<p>I have admits into 2 of the best colleges for Computer Science - the MS-CS program at Columbia University and the one year M.Eng in CS program at Cornell.</p>
<p>I would like feedback on which you think is better. Is the 1 year program at Cornell at par with the 2 year MS at Columbia in terms of curriculum, academic growth, job placements, salaries, etc.. Any helpful inputs will be highly appreciated. Are we expected to be thorough with subjects like DBMS, OOPS, Java, etc. at the time of joining the course or can one learn/refresh during the program? How hectic or tough does the curriculum get?</p>
<p>Also, does anyone have any idea where we can get to know which books are recommended by Profs in Cornell for any particular course? I found the list of courses but cannot find any book list as such. Specifically, I am looking for books needed for courses in the M.Eng in Computer Science.</p>
<p>Hi @MSinCompSc
If I had to choose between the two, I would probably pick Columbia. I like that they offer a variety of different MS tracks (computational biology, computer security, foundations of CS, machine learning, network systems, natural language processing, software systems, vision and graphics, as well as personalized and thesis tracks)</p>
<p>If you are thinking about getting a PhD later on, I think the Columbia MS is a better fit. As I understand it, the Cornell M.Eng program is intended to be a terminal degree.</p>
<p>I agree with you. However, I have no intentions of doing a PhD. In that case, which would be better? Would Cornell be too hard to cope up with?</p>
<p>I would not say one is easier/harder than the other.
Both programs give you some flexibility in picking courses, within certain guidelines.
The Cornell M.Eng program requires you to do a graduate level project (and report).
Such a project is not required if you do the Columbia M.S. program in the personalized track.
So… do you prefer doing a project, or not?</p>
<p>Yes I feel a project will provide immense experience wrt learning and real world implementation. I was told that all students are expected to be comfortable with basic level Java coding and concepts of databases and algorithms. I have no work ex in Java so how does someone like me cope with that? Are we expected to learn by the time we join or can we pick up there on the go?</p>
<p>In general, I believe you are expected to come in with at least some introductory background in whatever programming language your CS program requires. </p>
<p>For my CS Masters program, you have to have had an introductory Java course, data structures course and computer architecture course before starting. Usually, this is to be done during your undergraduate education.</p>
<p>Since you were admitted to both the Columbia and Cornell programs, I am sure that whatever your transcript reflected was sufficient for them. You may want to take a Java programming undergrad class, prior to starting… or as a class in your first term, to try to get up to speed. If you do the latter, try to see what non-coding courses you can take to fill out your first semester. </p>
<p>Depending on your school’s offerings, you could take an undergrad coding class, project management, quality assurance, and other courses don’t involve coding your first semester, and then take the coding-rich classes afterwards.</p>