Best colleges/universities for computer science?

[cchen]

Originally posted by: dcpsoguy
So MIT is the best on the East Coast? Can I have a link the USNews top computer science colleges?

It really depends on what kind of CS education you want. First off, MIT has EECS, not just pure CS. You get a sound background in CS and a sound background in EE. CMU has the best theoretical CS program... it has some of the best research programs available in CS as well as various other opportunities...

 

[cchen]

Originally posted by: placebo139
MIT, Caltech, and Berkeley...

It really depends on how you want to approach CS. The three schools mentioned above are probably the only ones that teach scheme and use that to approach CS. Other schools start you off learning C or something.

lol.... i learned scheme in 9th gradfe...

 

[Robet]

Go to Harvard.

 

[fizmeister]

The ACM contests aren't the best guage; they only reflect a few individuals' talents. That's why you get schools that aren't even Top 20 by U.S. News in comp sci getting placed near the top; they have a few extremely bright students.

Also, for the one who requested the U.S. News rankings, no one ranks undergrad comp sci programs, only grad. But if you want to use grad rankings, then the following are among the top 20 off the top of my head:

Harvard
Cornell
MIT
Caltech
UTexas
UIUC
Berkeley
Princeton
Rice
UMich
CMU
Stanford
Brown

A lot of the above teach theoretical CS quite well, and a lot of them use Scheme for starters (MIT, Rice, Caltech, etc.; Rice developed Dr. Scheme, which is the compiler used in most places, and MIT actually developed the Scheme language).

Anyway, go get a book or talk to people. Rankings don't mean as much as actual reputaiton and job placements, if that's what you're concerned about. For instance, Harvard isn't ranked very highly, but I'm sure a CS degree from harvard is worth a good bit. Rice isn't ranked as high as some of the state schools, but in the south they're among the most respected (because of program rigor). Places like Columbia aren't ranked that high (not top 20, even), but it's in NYC, so internship and job placement opps are top-notch. I chose my school based on overall undergrad quality, prestige and student body, not strength of a specific undergrad program. And I'm quite satisfied (I was accepted to 2 schools in the top 10 comp sci, turned them both down to do physics at a different school).

It depends on preference. Good luck!

 

[beer]

Originally posted by: JeffSpicoli
University of Bangalore. If you don't want to travel to India, don't bother majoring in Computer Science. It is no longer a viable career in the US.

This man knows what he is talking about, sadly.

 

[Metalloid]

Wow talk about weird. I was researching this yesterday as I was signing up for the ACT (guess I should have checked this forum).

In my research I found that MIT, Standford, Berkeley, and Cal Tech were ranked pretty high.

I really hope to get into MIT, but then if I do get accepted, its $40,000 a year.

 

[Chad]

Tulsa University.

 

[fizmeister]

Originally posted by: Metalloid15
Wow talk about weird. I was researching this yesterday as I was signing up for the ACT (guess I should have checked this forum).

In my research I found that MIT, Standford, Berkeley, and Cal Tech were ranked pretty high.

I really hope to get into MIT, but then if I do get accepted, its $40,000 a year.

You do realize all top schools are need-blind; so if you can't affrod $40k a yr, they'll give you enough so you can, based on parental contribution, income, etc. I personally think money should never be a deciding factor on where to go unless, of course, you're deciding between 3 equally good schools.

 

[Metalloid]

Yeah I talked to my dad and he said that if I get in then we will be able to work something out. It's not that we can't afford it, it's more of a "is it worth it" kinda thing. I mean is MIT worth the extra $10,000 a year over some other schools?

 

[beer]

Originally posted by: fizmeister

Originally posted by: Metalloid15
Wow talk about weird. I was researching this yesterday as I was signing up for the ACT (guess I should have checked this forum).

In my research I found that MIT, Standford, Berkeley, and Cal Tech were ranked pretty high.

I really hope to get into MIT, but then if I do get accepted, its $40,000 a year.

You do realize all top schools are need-blind; so if you can't affrod $40k a yr, they'll give you enough so you can, based on parental contribution, income, etc. I personally think money should never be a deciding factor on where to go unless, of course, you're deciding between 3 equally good schools.

Christ I'm getting almost all 4 years of tuition at UT for one semester at MIT.

I hardly consider an education there worth 8 times what I'm getting, being that UT is still relatively top-ranked and all.

And I hope that all your MIT hopefuls realize that unless you are a minority, your odds of getting into MIT are basically coin-tossed, since most of their applicants have 1600s and still aren't admitted.

 

[stonecold3169]

Hmm. I'm a student at Clarkson university, which has been mentioned a few times in this article. One of the biggest advantages we have over, say, MIT is our size... with under 3,000 undergrads, you get as much one on one time with professors as you could ever want (by my sophmore year of computer science, our CS class was down to ~60 or so). Also, this one on one time is making my duel majoring a whole lot easier. While it isn't particularly hard to major in both CS and math, it takes a lot of stress off by knowing that if you need help you aren't going onto a huge waiting list, which can throw other things off. All in all, a good school with a great faculty (except for Searleman... but we DO have Tino "Machino" Tamon, which makes up for it... any CS student at Clarkson should know him well😀)

If you have any specific questions, PM me, and I'll be glad to answer them

 

[civad]

Originally posted by: Man Snake
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign

Finally saw the name of my dear ol' Alma Mater.

Thats what happens when your school is in the middle of a cornfield and has a very long name: it might be among the best but people tend to forget it exists...

 

[Hector13]

Christ I'm getting almost all 4 years of tuition at UT for one semester at MIT.

I hardly consider an education there worth 8 times what I'm getting, being that UT is still relatively top-ranked and all.

I beg to differ, I would say going to a school with a reputation such as MIT (or HBS, Caltech, etc) is definitely worth the extra money (if not more). You may not learn "8 times" as much, but you will open up well more than "8 times" as many opportunities for yourself.

If you get in, sell a kidney if you need the funding 🙂

 

[Hector13]

Originally posted by: stonecold3169
Hmm. I'm a student at Clarkson university, which has been mentioned a few times in this article. One of the biggest advantages we have over, say, MIT is our size... with under 3,000 undergrads, you get as much one on one time with professors as you could ever want

Uhm... excactly how big do you think MIT is? It is probably about 4000 students and has an engineering dept that is probably the same size as Clarkson.

In any case, the US New "rankings" for computer engineering are
here. Though it seems you need to pay to see anything beyond the first 5 names. For the lazy, their rankings (for undergraduate programs at school's with doctorate's degrees) is:

1. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology
2. Carnegie Mellon University (PA)
3. Stanford University (CA)
4. University of California?Berkeley *
5. U. of Illinois?Urbana-Champaign *

If you don't care for such "big", well-rounded (perhaps) schools, their ratings for schools that don't have engineering doctorate programs is:
1. Rose-Hulman Inst. of Tech. (IN)
2. Rochester Inst. of Technology (NY)
3. Cal Poly?San Luis Obispo *
4. Harvey Mudd College (CA)
5. Cooper Union (NY)

Of course this is the "top 5" out of only 6 schools..

And, for the record, MIT's tuition is under $30,000 (not including room & board, obviously).

 

[cchen]

Originally posted by: Metalloid15
Yeah I talked to my dad and he said that if I get in then we will be able to work something out. It's not that we can't afford it, it's more of a "is it worth it" kinda thing. I mean is MIT worth the extra $10,000 a year over some other schools?

The short answer: YES. Having a degree from MIT will open up opportunities you wouldn't get if you get a degree from a less known school

 

[gopunk]

for undergraduate CE in the USA:

1.Massachusetts Inst. of Technology
2.Carnegie Mellon University (PA)
3.Stanford University (CA)
4.University of California?Berkeley *
5.U. of Illinois?Urbana-Champaign *
6.University of Michigan?Ann Arbor *
7.University of Texas?Austin *
8.Cornell University (NY)
9.Georgia Institute of Technology *
10.Princeton University (NJ)
11.University of Washington *
12.California Institute of Technology
13.Purdue Univ.?West Lafayette (IN)*
14.Univ. of Wisconsin?Madison *
15.Univ. of California?Los Angeles *
16.Rice University (TX)
17.North Carolina State U.?Raleigh *
18.Univ. of California?San Diego *
19.Virginia Tech *

 

[civad]

Whats with the asterixes for some schools? Is it because they are all state-funded universities?

 

[Hector13]

Originally posted by: civad
Whats with the asterixes for some schools? Is it because they are all state-funded universities?

excatly, from the US New site:
* denotes a public school

 

[Metalloid]

Hmmm U of M is number 6, and I live in Michigan, so that would be great. I will probably end up applying to both MIT and U of M, and then after I get/don't get accepted I will decide.