Berkeley L&S CS vs NYU CS

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
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<p>Hi, I'm a rising senior at a high school in Boston and I've hit a major dilemma in my life. I want to major in Computer Science, and I really want to live in NYC. REALLY bad. But Columbia is out of reach, so the only other option is NYU... but NYU is utter **** for cs, I hear. It is ranked very low by usnews and seems to have virtually no reputation in the cs world.</p>

<p>On the other hand, my guidance counselor says that I have a great shot at Berkeley L&S CS program, and Berkeley is VERY reputable in cs. </p>

<p>Should I just let go of nyu and not ed there? I feel like if by any luck I get into berkeley and go I will be "stuck" there, and not have a chance to move to NYC since most cs jobs are in California (or so I'm told).</p>

<p>Please help me! I'm in such a dilemma, and I can't think about anything else.</p>

<p>p.s. please try not to be biased! I understand that there is school pride, but please try to suggest a best course of action for me! Thx</p>

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<p>Berkeley’s CS blows NYU’s out of the water. In fact, I’m willing to bet that even NYC’s businesses would prefer Berkeley over NYU. But if you REALLY want to be near NYC, perhaps Stony Brook might be a good match for you. Located in Long Island, it has the location advantage and alot better than NYU for CS. Also consider some other East Coast schools like Carnegie Mellon, UPenn, or a little further out west like Michigan or UIUC.</p>

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<p>So if I were to graduate from Berkeley with a bachelor of arts in computer science, would it be easy for me to find work in NYC with a good salary? (I read that l&s graduates in cs make 95k as start)</p>

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<p>^my bad, I seem to have posted from my sisters account. She is having nyu troubles too.</p>

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<p>nyu sucks lol berkeley all teh way</p>

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<p>It sounds like you and your sister would be international students from Canada, given her post about $200,000 in debt at NYU. Berkeley won’t be affordable either for you.</p>

<p>Why not go to a fine university in Canada, like Toronto, McGill, Waterloo, or UBC?</p>

<p>Internationally, HKUST is relatively inexpensive compared to many US universities for international students: [HKUST</a> Undergraduate Admissions - International](<a href=“http://join.ust.hk/international/applyhere/tuition_and_fees.html]HKUST”>http://join.ust.hk/international/applyhere/tuition_and_fees.html)</p>

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<p>^Actually, I hold a citizenship in the us as I was born here, while my sister wasn’t. I had the opportunity to stay with family members in Boston for hs, so I wouldn’t be an international.
The general consensus here seems that Berkeley is far superior than nyu in terms of cs… So now my question is whether or not it would be easy for me to find work in NYC after a ba of cs degree from Berkeley?</p>

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<p>I can’t answer your question. “Easy” is a relative term, and whether or not it’s “easy” depends on many factors of which school is but one.</p>

<p>But I can tell you this much: everything else being equal (note that this is a very rare case), it’s easier for a person with a CS degree from UCB for find a job anywhere, not just NYC, than with a CS degree from NYU.</p>

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<p>Thanks. I guess what I meant by easy was whether or not the reputation of UCB CS (which was ranked #4 internationally) will make the search for a decent job relatively easier than with a degree from NYU (which, although a good school, seem to have no reputation in CS).</p>

<p>One more thing: it seems that UCB L&S provides a bachelor of arts, while NYU offers bachelor of science. will the difference in “bachelor” impact my “employability”?</p>

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<p>Berkeley will still be expensive if you are a US citizen without California residency. Check its net price calculator.</p>

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<p>Probably not. CS at Berkeley is already over saturated (the first CS class has 1,100 people in it). There was like 500 people a couple years ago, so you will probably will have some challenges finding a job without connections.</p>

<p>Second, Berkeley is in California, where the living standards are way higher. That’s why the average salary is 95k. 70-80k is probably what you would get over in NYC.</p>

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<p>If you’re skilled, probably not. I will be getting a B.A. and have already been offered a job at Amazon.</p>

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<p><a href=“http://www.payscale.com/data-packages/college-roi-2013/college-roi-2013-schools-by-major/computer-science[/url]”>http://www.payscale.com/data-packages/college-roi-2013/college-roi-2013-schools-by-major/computer-science&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>In regards to the comment about the large cs class affecting the ability to find a job, I disagree a bit. </p>

<p>While being at Berkeley you are in a very competitive atmosphere. Granted outside in the real world it is still competitive, I have been told by all my alumni friends that the real world is way different from Berkeley. That is, there are much more less qualified people in the real world as opposed to everyone you meet at berkeley being a superstar in some way. Just because the the number of cs majors at Berkeley is multiplying, that doesn’t change the fact that there are still tons of cs jobs out there. And the fact is, coming from Berkeley you will have one of the best cs educations. </p>

<p>Also, in regards to the living standards, its pretty darn expensive to live in NYC. I wouldn’t say ca has a higher living standard than NYC.</p>

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<p>However, remember that the computer industry has its ups and downs. It has been in the up phase for several years, which has attracted a lot more students to major in CS (note that Stanford is also getting increased enrollments in CS, as noted in [Stanford</a> Daily | CS106A enrollment reaches record high](<a href=“http://www.stanforddaily.com/2012/10/04/cs106a-enrollment-reaches-record-high/]Stanford”>CS106A enrollment reaches record high) and [Stanford</a> Daily | CS106A summer enrollment hits record high](<a href=“http://www.stanforddaily.com/2013/07/22/cs106a-summer/]Stanford”>CS106A summer enrollment hits record high) , so increased CS enrollment is not just a Berkeley thing).</p>

<p>The last time CS got really hot was in the 1998-2000 tech bubble. But students who went into CS then graduated into the crash in 2002-2004. CS enrollments dropped for several years from then, when Berkeley L&S CS was uncapped due to low interest in the major.</p>