state flagship with a 3.88 GPA and currently have 2 years of postgrad industry experience along with 10 months of internship experience. Haven't taken the GRE, but I have always done very well on standardized tests so I feel confident there.

Point is, I feel fairly confident I can get into a non-thesis masters programs at a good ECE school, but I was wondering which schools you guys feel would prepare me the best for industry. I did notice that many of these schools such as CMU serve as a pipeline to companies such as Apple and Nvidia, so that's something I'd like to consider as well.

I have a 3.88 GPA in EE from an average state flagship, 2 years of post graduate industry experience, 10 months total of internship experience, no research, and haven’t taken the GRE, but historically have done well on standardized testing (32 ACT in hs) so I feel fairly confident there.

This would be for a non thesis masters. I am also wondering other schools I would likely get into for other non thesis ECE masters. I fear that CMU may be a reach due to a lack of research and its surprisingly low acceptance rate (20%).