<p>From the impression I have of the two schools, it seems to me that while UIUC is very good for computer science, CMU seems to usually be considered a notch above it. (and perhaps the same general idea seems to hold for academics outside of CS). Right now I'm in UIUC and on the waiting list at CMU (for SCS). As far as academics go, if I get in to CMU, would it definitely be the better choice?</p>
<p>If there are no financial issues, CMU would be the best choice.</p>
<p>There really aren’t many material differences between the two. Yes, CMU is often touted as the #1 CS school (along with a few others), but UIUC dominates in CS too. It also really depends on what you’re interested in within CS–are you more into software engineering? AI? Systems? Theory? Each has its own strengths. CMU, though, has an entire School of Computer Science, but that doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily better. UIUC is an extremely well-respected CS school, and its undergrads often go into top CS PhD programs elsewhere.</p>
<p>Another thing to consider is that since CMU has more people in CS, there’s more of a “culture” of CS. Do you want to immerse yourself in that culture?</p>
<p>Finally, finances should be important here. If CMU will be much more expensive (likely, given that it’s private and it doesn’t have the best financial aid), I’d definitely recommend that you take UIUC. The difference in quality of CS is negligible at best, or surely not enough to make you go into debt for CMU. </p>
<p>here are some rankings to compare:</p>
<p><a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/computer-science-rankings[/url]”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/computer-science-rankings</a>
<a href=“NRC Rankings Overview: Computer Sciences”>http://chronicle.com/article/NRC-Rankings-Overview-/124721/</a></p>
<p>Notice that UIUC is very close behind CMU in both, though take the NRC ranking with a grain of salt, as some of the schools (namely, UW) have complained about there being incorrect data used to do the ranking. Either way, UIUC does extremely well.</p>
<p>(edit: by the way, I’m finishing at Stanford CS now and starting a CS PhD program in a few months)</p>
<p>All aid and expenses considered (including things like travel) CMU will actually likely be the less expensive option, and at worst it’ll be about the same as UIUC. (I don’t live in Illinois).</p>
<p>Does CMU really have more people in CS? I thought they were about even. UIUC has 896 cs undergrads (from a pamphlet I got when visiting), and according to a CMU freshmen I just asked, they have “like 700” in SCS. At any rate I think I’d definitely prefer to have a CS culture, if it is indeed different at CMU than it would be at UIUC.</p>
<p>I’m familiar with the USNWR rankings (a little too familiar, I think), and while UIUC isn’t too far behind, it is scored at 4.6, whereas CMU and friends are all 5.0s, which would seem like USNWR thinks there’s a somewhat significant difference. Also, if you look into the specialty rankings USNWR has, UIUC starts to fall more noticeably behind CMU. Though there’s also a “computer college” ranking where UIUC is tied for third with Stanford, right behind CMU. But anyway, I was looking more for people’s opinions or other information than just rankings.</p>
<p>I don’t know too much about specialties at this point. I’m somewhat partial to compilers/programming languages (which I thought UIUC would be good for because of LLVM, but USNWR seems to disagree), and Blue Waters also seems pretty exciting, but I don’t think I’ve had enough exposure to the different subfields to really make a decision. So I guess as far as that goes I’d be looking for the most well-rounded school (well-rounded from a cs perspective) that would give me the opportunity to explore all the different aspects of cs to help me find my niche.</p>
<p>CMU is excellent in Computer Science. But so is UIUC. I would argue to go by cost and fit. Whatever you like best, go there. Because you can’t go wrong with either. Best of luck!</p>
<p>By “more people,” I mean not just undergrads, but grad students, professors, postdocs, researchers, etc. They all contribute to the “culture.” I’d also argue that since CMU is known to be one of the “rulers” of CS and since CMU is private, it tends to have higher-quality CS undergrads, whereas UIUC, which also has really great undergrads, has a high # simply because it has a very large student body. Make no mistake, UIUC has plenty of CS students who are the same caliber as those at CMU; I’m just saying that UIUC probably has a much higher number because it has roughly 6x more undergrads. In that sense, it’s much more concentrated at CMU, hence a more CS-concentrated culture in general.</p>
<p>Since the costs are the same, I’d say to go with fit. Assuming you get off the waitlist, you should visit and decide which one is better for you. It seems that you like CMU more, so if you do get off the waitlist, by all means go there.</p>
<p>Also, the specialty rankings for CS from US News are a bit off in many fields, so I wouldn’t rely on them there. For the overall ranking, CMU is sometimes 4.9 and falls below the others at #1, so there’s really not much of a difference between CMU and UIUC for CS (even if CMU was a perfect 5.0). I haven’t looked into every specialty at each, but considering that CMU has several subdivisions in CS and does well in all of them, it’d be a good choice if you aren’t sure what you want to focus in. Even then though, I’m sure that UIUC would be great for whatever you want to choose. Both are excellent schools, so basically, one isn’t “definitely the better choice” (as you’d asked in the OP).</p>