<p>Which do you guys think has a better computer science program that will get me into a top CS grad school (or job, should I somehow change my plans and decide to not attend grad school). I know that conventionally Cornell has a "better" engineering program than Columbia, but there's something very appealing by Columbia's smaller size and its integration with NYC with engineering projects. Also, what are the research/internship opportunities like for undergrads in CS?</p>
<p>I do not really mind giving up Columbia's Core for Cornell; I am satisfied with what Cornell offers in terms of liberal arts in my first two years. I am wondering where I can find a better CS/engineering program and overall college experience.</p>
<p>Sorry if this has been discussed before, but I can't seem to find a whole thread dedicated to this subject.</p>
<p>You can’t go wrong in either place, but I would think that for somebody who is seriously interested in pursuing a PhD in computer science, Cornell would offer you more exposure to top professors and research opportunities.</p>
<p>Cornell also has a fantastic co-op program that places students in one-of-a-kind positions:</p>
<p>I’m in Engineering, but I have a feeling I might hang out with those Arts kids that focus on math because I’m heavily leaning towards a Math minor. Is this possible at Cornell without doing some summer sessions? Columbia doesn’t offer a Math minor but has an Applied Math one, but the course load for CS major/AM minor at Columbia seems like it would require a summer session or two.</p>
<p>Also, are the classes generally larger at Cornell, even for upper div? One of Columbia’s biggest draws for me is that their class sizes seem incredibly small and it would seem that your professors would know you better there. Am I under a wrong impression? </p>
<p>Minors in Cornell are fairly easy to fulfill and people that I know of could do it with ease without taking summer session since the engineering curriculum (for all majors) requires a few advance technical outside major electives (the name would be different for different majors) which people could use their minor courses for. </p>
<p>In deciding which to pick I would suggest looking at the CS curriculum for both Cornell and Columbia. Cornell CS curriculum was recently revamped which I believe offer greater flexibility and allows one to specialize in a major CS discipline of their interest. </p>
<p>Classes do get smaller in upper-level classes since though Cornell has a sizeable CS population per year (about 100) with all the different discipline one could go into and take based on their interest, the classes do get fairly small.</p>
<p>Yeah, I’ve taken a look at what both schools offer in terms of curricula and I’m pretty sure that I’ll be doing the Cornell “Software Engineering/Code Warrior” Vector which is akin to Columbia’s “Applications” track. I actually like Columbia’s track a little bit better because it seems to focus on team projects more, but Cornell offers much more freedom in terms of choosing courses within CS and outside of the CS department.</p>
<p>Can anyone comment on how each department is perceived by grad schools/employers? What about the general school environments themselves?</p>
<p>Read these articles and you’ll have your answer. Cornell is at the forefront of Computer Research and you’ll have an opportunity to learn from and work with the most brilliant computer scientists in their field. I’m trying to transfer to Cornell from Amherst for that very reason. Wish me luck!</p>
<p>Haha I think what the classes are like aren’t immediately clear from the course name. For the Software Engineering vector, the Software Engineering class is a project class where you would work with a group and work for a client for the whole semester. Definitely a very hands on class that is relevant if you intent to work in a tech company in the future. Another thing that isn’t clear that the CS department is that most professors have mini CS projects that you could work on (mostly interesting programs that they have it open source on their website) and count as CS independent research.</p>
<p>I’m not too familiar with grad school admission for CS grads since I don’t intend on going into it I don’t have too much information about it. However, the employment for CS majors are excellent! All the major tech companies recruit on campus and come to the career fair. We have a very good placement into GOOG,AMZN,MSFT,ORCL,CSCO etc. If you’re interested in doing programming for finance companies, all the big banks (and some hedge funds) actively recruits on campus.</p>