<p>Ive got into Carnegie mellon and waterloo.
I know the comparison may sound wrong :P but heres the thing
I wanna major in computer science, and ive got in waterloo with compsc.
I got into the second course i applied for in carnegie: Information systems.
which should i choose (bearing everything including cost in mind)?</p>
<p>
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I know the comparison may sound wrong :P
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</p>
<p>Why?</p>
<p>Waterloo is a world-class university and known as one of the great math/science/eng. universities in the world. Besides, Waterloo is the home of Maple, one of the most widely-used symbolic math language softwares in the world. The school is well respected.</p>
<p>Of course, CMU is one of the powerhouses for CS. It ranks right with CS giants like MIT Berkeley Stanford.</p>
<p>So, they are very much comparable. Good luck with your decision</p>
<p>ok i take it back...
how similar is information systems to computer science? Its in a completely different school... humanities and social sciences...</p>
<p>Ask the people at CMU to explain the difference. If the difference is substantial, and you would prefer CS, how hard is it to transfer within CMU? Again, ask the CMU directly, they will give you the official answer. Then try to find some students in IS and see how they perceive the difference.</p>
<p>Is there a financial difference between the Waterloo and CMU opportunities?</p>
<p>It's a little simplistic, but not too far off. CS in concerned with algorithms and technical software software (operating systems, compilers, networks, embedded software, robotics etc.) development. IS is concerned with solving problems, often business problems, through computer systems.</p>
<p>Both deal with programming (at least in the beginning of your career), but I tend to think of CS as solving deep problems and IS as solving broad ones.</p>
<p>Oh, and the last I checked, IS graduates from CMU have slightly higher starting salaries than CS graduates from CMU. Go figure.</p>