Hi! I recently got accepted to CS at UIUC (in Grainger) as well as Cal Poly Slo. I’m waiting on decisions from UofM and GT (deferred) and UC Berkeley and UCLA. Cost is not a super huge issue, however I’m an in-state California student, so staying in state would have its perks. Please let me know how these programs differ! I also got into SCU, UMass (honors college), UMD, and Purdue!
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As a California resident, I would recommend UCLA or Berkeley over UIUC, GTech would be a toss-up, and would depend on which college appeals toyou more by way of character. If living in the flatlands of Central Illinois is just too much for you, and you aren’t accepted to GTech or either of the two UCs, than U Washington is the top choice, followed by UMD or UMN. If you don’t like UIUC because of the location, Purdue is not really any better - the agricultural heartland of Indiana is not much different than that of Illinois (and Champaign-Urbana > Lafayette), and UIUC is the better school.
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You have excellent opportunities!
Did you apply to any privates? HMC maybe?
What are you looking to get out of your four years of undergraduate? Do you want to work in a research lab, just want to finish and be prepared for a job in silicon valley? Do you want to live in California after you graduate?
Cal Poly will give you a very hands on practical education, UC Berkeley and UCLA will have you in large classes with some of the brightest minds and access to professors running world class labs. Very different experiences.
I will say, you should look for something very special about the other schools (or get significant merit aid) to pass on the value of Cal Poly and the UC’s.
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To a first approximation, they don’t at the undergrad level. You’ll learn roughly the same things everywhere in CS. You can look at the course catalog (usually viewable online) to see if one offers some specialization the others don’t such as computer forensics. But it would be unusual for a HS kid to have such a specific preference anyway.
The one difference I could think of is location. Cal is across the Bay from one of the centers of CS employers so it’s easier to hunt for summer jobs when they’re just a 30 minute BART ride away. But CS students don’t have trouble finding internships these days from any good school.
I’d make your decision on where you want to live for 4 years.
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