LooteKukur, thanks for the info. I probably want to go to the industry at some point. The way I see it, I wouldn't really mind the academia, but the monetary reward in the industry seems too tempting, at least for now. Also, I've heard that it is hard to get into a master's program right after an undergrad as most programs favor Phd candidates over masters and the funding is very limited. I've also heard that some people sign up for a Phd but just get a master's and leave after two years. Would it be wise to do that (apart from pissing my advisor off) or get into a company after my BSE degree and have them finance my master's?
And, another reason I wanted to go into graduate school was due to the limited companies that hire international undergrad  students. top companies like IBM, Intel, TI don't even look at undergrad intl. students. they usually ask for at least a master's. So basically, what i've seen in career fairs is that most EEs end up doing programming or software related jobs. If that's the case, my EE classes are basically a waste. does anyone see it differently?