<p>I got into both as a computer science major. </p>
<p>I know that Carnegie Mellon is undoubtedly the better option if I'm going into CS. What I'm worried about is the fact that people at CMU are so overworked and that the social life is nonexistent. The latter fact doesn't bother me much, but I'd still like to be able to go out and enjoy myself even if it's only once a month. I'm also scared that, because I'm not as experienced in CS, I won't be able to maintain a high enough GPA to get into graduate school. I plan on studying a lot over the summer, but I'm not sure it'll be enough compared to people who have been prepared for this their entire lives. </p>
<p>Getting into Columbia was entirely unexpected. What appeals to me about Columbia is the location, the prestige, etc. Columbia isn't that great for what I want to major in, though. Its computer science program falls far behind CMU's. If I were to pick a school regardless of major, however, I would go with Columbia.</p>
<p>When you said Columbia, do you mean the college or SEAS? I am asking as one can do CS in either division of Columbia U. </p>
<p>If you’re admitted to SEAS, the workload doesn’t seem to be much less than CMU from what I observed of HS classmates at both schools, but in the engineering/CS world, CMU carries much more weight for employment and sometimes even grad school placement. </p>
<p>More importantly, it’s much harder nowadays to transfer from SEAS to the College or vice versa than it was 20 years ago when it could be done via filing an administrative form to transfer divisions. Incidentally, this was done to prevent students with strong math backgrounds from using SEAS as an effective backdoor into the college as it was comparatively easier to be admitted to SEAS than the college and I knew many HS classmates who used SEAS as that backdoor back in the '90s. </p>
<p>On the other hand, if you’re not 100% sure you want to do CS and have been admitted to Columbia College within Columbia U, I’d strongly consider doing the latter as Columbia College is strong in many other majors outside CS/STEM whereas CMU’s top strengths are mainly Engineering/CS and in the performing arts.</p>
<p>One other thing to consider is the great differences in campus cultures. CMU has a strong hardcore engineering/CS nerd culture and the prevailing idea is that the vast majority plan on doing engineering/CS for career/grad school purposes.</p>
<p>While the same could be said for some Columbia CS majors in both SEAS and the College, it’s nowhere near as strong there.</p>
<p>There’s a strong trend for many Columbia folks even in SEAS to pursue non-engineering/CS careers…such as i-banking, organizational business consulting, etc. This even applied with a few classmates at my LAC who did the 3-2 LAC/engineering program with Columbia SEAS.</p>
<p>The reality is that CMU would not have accepted you as a computer science major unless they felt pretty sure you could hack it. Think of how many students they rejected to offer you that place!</p>
<p>Not only that, my impression from hearing about my HS classmates’ experiences at CMU and Columbia SEAS/college is that the undergraduate teaching/faculty attention is better at CMU than it is at Columbia. Granted, my information is nearly a decade old so things may have changed. </p>
<p>Also, the workload/difficulty isn’t enough of a factor to opt for Columbia…both institutions’ CS departments have high workloads. </p>
<p>I’d factor my decision on the following:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Hardcore CS/CS only vs desiring more flexibility/double majors in a non-engineering/CS field(Applies only if you’re admitted to the college, not SEAS).</p></li>
<li><p>Campus culture differences. Hardcore engineering/CS nerd culture vs a more comprehensive culture with a tilt towards Wall Street/ibanking, corporate business, organizational management consulting, etc. </p></li>
<li><p>Financial factors. Did Columbia give more money or not.</p></li>
<li><p>If the Columbia division admitted to is the College, will the mandatory extensive Core Curriculum be an issue for you?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>If your true interest is CS, then CMU is hands down better. But of course you know that. And with a CS major from CMU, you might not even bother to get the masters. My son, graduating this year, found it was too time consuming to get the double major CS/Econ, because he is extremely involved in extracurriculars, fraternity, social life, and didn’t want to take an extra year to get it. CS majors at CMU work very hard, it is tough, for sure. So he changed to Econ major/CS minor, got a six figure job as a software engineer lined up after graduation even without the major. The recruiters are lined up to get these kids, but maybe it’s the same at Columbia.</p>
<p>You’re definitely going to find Columbia very different, as you know. Environment, local cost of living, student body. I don’t know if SEAS is different, but when he was looking at the school, we noticed that Columbia has a massive required core.</p>
<p>For engineering/CS recruiters, not to the same degree. Not only is CMU far more respected in engineering/CS, there’s been a serious issue among many Columbia undergrads I’ve met within the last decade…especially the engineering/CS majors that the career office tends to be tilted too heavily towards Wall Street, business consulting, and business corporate recruiting at the expense of engineering/CS firms. </p>
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<p>Columbia College has the famous/infamous massive Core Curriculum. </p>
<p>SEAS also has a core, but it’s not as heavy in humanities/social sciences courses as their college counterpart. More importantly, most HS classmates at SEAS who wanted to be there felt their core meshed much better with their engineering/CS major. </p>
<p>The Core at the college tends to be a major gripe with some Columbia College students in STEM majors…including CS.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the thoughtful responses, everyone </p>
<p>I forgot to mention that I was accepted to SEAS. At this point I’m definitely leaning more towards CMU, but I just don’t want to feel like I’ve missed out on a wonderful experience by not going to an ivy in NYC. However, I also don’t want to feel like I don’t have enough knowledge/experience in CS upon graduation, and I feel like Columbia really falls short compared to CMU.</p>
<p>At this point I think I’m going to go with CMU, but I just want to see if maybe there’s something I missed that would really appeal to me at Columbia.
Are there any great benefits/advantages of majoring in CS at SEAS? Or is CMU positively the way to go?</p>
<p>“What is a typical GPA needed by a Carnegie Mellon undergrad to get into Computer Science grad school at Carnegie Mellon?”</p>
<p>Here’s a followup question. If you have a CS degree from CMU, what would be the purpose of getting a masters degree there in CS also? It will cost at least 60K in tuition alone, plus living costs, and delay your entry into the job market by 1 1/2 years, minimum. In this field, wouldn’t job experience be more helpful? I can see the point if one wanted to teach, or be involved in research, but otherwise, would that be so useful?</p>
<p>My son said from what he’s seen, the average CMU CS grad this year is getting offers of 100K base salary, and top grads are getting up to 140K. Would a masters really help that, or would it merely be a costly proposition? I personally am very much in support of going into a hot job market, and then if you wanted to pick up a masters, let your company pay for it.</p>
<p>Of course, it may influence my attitude that I am very drained by paying for private school for two kids for so many years.</p>
<p>For further career advancement or pursuing a career as a CS researcher/academic. However, for those pursuing the former, the masters is usually done only after spending 2-5+ years working in the field and having the company pay for it. Also, the ones pursuing career advancement, with rare exceptions, will usually stop with an MS as a PhD isn’t usually necessary except for the rare research oriented position. </p>
<p>I don’t know about computer technology companies, but some business organizational consulting outfits like BCG will pay for a full-time professional MBA/MS/JD program at any place one can get into after a 2 year stint as an associate without any further requirements to work for BCG. That’s how an in-law who worked for BCG had her MBA at an HYSM fully paid for.</p>
<p>I can’t say enough good things about CMU. There are required general education requirements, but my son got out of nearly all of them with AP credits. My son worked harder than he ever had in his life and got some B’s, and a C in at least one course where he stupidly slept through the midterm, but there’s time for fun. He shared a house with other students and their dining room table was covered with little miniature figures for war games, Magic Cards and the like. Other kids go to the frats. Everyone - even the alumni - go to Carnival in the spring and many spend weeks working on buggies and booths for it in the weeks leading up to Carnival. CMU almost certainly has a more nerdy culture, but you can escape it if you want. They’ve got top notch art, architecture and drama schools as well as a reasonably sized liberal arts and business population. What it does have is a much larger portion of students who already know what they want to do when they grow up. They’re more focused and because they’ve already discovered what they love they may be a bit more inclined to put the extra hours in. You can’t beat the job network. After 2008 when the economy crashed my son’s planned internship was cancelled. Friends found him a new one within a couple of weeks. You don’t need to get a Masters in CS unless you love research.</p>
<p>PS My son turned down Harvard to go to CMU, hardest decision he ever made in his life, but he never regretted it. He graduated a year and a half ago and is in his dream job now.</p>
<p>Actually, some computer technology companies require a Masters in CS or a related field for further advancement as an engineer/computer programmer. </p>
<p>My computer programmer cousin was required to do so to advance to becoming the senior programmer in change of programming work for himself and 2 dozen programmers on his team. </p>
<p>Also have a friend who is considering grad school after working for a computer technology firm with a household name because there’s a genuine concern that not doing so will place him at a severe disadvantage when it comes to promotions or even being retained by the firm in the near future.</p>
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<p>Mathmom has heard my take before, but this is for the OP,</p>
<p>To most hardcore engineering/CS folks I’ve known, this decision would have been considered a no-brainer. </p>
<p>Harvard’s engineering/CS program…especially in the '90s was considered weaker than Columbia’s. </p>
<p>And Columbia’s CS/engineering doesn’t compare with CMU. </p>
<p>CMU is at the very tippy top with MIT, Caltech, Berkeley, and Stanford for those in the CS/engineering world.</p>
<p>“What I’m worried about is the fact that people at CMU are so overworked and that the social life is nonexistent.”</p>
<p>Well don’t let my son know this. He’s a few years out now, with CS and IS (Information Systems) degrees from CMU, plus a master’s in Information Systems Management. Like busdriver’s son, mine was in a fraternity…lived there 3 years. He’s outgoing, social, had a steady gf at Pitt…suffice it to say he had a very good time at CMU. </p>
<p>The workload…he’s not the type to kill himself or pull all nighters. Like any college the work seemed to come in bunches. He certainly had his periods of being overwhelmed with work, and with the pace. This being a top rated program, however, the students can handle it. </p>
<p>Since graduation my son has worked in Manhattan. Remember, if you decide against Columbia, you can still spend part or all of your post-college career in NYC. When you can actually afford it! I too as a parent can’t say enough good things about CMU. My son worked in finance for a few years at one of the most well known investment banks, then recently switched gears, working in “big data” at a startup. </p>
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