<p>Alright, so I'm going to be studying a major of Computer Science. I've been accepted to Drexel, Boston U, Pitt, and Penn State.</p>
<p>Not considering money, which college do you think is my best option? Location is cool and all, but not a deciding factor. </p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>I’m a Pittsburgher but I’ve been exposed to all four schools. Drexel overall is the worst in terms of academics but it is especially strong in IT/CS (that’s probably its best department). It’s in Philly, but one of my friends went to Drexel for a semester hated it (it has like 3/4ths guys, no campus life really, very little fun) and went to Pitt for the next 7 semesters and loved every second. Pitt and PSU are pretty similar colleges: typical college experience (though more so Penn State) and for comp sci they’re both pretty good. Pitt is probably more competitive in admission and there will be more of the competitive scholarship Asian crowd which makes the classes more enriching but also more difficult (especially in engineering/CS. My brother couldn’t handle Pitt’s Bioengineering department because it was so tough). BU is really cool but its very expensive. Besides that, its a really good school and is probably slightly more competitive to gain admission to than Pitt and Penn State, though not by much (they’re all great schools). BU is more humanities oriented though, imho, so if I were you, I would rank it like this: Pitt, BU, PSU, Drexel.</p>
<p>Thanks for the detail!</p>
<p>For CS, Pitt > PSU >> BU >> Drexel. This is for Computer Science, not MIS or IT, EE , Computer Engineering or Architecture. For Computer Engineering, probably flip PSU/Pitt.</p>
<p>BU isn’t particularly strong in CS, but Drexel hardly even offers it. For true CS, Drexel is far, far behind in this race. IT/MIS is not CS.</p>
<p>Drexel’s really the worst option for CS? I’ve heard opposite actually.
Actually, I’d imagine people attribute a lot of Drexel’s strength to the school’s Co-op program and not to its actual academics. Any thoughts on this?</p>
<p>It doesn’t hurt that Pitt is located adjacent to Carnegie Mellon either, and if there is a course offered by CMU that Pitt does not offer an equivalent of, you can take it.</p>
<p>You also have three very urban schools listed (Pitt, BU, and Drexel) and one very rural one (PSU), so the setting may or may not impact your decision. PSU is also, by far, the largest of the four.</p>
<p>FWIW, for MIS, or information science in particular in which that sometimes falls, Pitt is one of the best in the country.</p>
<p>“Not considering money”</p>
<p>Did you write this because you have enough money to pay for the full cost of any of these, or did you write this because you are trying to justify spending more money to attend one or the other?</p>
<p>Run any financial aid offers you’ve received through this calculator, and see what the numbers look like: [FinAid</a> | Calculators | Advanced Award Letter Comparison Tool](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid)</p>
<p>I only say that money is not an issue because I not only can afford which college I choose but also because I want the thread’s posts to be based around the academic rigor and quality of the schools, not on how much they cost relative to how strong they are in their academics.</p>
<p>Thanks for clarifying the money issue! You are truly in a fortunate position.</p>
<p>If your primary interest in Drexel is because of the co-ops, it is perfectly fine for you to ask the other universities what they offer along that line. Even if there is no formal co-op program set up, you may very well be able to design one of your own.</p>
<p>Wishing you all the best!</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice; I probably will ask other colleges that. </p>
<p>It’s just that the co-op program is sold as being a dealbreaker in landing a solid job out of college but the CS program for Drexel doesn’t seem as strong. </p>
<p>Bump for more replies.</p>
<p>Personally, I had a handful of friend that were CS majors at Pitt. All of them had CS jobs while in school, or did paid internships and had no problems getting jobs after graduation.</p>