<p>Hi</p>
<p>I am planning to major in Computer Science and need help on deciding which college would be the best . . I have been accepted into the following:</p>
<p>Georgia Tech
University of Wisconsin Madison
University of Washington, Seattle
Texas A and M University
Purdue University</p>
<p>University of Waterloo
University of British Columbia
McGill University</p>
<p>All views and help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!</p>
<p>Those seem to be different types of schools. First of all, how is your COA and scholarship/aid at each school. Will it cost more to attend one than another? Do you care about weather? aTm will have very different weather than British Columbia. What about atmosphere of the school?? From what I have read Georgia Tech is pretty cut-throat and highly academic. aTm is much, much more laid back. What do you want??</p>
<p>Make note of whether you are accepted in the major and, if not, how hard it will be to declare the major once you are there. University of Washington computer science is reportedly very difficult to get into the major if you are not directly admitted to the major.</p>
<p>Your net cost of attendance is likely to be a big factor; if you are Canadian, the universities in Canada are likely to be much less expensive.</p>
<p>Purdue is very good for engineering…did you get good Financial Aid there? McGill, GA Tech and A & M are also great. You have a lot of good choices, and like ucbalumnus says, your decision probably and ultimately comes down to Financial Aid.</p>
<p>I agree with choirfarm, except that Texas A&M CS is nowhere near “laid back”. In many years of looking at applications to CS graduate degrees, I would add 0.5 to the GPA of A&M CS graduates to get a reasonable comparison to other applicants.</p>
<p>thanks for your replies . . </p>
<p>the COA in each of the school’s is about the same . . around $40k to $45k a year. . .</p>
<p>i don’t mind the weather too much . .i have heard seattle has a pretty gloomy weather though (but as i said i dont mind it) . . .</p>
<p>atmosphere should be somewhere in between laid back and too cut-throat . . i mean it shouldn’t become impossible to graduate in 4 years! :)</p>
<p>in texas a and m, washington the major hasn’t been assigned . .</p>
<p>in mcgill also the major isn’t assigned but the letter says that after the first year i can freely choose my major.</p>
<p>in purdue i have been given my major.</p>
<p>in georgia tech also i have been given my major.</p>
<p>in wisconsin madison i have not been given a major and it says a general BS degree.</p>
<p>in waterloo i have the co-op computer science program and in british columbia i have been given my major.</p>
<p>i have a $20k scholarship in both mcgill and waterloo spread over 4 years.</p>
<p>btw i am international student and i didnt get financial aid in any place.</p>
<p>so please do help . . i dont know if it will be really hard to get my major after the first year so i am unable to use that as a deciding factor . .</p>
<p>Check on the web sites and forums of Texas A&M, Washington, and Wisconsin to see how difficult it will be to declare the computer science major.</p>
<p>Texas A&M: [TAMU</a> Computer Science and Engineering :: Undergraduate Program](<a href=“Computer Science and Engineering | Texas A&M University Engineering”>Computer Science and Engineering | Texas A&M University Engineering)
Washington: [Computer</a> Science](<a href=“http://www.washington.edu/students/gencat/academic/comp_sci.html]Computer”>http://www.washington.edu/students/gencat/academic/comp_sci.html)
Wisconsin: [COMPUTER</a> SCIENCES UNDERGRADUATE MAJOR REQUIREMENTS](<a href=“http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~pubs/ugrad-guidebook/node2.html]COMPUTER”>http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~pubs/ugrad-guidebook/node2.html)</p>
<p>thanks for the links . . .</p>
<p>so then how would you rank all the universities i have been accepted to in terms of computer science?</p>
<p>They are all good, but as an international (non-US, non-Canadian) student, you may want to consider the possibility of having to return to your country of citizenship or permanent residence, in which case how well respected the schools are in that country may be a factor in your choice.</p>