Female from east coast. Thinking about studying CS/math right now, but I’m interested in exploring more STEM fields as well.
Brown seems a lot more like the traditional college experience than the other two, which I like, but Caltech/CMU SCS is stronger and have a better reputation for what I want to study. I’ve talked to some adults, and one feedback I keep hearing is that Brown has a more liberal arts rather than STEM vibe and isn’t as rigorous…?
CMU is really strong in CS, but the colleges seem segregated and I’m not sure about the strength of its other departments. Caltech is obvioulsy very good in STEM and has a great reputation, but the small size and intense workload scares me a bit. Plus, I feel like it might not have as many activities on campus? I was also considering Berkeley and Northwestern but probably will not go to these two over the three other choices.
I’m leaning more towards working in the industry than academia later in life, and I was also thinking about getting some sort of business background. One option I’m entertaining right now is to go to Caltech for a strong STEM foundation, and then go to a good MBA school afterwards. I have no idea if that is a good path though - thoughts?
I’ll be visiting them for the admitted student weekends later, but there isn’t much time to decide after the visits. I’m very new to this whole process and any suggestion is appreciated. Thanks!
@kimfuge That’s very interesting, thanks for the information! I will actually be visiting Northwestern next week so I’ll keep those points in mind. Also I didn’t know president of SpaceX was a graduate of Northwestern - SpaceX is definitely a company that I’m interested in working for and I considered Caltech’s proximity to it a point in Caltech’s favor. Thanks for the very informative post!
@stswtbk That’s great to hear! One final point I’ll make on behalf of NU is that I think the biggest strength of NU over some of your other great choices is the pure breadth of talent across so many diverse fields at the school. If you’re open to meeting people who are crazy about theater, journalism, economics, social policy and not just STEM, NU would be a great choice.
I have friends at Caltech right now, and they are having an amazing time. I think the small community makes it a much much better place. People arrange lots of activities to do and you’ll definitely make some great connections with some very very smart people.
Additionally, I think your idea of going to Caltech and then an MBA is a pretty solid idea. At Caltech, you’ll get a better understanding of STEM as a whole, while at CMU you will just be inundated by CS. If you are concerned about workload, I would say the CMU CS program is much worse than Caltech. At Caltech, you are at least able to have the support of people around you. However, at CMU, it is much more competitive and isolated because its a bigger school and everyone has basically the same goals. Additionally, CMU just straight up has more work. Additionally, at Caltech, you will interact with people with more varied interest across different STEM fields. At CMU, you will basically be meeting the same types of CS people who just want to get a Software engineering job.
reading your comments, I am not sure what I can say. Ignorant is the only word came up in my mind. I hope people would be smart enough to discard your comments. gee!
of the 3 schools, the easiest is Brown. It has an average GPA of 3.67 school wide (2/3 As). So if you want to go to a school that isn’t very stressful, then I would go to brown.
I would go to Caltech if you want to have good weather, be close to silicon valley, and be part of a small community. Caltech I believe have less than 1000 students. Also, Caltech have a very strong research community, so if you are into research, perhaps Caltech is the way to go.
I would go to CMU if you are very into CS and don’t care about stress. CMU has a much bigger CS department than Caltech. In fact, it is a whole school! The amount of courses you can take at CMU is probably significantly higher than Caltech. If you want to just get a software engineering job, then CMU is definitely your go to school. I know a bunch of people here at CMU who turned down Caltech. But CS at CMU is pretty hard, where as Caltech, it isn’t that bad. I heard a lot of the engineers in Caltech double major in CS because it is one of the easier double majors. Also, the previous poster who said you meet the same type of CS people at CMU is just straight up wrong. CMU has about 160 CS incoming class while Caltech has like what? 20 something? No, there is definitely a lot varied interest. In fact, CMU isn’t strictly a technical school. They have a very good business school and very good drama school. So, in terms of diversity, CMU definitely beats Caltech, but it is a bigger school. While CMU CS may be more stressful than Caltech, Caltech across majors is probably as stressful if not more than CMU. Lastly not least, CMU has like 50:50 male to female, while Caltech has like 70:30. So that is another thing to keep in mind.
But really, these 3 schools are fantastic schools. You really can’t go too wrong with any. You won’t have too much difficulty finding jobs after graduation from any of these schools.
@chessplayer101
how is it not debatable? He wants to go into industry, CMU seems like a no-brainer. CMU produce more software engineers for facebook than any other school.
As a recently admitted engineering student from CMU and having visited all these while making my decisions. I would definitely suggest CMU. CMU also allows lots of undergraduate research. #1 CS program and a really fun place from what I can tell. Brown isn’t as technology focused as the other two but has strong traditional science. As for cal, it’s tiny and intense. I know a nobel prize winner for material science who said he wouldn’t wish their undergrad program on his worst enemy. It’s extremely intense (unless you’re into that).
Okay, other notes, I’ve heard from professors that work at Umass (near my home and where my parents work) that Caltech is amazing for grad school. I also want to note that CMU totally doesn’t seem segregated to me, despite it’s intensity as a school, it seems like an incredibly fun place to learn and pittsburgh is surprisingly nice. Obviously these are just my opinions, sorry if it seems like I’m pushing my own uni too hard
Let’s be honest. Both Caltech and CMU are great for CS. Both are insanely hard schools.
You can probably get just as good of a learning experience from Brown but not at the cost of a low GPA. This is important for Grad school. Not sure if this alone holds that much weight anymore, but Brown is an Ivy league school.
I would narrow it down to Caltech and Brown, and decide what kind of learning experience you want from there.
@AimingTop50
i love how you just eliminated CMU without justification. He also said he want to go to industry so going to brown probably isn’t a great choice.
IMO, industry, CMU is a no brainer. Unless you want bragging rights, then go to Caltech. Go to Brown only if you want an easy life.
Caltech is undeniably more prestigious than CMU and would likely provide OP with more connections to industry. There are so many CS majors at CMU. It would be harder at CMU to get the job you want, I bet. Lots of people competing for the spots.
@AimingTop50 I think perhaps you are a little underinformed about CMU’s SCS program. There are only about 150 CS majors per year in the College of Computer Science at CMU. I believe there are about 300 faculty members in CMU’s College of Computer Science. (Caltech has ~25 CS faculty.)
My son is deciding between Caltech and CMU SCS. He will probably decide Caltech, because he is leaning toward getting a physics degree and CS as a 2nd major or minor. However, if he knew at this point that he wanted only a CS degree, he would probably choose CMU. (Though I think that Caltech’s House system and other social aspects make it a better fit for him socially.)
@stswtbk We are from the West Coast, so don’t know much about East Coast colleges. I’ve never heard of Brown as being highly ranked for CS (or physics). (My son didn’t apply there, though he did apply to some Ivys that are better known for physics.) Did you attend PFW at Caltech, and if so what did you think about the social aspects?
@AimingTop50
I agree, Caltech is undeniable more prestigious than CMU. That is because Caltech is good at other things. Like I said, if you want prestige and bragging rights, go to Caltech. However, CMU CS program is better than Caltech by far. There are just so many more faculties and department. In industry, people definitely weighs CMU higher than Caltech. However, you wouldn’t have issues finding jobs coming from either of those schools. Also, jobs at companies aren’t like reserved for certain schools… Coming from Caltech, you will be competing for the same spots against CMU.
Keep in mind that Caltech is a very research-oriented school. If you were into research, I probably recommend Caltech. Since you are not, you might be surrounded by people with different interest than you.
Also, CMU has a very good business school. So if you want to go into Business, I would pick CMU.
@AimingTop50 The original poster is FEMALE. from the east coast. Being female at Caltech is very tough though. But depends on her will to do mathematics. Analysis is a big part of the requirements at Caltech, as their calculus classes are more advanced than other schools including MIT. The core at Caltech is a science core. I do not think even CMU SCS requires as much chemistry, physics as Caltech does for any major. I agree though that CMU is well connected to Wall Street if OP is interested in that path. A good physics student can always get a quant job from Caltech or MIT though. I tend to think Northwestern is balanced between liberal arts and engineering/CS sciences. Its still rigorous but not stay up all night for a month rigorous to get a C as Caltech might be.
