<p>So this is a copy of the thread in Upenn's side...
I got into CMU compsci and upenn engineering.
While i am fairly sure that i will major in computer science, I'm not sure about where. People will say that cmu has one of the best compsci program, but is it really that competitive? I'm thinking that for undergrad it wouldn't really matter to major compsci from cmu or upenn, and if thats the case i'd go to upenn since it is a more prestigeous school and it is harder to get in...</p>
<p>please support or reject my thoughts on this issue.. i only have about 10 days left!</p>
<p>ps. by the way, i'm waitlisted in caltech.. should i go there if i get in? even if i want to major in compsci?</p>
<p>and how many people get into scs and what is the approx yield?</p>
<p>scs is pretty hard to get in, im not sure, but im guessing the acceptance rate to be 20% plus or minus? My brother is currently there, once a 'smart' kid, but now i would say probably below average in his compsci class. he says there're all those geeks that do programing all day and dont really shower.. so i would say it is very competitive...</p>
<p>but for me, i would choose penn over cmu because i think for most aspects, it is better than cmu IMO. the location, campus, feeling etc. +its ivy league and theres a wharton in it.(unless you dont care about prestige)</p>
<p>If you like caltech, definitely go cause its possibly the most prestigious out of the three, but i think it depends greatly what your preferences are.</p>
<p>My S had the exact same choice and ended up picking CMU. Re competitive - I saw that Penn's SEAS had a 26.5% acceptance rate this year. Not exactly easy but...haven't seen CMU SCS's rate for class of 2010 but in previous years has been lower - 20% or less, down as low as 12%. SCS's yield averages about 35%; don't know Penn's. CMU's SCS is tied for first place in US News grad schools with Stanford, MIT, and Berkeley; Penn's CS is around 17th. About 135 students or less are enrolled in CMUs SCS each year a very select group indeed. Its considered at the top in the business and students have great support from the department.</p>
<p>Beyond the numbers - we believed that Penn would give a very good CS education and a wonderful overall college experience. It was very very hard to turn down. But looking at the firms that recruit, it seemed like the vast majority of Penn CS majors went into a finance/business related company. There weren't many of the "silicon valley" type (i.e. fun) companies although Microsoft recruited heavily. At CMU, however, there was a much greater variety of employment. It seems like those trends would also be valid for research and internships. Penn does have the specialty in Digital Media; CMU has the masters program in Entertainment Technology.</p>
<p>Overall don't make the choice on selectivity or prestige - think about what kind of college experience you want and if you have any idea what you want to do with CS. It seems like Penn might give you more variety and opportunity outside of CS; CMU would give you more within CS. If you're really not sure about CS (our S is committed to it), then think about the other factors. Our S felt at home at CMU very comfortable with the campus, students, etc. he did the SBW over SuperBowl Sunday. The two campuses and environs are somewhat different have you had a chance to visit either one?</p>
<p>Re CalTech it is a great accomplishment even to be waitlisted. We visited there last summer and our S rejected it after the tour didnt feel like it was a good fit. The tour guide described the student body as having never met anyone like them before. There was also an issue with housing after freshman year. But its California weather! Also, it looks like the majority of students go on to grad school rather than employment so thats something else to consider. If youre more interested in engineering overall instead of just CS, it could be great choice (I think the CS department is fairly small).</p>
<p>Again, please dont regard selectivity and competitiveness as factors that is not what you will be living and studying every day! Good luck with your decision!</p>
<p>When you are debating schools like these--top tier, selective schools--it really comes down to the subjective stuff rather than acceptance rates and rankings. I'm sure you already know that CS at CMU is highly regarded (and I believe that CMU engineering is ranked well above Penn's Dept), but that's not really what is significant here. You need to visit both schools and compare and contrast.</p>
<p>well it's a choice where you can't go wrong. </p>
<p>Is there any way you can visit, even if for a second time? You don't have much time but for a decision like this it would be worth it.</p>
<p>I went to Penn for 4 years as a grad student and my son just graduated from Carnegie Mellon with a CS degree so I've spent a lot of time both places.</p>
<p>I like Pittsburgh much better than Philadelphia, there I've said it, others would disagree but years later we live an hour from Philly and I STILL don't like it...there are great areas but it's a spread out mess that's my opinion. Love NYC, Boston, DC...and love Pittsburgh. Penn's campus is prettier in a traditional collegiate way, for sure, but the area around Penn to me is still grim, I was there just a week ago. Although Walnut and the area around 40th is greatly improved over the years, it still looks, well, dangerous in West Philly. The areas of Oakland, Shadyside and Squirrel Hill near CMU are much nicer, plus there's Pitt so lots of students. </p>
<p>Much more importantly---make no mistake CS at CMU IS something special. You'll be pushed to your limit. If you enter in CS the odds are overwhelming you'll graduate with CS, and probably another major or at least a minor. My S was able to graduate in 5 years with CS plus another major plus a masters in that other major (information systems) so there's plenty of chances for interdisciplinary work, it's encouraged. The depth and breadth of coursework/research/job opportunities puts CMU in a small select group including UCB, MIT, Stanford, that's it. Still Penn is a tough school to reject, it's prestigious, ivy, all that....you'd get a great education and experience but the experience in CS is amazing at CMU.</p>
<p>I was totally questioning stats too (I was choosing between Berkeley and Carnegie.. before Berkeley was like we're only giving you 600 because we hate you!)</p>
<p>Each class/grade is approximately 130 people (30 of those are girls... and in the end apparently half of the girls drop out)
the percent accepted is always around 16%. about half of those actually enroll. (an admissions officer told me, so that's definitely right)</p>
<p>CMU is like KNOWN for comp sci. I told this girl I'm going to go to CMU and she's like "Oh.....that's cool!" in a sort of whatever way. And when she asked what major and I was like CS, she went "OH! OMG, congrats!! Wow...."
I'd say go to CMU if you're SURE you want to do CS. The people who are hiring you and know what's what with CS will definitely see going to SCS as more prestigious than CS at UPenn. But I heard it's like impossible to switch colleges. (not sure about that)</p>
<p>And Nerj, how smart was your brother? Like first in his class in high school? Because.. I'm uber scared of going to SCS and people being like.. God, this girl doesn't know the Big O Theory? She's SO DUMB >_<</p>
<p>If you're planning to major in CS, there's basically no comparison...CMU dominates CS.</p>
<p>It's actually not impossible to transfer between colleges here, unless you're trying to transfer into Tepper (everyone tries that; mostly, it doesn't work).</p>
<p>And contrary to popular belief, CS majors here are mostly normal, well-adjusted people who do in fact shower. Yes, at times, the workload is demanding and may require you to stay inside and work when it's really nice outside, but what other major that's worth anything won't occasionally require that?</p>
<p>I am just worring about whether SCS is overrated... The workload is no problem since I'm currently attending a prestigious private school.. probably with more workload than many colleges..</p>
<p>Anyways... I would like to ask more questions if I'm not bothering you guys too much...
I understand that the program is great, but then why only 35% yield? What is so special about this program??</p>
<p>Another question is... when I read some infos about where SCS graduates went VS upenn compsci graduates went, most of the SCS graduates went as a developer for a company and upenn graduates went as an analyst or manager... (it feels wrong to ask this but) which pays more and which has a greater potential to move up the ladder?</p>
<p>THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR your help!! I REALLY REALLY appreciate it!</p>
<p>If you truly enjoy CS, then you should go to CMU. They have so many courses to take and have a much more rigorous curriculum than computer science programs at most other places, including upenn IMO.</p>
<p>hellohereiam, you'd probably get more money as an analyst or manager. However, I'm 100% sure I'd enjoy being a developer over a financial analyst any day. Really you should do CS more for enjoyment rather than in hope of gaining lots of money, but maybe I'm too naive.</p>
<p>NotAPrettygirl: um.. im not really sure how to classify how smart my brother is.... definitely not first in his high school.. his graduating class has about 70 or so ppl i think, so maybe hes in the top 15% percent (im just guessing here, but definitely top 20%). Anyways, if you know of the IB, he got 39/42 +2bonus pts giving 41/45. So i guess more or less an A average student. Definitely not a genius but always consider the 'smart' bunch i guess. He got in off the waitlist, so maybe that might explain a lil?</p>
<p>SCS is definitely one of the top two, if not the top, CS departments in the country. Honestly, there's no reason to have any worry about SCS being overrated. About your concern about developer vs. analyst/manager, what's to stop you from taking business courses here, starting out as a developer, then moving up into being a manager? It's common in the corporate world. Or you could even try double majoring in business/CS.</p>
<p>Haha, thanks for answering, Nerj.. I don't know what the IB is, just the SATs and APs.. I guess if he got in off the waitlist, I might be okay..</p>
<p>Worst case scenario's that I'll have to accept that I'm going to be below average. I won't really find out until I start taking classes, lol, so hopefully everything will turn out alright..</p>
<p>
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I am just worring about whether SCS is overrated... The workload is no problem since I'm currently attending a prestigious private school.. probably with more workload than many colleges..
[/quote]
HAHAHA! I'd like to see you take 212, 213, 251 at the same time and then say that your high school's workload was worse. Or, say, 15-410 with anything else. Trust me, you'll definitely have more work here as a CS major than you did in high school if you're the type of person who's actually seeking an academic challenge.</p>
<p>SCS is definitely not overrated, and you most likely won't be at the top of the class if you come here. People seem to expect that when they get started until they realize how absurdly smart/talented some of the people here are, the international students in particular.</p>
<p>If you're serious about CS, you probably shouldn't go to Penn. I lived in Philadelphia before I came to CMU and could have gotten into Penn pretty easily based on the contacts I had with the school. However, I ended up choosing not to even apply to Penn and then turning down Caltech to go to SCS. I got the impression (over the years) that Penn was overrated in pretty much everything except business. But I would really classify myself as someone who's really focused on CS and engineering, so it might be different for kids who don't really know what they're interested in yet.</p>
<p>As for Caltech vs. Penn... my friend was in a similar situation last year. He turned down a full scholarship to Penn (M&T) to go to Caltech on a partial ride with loans. Again, he was really serious about science, so it made sense. But if you're unsure about entering a technical field, you might want to go with Penn.</p>