<p>CS program at CMU is amazing. The faculty, the facilities and the student body is great. Top companies recruit at CMU and most students have multiple job offers. This year MS made 56 job offers at CMU. Some undergraduate students of CS program have job offers of $120K.
The financial aid package that CMU offers is competitive and you can appeal the aid package if you have a better offer from other comparable schools. Most of the classes are small and many students double and even triple major. There are lots of research opportunities. I would recommend CS program at CMU to any potential student.</p>
<p>how hard are admissions into SCS? Will i have a decent shot with 4.0 GPA, high school java experience, and 800 SATI math (2200 overall), or are they looking more for math/science related EC's (I have many EC's, just not many academic ones)? I'm hoping it won't hurt too much that im not a USAMO participant or anything when i apply next fall.</p>
<p>If anybody has any suggestions as to what I could do this summer to raise my stock i would love to hear your ideas. I applied to the CMU AP/EA diversity summer program, but it is a pretty big reach that i will be admitted since i am a white male. So, in case i don't get in, what are some other computer related activites that would be fun and beneficial to do in my free time? Thanks for all the info!</p>
<p>bco09, admissions isn't easy at SMC, but I'd say you have a decent shot. Certainly worth applying. My son had only two school ECs - Academic Team and Science Olympiad. (Some state level medals at the latter.) I think the most helpful thing for his application was that he spent quite a bit of time both after school and during the summers doing freelance computer programming - and had a couple of recommendations to back up his accomplishments there. He'd also done some free programming for research scientists (writing programs to model dispersion from a pipette in one case, and analysing chemicals in another.) </p>
<p>Possible worthwhile summer activities for you that you would enjoy and might also beef up the resume: research science work, computer programming for a software company, working at a computer camp, volunteering to help at a computer lab at a senior center, creating some sort of website/web business on your own.</p>
<p>CMU and SCS want to know two things: can you handle the level of work, and will you take advantage of the unique opportunities at CMU? The first question is answered mainly by the numbers (grades, test scores, level of classes taken), and the second by choice of classes and EC's. Recommendations can also help answer both questions. The school doesn't even necessarily ask anymore that you have a background specifically in Comp Sci if the other factors are strong; they now have starting classes for freshman with no CS background. SCS likes to see the highest numbers in math and maybe science. My son had great numbers, was on the math team and computer club, and did short summer programs in Comp Sci for several years (plus some non-CS work experience). He did not have outside programming experience, leadership roles, or recent state/national awards.</p>
<p>So I would recommend an activity that shows some initiative in your desired field, such as those mathmom suggests; also maybe self-study or taking a class at a local college over the summer.</p>
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In my opinion, nothing compares to Carnegie Mellon's CS program or its possibilities (such as being Microsoft's main feeder) other than MIT or perhaps a free ride to Stanford.
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<p>If you imply that MIT and CMU are better than Stanford in computer scienceS, then I would say you don't know much about computer science.</p>
<p>In the kindom of computer science, Stanford is the king. Stanford has created more Turing award winners (18 ties to Turing award), more number of famous IT companies (HP, Yahoo, google, and SUN), and more world changing IT inventions. MIT and CMU would compete the #2 spot in CS, along with Berkeley.</p>
<p>We've got Lycos. And emoticons!</p>
<p>CMU CS (not a large school) has 10 ties to Turing so it's not a blowout. </p>
<p>Don't worry, everyone (just about) knows Stanford is, well, Stanford, tops in so many areas besides CS. Also has the good fortune of residing in Silicon Valley (or perhaps SV is there because that's where Stanford resides??--don't know). But CMU is generally mentioned in the same league for CS which says a lot about CMU's program.</p>
<p>Do most undergrads from the SCS take jobs upon graduation or go on to grad school? Is it necessary to immediately go on to grad school?</p>
<p>School of Computer Science's Post Graduation Survey: <a href="http://www.studentaffairs.cmu.edu/career/employ/salary/scs.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.studentaffairs.cmu.edu/career/employ/salary/scs.pdf</a></p>
<p>Well if I get in CMU I'll be doing Physics at MCS...Which is pretty good...But the gold star in its cap is definitely the computer science prgramme. As good as Stanford or MIT? Well simply put you cant compare. Its not just one school or programme that makes those 2 stand out. Everything they have really is outstanding I believe but rest assured going to CMU CSC is a fantastic way to finding a career in computer science...No doubt about it. </p>
<p>As for the Cornell Eng vs. CMU CS comparison...Cornell has a lot of great schools yes that are comparable. But in terms of prestiege yes you could vaguely compare those 2...Cornell's Engineering Physics is an absolutely fantastic programme...EP is ranked better than any other in the country. Better than Applied Physics at several "more prestigious schools" and yes CSC @ CMU is again ranked better than several "more prestiegous" places...</p>
<p>Stop worrying about how good it is when you are talking about top schools. At this level you YOURSELF can make the difference of a slightly better or worse programme simply by making more or less of the opportunity that you have. Getting into college is one thing, but at the end of the 4 years a good chunk of how good you will be is down to how you work for it</p>