<p>What would be the best schools for computer science. Please put them in order: </p>
<p>Cal Tech, Stanford, Wesleyan, Bowdoin, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<ol>
<li>Stanford(tied with CMU)</li>
<li>Carnegie Mellon(tied with Stanford)</li>
<li>Cal tech (tied with Cornell)</li>
<li>Cornell (tied with Caltech</li>
<li>Bowdoin</li>
<li>Wesleyan</li>
</ol>
<p>If you're looking at these schools... you might as well look at MIT too. MIT is tops for cs.</p>
<p>Wesleyan is not distinguished in CS.</p>
<p>I am sorry, should have been Wellesley...
And what about Pomona and Harvey Mudd?</p>
<ol>
<li>MIT</li>
<li>Stanford</li>
<li>Caltech</li>
<li>CMU</li>
<li>Cornell</li>
</ol>
<p>USNEWS rankings:</p>
<ol>
<li>Berkeley</li>
<li>CMU</li>
<li>MIT</li>
<li>Stanford</li>
<li>Cornell</li>
<li>Illinois</li>
<li>Washington</li>
<li>Princeton</li>
<li>Texas</li>
<li>Wisconsin</li>
<li>Cal Tech </li>
</ol>
<p>Google-based</a> Ranking of Computer Science and Engineering Departments</p>
<p>Harvey Mudd should really be on the list. It's an LAC, so it falls under a different set of rankings. But it's seriously one of the best out there.</p>
<p>Otherwise, I agree with this:</p>
<ol>
<li>MIT</li>
<li>Stanford</li>
<li>Caltech</li>
<li>CMU</li>
<li>Cornell</li>
</ol>
<p>1) Stanford (absolutely the best of the best)
most Turing award ties,
unmatched list of IT inventions.
HP, Google, YAhoo, CISCO, SUN</p>
<p>2) Berkeley=MIT=CMU</p>
<p>5) Cornell, Princeton, Calteck</p>
<p>Computer science undergraduate departments are not ranked primarily because of one of the best computer science programs Carnegie Mellon has their own School and does not belong in the Engineering Department. Carnegie Mellon concentrates on concepts from discreet math while schools like Stanford or MIT will use more traditional engineering models. The ranking you see from US News are Graduate Schools in computer science. UC Berkeley is tied for number one but their undergraduate classes are very large and undergraduate may not get the attention that they need. Every ten years the National Research Council evaluates undergraduate computer science programs and their results should be coming out in November I am told. Here are my top picks for undergraduate computer science:</p>
<p>Stanford
Carnegie Mellon
MIT
Cornell
University of Maryland
Georgia Tech
UC Berkeley</p>
<ol>
<li>MIT</li>
<li>Stanford</li>
<li>Carnegie Mellon</li>
</ol>
<p>I'm going to say Stanford is the best, for all its discoveries, all the awards of the faculty and past faculty (e.g. Turing awards), all the successful graduates in SV and beyond, and all its ties to SV. Internship opportunities and such for CS majors are unmatched.</p>
<ol>
<li>Stanford</li>
<li>Berkeley</li>
<li>CMU</li>
<li>Cornell</li>
<li>Caltech</li>
</ol>
<p>I'd say there isn't much variance in quality among Bowdoin, Wesleyan, and Wellesley.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Computer science undergraduate departments are not ranked primarily because of one of the best computer science programs Carnegie Mellon has their own School and does not belong in the Engineering Department.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>CS undergrad departments are ranked--in the Gourman report, for example. And even if they weren't, it wouldn't be because of one school's policy (like CMU's), and even if it were, it wouldn't be because of the CS program administration at CMU (the rankings would be of the programs themselves, irrespective of how the CS programs are handled).</p>
<p>
[quote]
Carnegie Mellon concentrates on concepts from discreet math while schools like Stanford or MIT will use more traditional engineering models.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Er, at least for Stanford, it has an emphasis on the theory (there are a few classes that cover discrete math and its relation to CS), not so much on "traditional engineering models."</p>
<p>
[quote]
UC Berkeley is tied for number one but their undergraduate classes are very large and undergraduate may not get the attention that they need.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>62% of Berkeley's courses have fewer than 20 students, and 14% are over 50 (compare that to MIT's 61% / 14%). More than that, Berkeley pours money into its CS program to maintain its quality, and so classes are generally not huge (especially since there's more course variety in Berkeley's CS program than at other schools). Undergrads are offered lots of opportunities: advising, research, internships, etc.</p>
<p>By the way, Georgia Tech is not even in the top 30 according to the NRC.</p>
<p>I agree with ^ except with Caltech as 4th...and MIT should be somewhere there.</p>
<p>But seriously, the california schools are really good to go to if you want connections. I live in Silicon Valley (5 min drive from Google hq!) and a degree in C.S. from stanford or berkeley pulls a lot of weight here.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I agree with ^ except with Caltech as 4th...and MIT should be somewhere there.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Well, I was ranking only the universities that the OP gave--MIT wasn't one of them.</p>
<p>I wouldn't say Caltech's program is as strong as the others, but it's definitely one of the top programs. In fact, according to the NRC ranking, Caltech doesn't even rank in the top 10, whereas Cornell is at #5, so it appears my perception is at least supported by this.</p>
<p>I would cautious anyone who is using the Gourman Report for comparing undergraduate computer science departments. The CS rankings came out in 1993 and although Jack Gourman's rankings are still being sold by Princeton Review that does not mean that it is very accurate now.</p>
<p>^^ the newer Gourman rankings came out nearer 2000 and are very similar to the NRC rankings, etc.</p>
<p>Not to mention school quality (even in a specific department) changes very slowly, so it's not as though they're drastically different now.</p>