<p>Hi!</p>
<p>I am currently having trouble deciding which one would be better to pursue a CS undergraduate degree. I am interested in whether Tufts or Macalester would more easily get me into an ivy grad school for computer science.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot!
Alan.</p>
<p>I have a friend who studied CS at Macalester who wound up taking a lot of CS classes at Minnesota, but I think it was after he graduated from Macalester (he did some weird thing and managed to transfer a lot of his credits and get a second degree…).
I know he said the CS department there was very small. He’s here at Stanford for grad school, though.</p>
<p>The CS department at Tufts is fairly large and growing. I think most people who graduate go straight into the work force (as is the case for many CS grads around the country), but I have friends who did well for grad school placement as well.</p>
<p>ensalada, I’d suggest you contact both departments and ask about the number of current undergrad students in the major, and about placements after graduation. You should also ask about research opportunities during undergrad, and internship placements during summers–or even during the school year.</p>
<p>I am a Tufts EE alum with a masters in Computer Engineering from a state flagship. I spent many years recruiting and managing computer engineers. </p>
<p>Over the years, the computer science program has become one of the strongest at Tufts. It is very innovative in its approach and manages to attract and retain a high percentage of women which is unusual. Despite its relatively small size, it is competitive with departments in large research universities, even in research centric rankings. If you are female, or a male interested in an environment that has a reasonable gender mix, then the program rises to the very top along side HebrewHammers current place of study. If you like the feel of Tufts, then I would definitely recommend this program over Macalasters. </p>
<p>Minnesota was the heart of the supercomputing segment many years ago (Cray et. al.), so the super computing program at U Minn is well respected, but the supercomputer segment has undergone a major technology shift and the majority of the action is on the east and west coasts right now. </p>
<p>You can modify the priorities in the ranking system below (which is one reason why I like it) and see how UMinn fares relative to Tufts. </p>
<p>Feel free to ask more questions</p>
<p>[Interest</a> in computer science rising at Tufts - Tufts Daily - Tufts University](<a href=“http://www.tuftsdaily.com/interest-in-computer-science-rising-at-tufts-1.2730869?pagereq=1]Interest”>http://www.tuftsdaily.com/interest-in-computer-science-rising-at-tufts-1.2730869?pagereq=1)</p>
<p>[Ranking</a> of Computer Sciences Graduate Schools — PhDs.org Graduate School Guide](<a href=“http://graduate-school.phds.org/rankings/computer-science/rank/women]Ranking”>http://graduate-school.phds.org/rankings/computer-science/rank/women)</p>
<p>True! I was <em>shocked</em> when I heard how strong the CS program is, what the graduates go on to do, where they do on to work. And, it’s amongst the most interdisciplinary CS programs you’ll find, with actively cultivated opportunities that cross into human factors and psych; bioinformatics; artificial intelligence… And faculty who will encourage you to double major, if that’s what you want, in fields like English and Drama. It’s pretty awesome.</p>
<p>Why would you want to go to an Ivy grad school for CS? Most of the best grad programs are not at Ivies.</p>
<p>I think if you’ve chosen not to to to one of the CS powerhouses as an undergrad, and there are lots of good reasons to make that choice, there’s not that much to choose between Tufts and Macalaster academically overall, but lots in terms of location, size and possibly the number of offering in CS due to the size differences. My son looked at the Macalaster campus from Google maps and pronounced it too small to consider!</p>
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<p>Absolutely true, though “high percentage” is a relative term. And not just women–the department takes great pride in making non-CS students fall in love with the field. </p>
<p>When CS major D1 compares notes with friends at powerhouse CS schools, she finds that she’s getting the same curriculum at Tufts.</p>
<p>I also want to echo what Dan just pointed out regarding the interdisciplinary nature of CS at Tufts. As an ME I didn’t need to take any CS classes but opted to take three out of my own interest - Data Structures (pretty standard), Game Development, and Artificial Agents and Autonomy.</p>
<p>I think Game Development is still a regularly taught class and the professor is very enthusiastic. When I took it it was split between CS-oriented types (enrolled in Comp 50) and those who had less experience (enrolled in Comp 10). We were split up into groups of four with two people from each category - I wound up making a game with a computer engineer, a math major, and a student from the School at the Museum of Fine Arts (their degrees are granted through Tufts). It was really cool to have such a diverse group working on a project and we definitely produced a better game because of it.</p>
<p>Artificial Agents and Autonomy was a special topics class co-taught by Matthias Scheutz, a professor in CS specializing in human-computer interaction with PhD’s in CS and Philosophy, and Dan Dennett, a world-renowned philosopher from the philosophy department. The class was split somewhat evenly between CS students and philosophy students and between undergrads and grad students. It turned out to be one of the more interesting classes I took at Tufts and it was a really cool environment to be in.</p>
<p>I know next to nothing about Macalester, and not much about comp-sci at Tufts, but here are a few thoughts:</p>
<p>Are you entirely sure that four years from now, you’re going to want a comp-sci masters or PhD from a top school? </p>
<p>Are you entirely sure that you want to do comp-sci, and not computer engineering? </p>
<p>What exactly do you want to do with your comp sci degree(s)?</p>
<p>Where do you want to live when you graduate?</p>
<p>I know this is an old thread, but I want to throw in my few cents about the Tufts CS program in case other people stumble across it. The computer science program has grown enormously over the past few years, and now (anecdotally) seems to be one of the 5-10 most popular majors. The main reasons I’ve heard:</p>
<ol>
<li>Great job opportunities and grad school placements. Google, Microsoft, Palantir, LinkedIn, Stanford, MIT, University of Michigan have all taken large numbers of graduates in the last year or two. </li>
<li>Exciting intro classes that get students hooked, namely when Professor Sheldon or Professor Hescott (who all comp sci students would call Mark and Ben) are teaching.</li>
<li>Close relationships with professors - again, it’s a first name basis kind of program.</li>
<li>It compliments other interests. I know a lot of students who pair it with Engineering, Economics, Math, International Relations, and even some of the humanities (good friend was English/Comp Sci). </li>
</ol>
<p>Additionally, the comp sci/electrical engineering building (Halligan) was renovated over the summer and I’ve heard nothing but STELLAR reviews. Go check it out!</p>