<p>what are some of the good schools in california for computer science? Aside from CalTech, SJSU, Stanford ;).</p>
<p>Berkeley, of course. Harvey Mudd may also apply.</p>
<p>Harvey Mudd, no doubt.</p>
<p>CalPoly-SLO is pretty good in CompE, so I'd imagine their CS program is pretty decent as well.</p>
<p>Princeton, Cornell</p>
<p>cmu anyone?</p>
<p>In California.</p>
<p>I do research, professionally-speaking, and just did something quick for a client of mine that may be pertienent here. Note that with many companies, they realize the close link between CS and Applied Math. Also a good joke at the bottom :)</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Following are the top colleges/universities for Computer Science and Applied Mathematics. The Top 12 are consistently solid in both undergraduate CS/Applied Math programs and graduate level up to Ph.D., especially the top 5-7 schools. Any candidate who has a graduate degree in C.S. or Applied Math from these schools should be flagged for interest. The reason is that these schools routinely REJECT for admission some of the best quality students who might easily be accepted into say a University of Maryland or University of Wisconsin (both also top 12 programs.</p></li>
<li><p>NOTE: There is a difference between "Applied Mathematics" and "Mathematics". One is "applied", and the other is "theoretical". Theory-based math is not as relevant to computer-based logarithmic functions.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>(Also, some programs may be highly-ranked in "Applied Mathematics" but have an orientation not relevant to computer science/software development. For instance, NYU is among the top colleges in Applied Math, but they're focused on differential equations and other applications more suitable for econometrics or specific sciences that are non-computer science.)</p>
<p>Top 12 Computer Science/Applied Mathematics Programs:</p>
<ol>
<li> Carnegie Mellon University</li>
<li> MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)</li>
<li> Stanford</li>
<li> U.C., Berkeley</li>
<li> CalTech (California Institute of Technology)</li>
<li> Cornell</li>
<li> University of Texas Austin</li>
<li> Princeton</li>
<li> University of Washington</li>
<li>University of Maryland College Park</li>
<li>Georgia Tech (Georgia Institute of Technology)</li>
<li>University of Wisconsin Madison</li>
</ol>
<p>Other Notable Colleges/Universities in no particular order: </p>
<ul>
<li>Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering</li>
<li>Harvey Mudd College</li>
<li>Rice University</li>
<li>University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign</li>
<li>Purdue</li>
<li>Harvard</li>
<li>Yale</li>
<li>Brown</li>
<li><p>UCLA</p></li>
<li><p>What's the Difference between a Computer Scientist and a Mathematician?</p></li>
</ul>
<p>A Math & Computer Science convention was being held. On the train to the convention, there were a bunch of mathematicians and a bunch of CS majors. Each of the mathematicians had a train ticket, but the group of computer scientists had only ONE ticket among them. The mathematicians started laughing and snickering. </p>
<p>Then, one of the computer scientists said "Here comes the conductor!" and they all ran into one of the the bathrooms. The mathematicians were puzzled. The conductor came aboard and said "tickets please" and got tickets from all the mathematicians. He went to the bathroom and knocked on the door and said "ticket please" and a ticket appeared under the door. The conductor took it and left. A few minutes later, all the computer scientists came out of the bathroom. The mathematicians felt really stupid. </p>
<p>So, on the way back from the convention, the mathematicians bought just one ticket for the whole group. They started snickering at the computer scientists, for they had no tickets amongst them. Then, the computer science lookout said "Conductor's coming!" and all the computer scientists ran into the first bathroom. All the mathematicians majors ran to another bathroom. Then, before the conductor came on board, one of the computer scientists left their bathroom, knocked on the other bathroom, and said "ticket please."</p>
<p>Additionally... </p>
<ul>
<li><p>UCSD - Jacobs School of Engineering (CSE Program)</p></li>
<li><p>UCSC - Baskin School of Engineering (Good program, little noticed, with good ties to the Silicon Valley; includes a new B.S. program in Computer Game Design -- it's an interdisciplinary program, combining film and digital media, the first of its kind in the UC System)</p></li>
</ul>
<p>
[quote]
Top 12 Computer Science/Applied Mathematics Programs:</p>
<ol>
<li>Carnegie Mellon University</li>
<li>MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)</li>
<li>Stanford</li>
<li>U.C., Berkeley</li>
<li>CalTech (California Institute of Technology)</li>
<li>Cornell</li>
<li>University of Texas Austin</li>
<li>Princeton</li>
<li>University of Washington</li>
<li>University of Maryland College Park</li>
<li>Georgia Tech (Georgia Institute of Technology)</li>
<li>University of Wisconsin Madison
[/quote]
</li>
</ol>
<p>This analysis holds for graduate programs. But I don't believe it holds for undergrad, for the reasons that you cited, that selectivities vary among undergrad programs widely, and some undergrad programs would easily reject students who got admitted into others.</p>
<p>For example, I think even Carnegie-Mellon people would agree that, for undergrad, their program is easier to get into than MIT, Stanford, Caltech, or Princeton. Grad school is a different story of course, but we're talking undergrad here. Similarly, Texas and Cornell are much easier to get into than Princeton for undergrad. Even a school like Harvard bears mention because although Harvard does not have a top 10 CS department, Harvard is obviously extremely difficult to get into - far harder than CMU, Cornell, Texas, Berkeley, etc.</p>
<p>Well, your entire argument is based on the notion that the selectivity of the school - and therefore it's student body - is more of a determinant of a school's strength in undergraduate computer science than the strength of the school's program. I have neither the interest nor inclination to support or detract from this argument, but surely you can see why it's a somewhat troubling one.</p>
<p>It's analagous to saying that if a restaurant orders good vegetables and other ingredients, it's bound to have good food. Yet the process of cooking that food is just as - if not more - crucial to the final taste. Who's to say that the strength of the computer science programs at, say, CMU may not make up for its relatively "weaker" incoming class to produce, in 4 years, superior computer scientists?</p>
<p>Your notion of what makes a good undergraduate CS program is an interesting one to me (a prospective CS major currently in HS), yet it lacks any solid reasoning or even a basic explanation. I'd be glad to hear one.</p>
<p>I go to CMU for CS, and I like it a lot. If you have any specific questions about CMU, let me know. When I was applying to schools, I also looked at Rice, Georgia Tech, and UIUC. UW is supposed to have a good program as well. I think most of these have been listed already, but reinforcement can't hurt.
Edit -- UPenn and University of Michigan Ann Arbor haven't been mentioned and I have heard good things about them as well</p>
<p>Not necessarily in order - UCB, UCLA, UCSD, CalPoly, Harvey Mudd, UCSC, UCD, UCSB, other UCs.</p>
<p>Since no one else has given any reasons for their schools being 'good', I have decided to offer some practical ranking. I am working as an intern at a big name software company that will remain anonymous, just because I don't want to have any issue with disclosing this information. They have ranked the schools they recruit software development interns by tiers. Tier 1 is the most highly targeted, with Tier 3 schools being the least targeted by recruiters:</p>
<p>Tier One Schools
* Stanford University
* University of California, Berkeley
* University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
* University of Michigan
* University of Washington
* Massachusetts Institute of Technology
* University of Waterloo
* Princeton University
* Carnegie Mellon University
* Brigham Young University
* Cornell University
* Dartmouth College
* Purdue University
* Georgia Institute of Technology
* University of Texas, Austin</p>
<p>Tier 2 Schools
- University of California, San Diego
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
- University of Wisconsin
- University of Maryland</p>
<p>Tier 3 Schools
- Arizona State University
- Boston University
- Brown University
- California Institute of Technology
- Columbia University
- Duke University
- Florida A&M
- Florida Institute of Technology
- Harvard University
- Howard University
- Harvey Mudd College
- Indiana University
- Iowa State University
- Johns Hopkins University
- Michigan State University
- North Carolina State University
- New York University
- Northwestern University
- Ohio State University
- Oregon Graduate Institute of Science & Technology
- Oregon State University
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
- Rutgers State University, New Brunswick
- State University of New York Stony Brook
- Syracuse University
- Tuskegee University
- University of Arizona
- University of California Santa Cruz
- University of California Davis
- University of California Irvine
- University of California Los Angeles
- University of California Santa Barbara
- University of Chicago
- University of Colorado
- University of Florida
- University of Massachusetts Amherst
- University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
- University of New Mexico
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- University of Oregon
- University of Pennsylvania
- University of Pittsburgh
- University Puerto Rico
- University of Rochester
- University of Southern California
- The University of Texas at El Paso
- University of Utah
- University of Virginia
- Washington State University
- Washington University in St Louis
- Xavier University
- Yale University</p>
<p>As a counter example to sakky -- MAYBE Harvard is harder to get into than CMU, Texas, Cornell, Berkeley, but as you can see, they don't have the reputation for great CS students in the same way ALL of the schools you named as easier to get into do. See how they are all Tier 1 while Harvard is Tier 3. Even though it was fun for me to give credit to my school as being better than some of these other schools, I hope this was a helpful post</p>
<p>Sakky, I am resident here in the S.F. Bay Area and have had major computer/software companies as client firms for many years. I am not in the business of ranking schools; however, I will say that I have some intimate familiarity with companies recruiting undergraduates coming out of major B.S. programs in C.S., C.E. and C.S./E. A very well-known Silicon Valley software company has the top 5 schools I listed as their primary undergraduate school targets. I don't know what this says, other than this particular global software organization believes that those are the preferred undergraduate programs to their liking. </p>
<p>As far as the linkage between C.S. and Applied Math, there are some software development functions where the Applied Math background is equally preferred to a C.S. background, maybe even moreso in the case of compiler developers who are focused on the art of algorithms.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE]
Since no one else has given any reasons for their schools being 'good', I have decided to offer some practical ranking. I am working as an intern at a big name software company that will remain anonymous, just because I don't want to have any issue with disclosing this information. They have ranked the schools they recruit software development interns by tiers. Tier 1 is the most highly targeted, with Tier 3 schools being the least targeted by recruiters:</p>
<p>Tier One Schools
* Stanford University
* University of California, Berkeley
* University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
* University of Michigan
* University of Washington
* Massachusetts Institute of Technology
* University of Waterloo
* Princeton University
* Carnegie Mellon University
* Brigham Young University
* Cornell University
* Dartmouth College
* Purdue University
* Georgia Institute of Technology
* University of Texas, Austin</p>
<p>Tier 2 Schools
- University of California, San Diego
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
- University of Wisconsin
- University of Maryland</p>
<p>Tier 3 Schools
- Arizona State University
- Boston University
- Brown University
- California Institute of Technology
- Columbia University
- Duke University
- Florida A&M
- Florida Institute of Technology
- Harvard University
- Howard University
- Harvey Mudd College
- Indiana University
- Iowa State University
- Johns Hopkins University
- Michigan State University
- North Carolina State University
- New York University
- Northwestern University
- Ohio State University
- Oregon Graduate Institute of Science & Technology
- Oregon State University
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
- Rutgers State University, New Brunswick
- State University of New York Stony Brook
- Syracuse University
- Tuskegee University
- University of Arizona
- University of California Santa Cruz
- University of California Davis
- University of California Irvine
- University of California Los Angeles
- University of California Santa Barbara
- University of Chicago
- University of Colorado
- University of Florida
- University of Massachusetts Amherst
- University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
- University of New Mexico
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- University of Oregon
- University of Pennsylvania
- University of Pittsburgh
- University Puerto Rico
- University of Rochester
- University of Southern California
- The University of Texas at El Paso
- University of Utah
- University of Virginia
- Washington State University
- Washington University in St Louis
- Xavier University
- Yale University</p>
<p>As a counter example to sakky -- MAYBE Harvard is harder to get into than CMU, Texas, Cornell, Berkeley, but as you can see, they don't have the reputation for great CS students in the same way ALL of the schools you named as easier to get into do. See how they are all Tier 1 while Harvard is Tier 3. Even though it was fun for me to give credit to my school as being better than some of these other schools, I hope this was a helpful post
[/QUOTE]
</p>
<p>Is each tier in your list ranked or no?</p>
<p>The schools are not ranked within a tier, so you can assume that those within a tier are pretty close to each other, especially the first 2 tiers. I think the third might not be quite as closely ranked as the groups in the first two are</p>
<p>Quote:</p>
<p>Since no one else has given any reasons for their schools being 'good', I have decided to offer some practical ranking. I am working as an intern at a big name software company that will remain anonymous, just because I don't want to have any issue with disclosing this information. They have ranked the schools they recruit software development interns by tiers. Tier 1 is the most highly targeted, with Tier 3 schools being the least targeted by recruiters:</p>
<p>Tier One Schools
* Stanford University
* University of California, Berkeley
* University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
* University of Michigan
* University of Washington
* Massachusetts Institute of Technology
* University of Waterloo
* Princeton University
* Carnegie Mellon University
* Brigham Young University
* Cornell University
* Dartmouth College
* Purdue University
* Georgia Institute of Technology
* University of Texas, Austin</p>
<p>Tier 2 Schools
- University of California, San Diego
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
- University of Wisconsin
- University of Maryland</p>
<p>Tier 3 Schools
- Arizona State University
- Boston University
- Brown University
- California Institute of Technology
- Columbia University
- Duke University
- Florida A&M
- Florida Institute of Technology
- Harvard University
- Howard University
- Harvey Mudd College
- Indiana University
- Iowa State University
- Johns Hopkins University
- Michigan State University
- North Carolina State University
- New York University
- Northwestern University
- Ohio State University
- Oregon Graduate Institute of Science & Technology
- Oregon State University
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
- Rutgers State University, New Brunswick
- State University of New York Stony Brook
- Syracuse University
- Tuskegee University
- University of Arizona
- University of California Santa Cruz
- University of California Davis
- University of California Irvine
- University of California Los Angeles
- University of California Santa Barbara
- University of Chicago
- University of Colorado
- University of Florida
- University of Massachusetts Amherst
- University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
- University of New Mexico
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- University of Oregon
- University of Pennsylvania
- University of Pittsburgh
- University Puerto Rico
- University of Rochester
- University of Southern California
- The University of Texas at El Paso
- University of Utah
- University of Virginia
- Washington State University
- Washington University in St Louis
- Xavier University
- Yale University</p>
<p>While this list may represent Waffles company hiring, I wonder if this list is applicable to most company? Brigham Young University is not one of the top 70 Computer Science programs ranked by 2007 US News or 1995 US National Research Council. Nevertheless it is a tier I school in the list. I cannot understand why any company would prefer Brigham Young graduate over Caltech, Harvey Mudd, Duke, Harvard or other excellent schools.</p>
<p>What do the different tiers mean?
Do the companies only hire from tier 1 or tier 2? Then why have tier 3 schools?</p>
<p>If I went to a tier 3 school and it looks like I'm a better candidate than a tier 1 candidate, do I get the job or not?</p>
<p>yeah. this list is BS. there is no way caltech and hmc are 3rd tier.</p>