<p>The problem is, all schools interest me. They all have their +es and -es…</p>
<p>Hmm..</p>
<p>Haha! Have you posted a list of schools you’re considering here?</p>
<p>Schools are much different…in terms of location, size, weather, sports, activities…think of what you’d like in a school.</p>
<p>Do you want to root for a major college football team in Div 1 on TV every fall Saturday?
Do you like smaller classes?
How competitive do you want your fellow students to be?
What type of college setting do you prefer?
How important is the college prestige to you?
How strong academically are you?</p>
<p>When you answer these questions for yourself, you’ll be able to weed out some choices that don’t fit your profile.</p>
<p>At least at U Wash they have as many job offers as they can handle and they don’t have to move OOS if they don’t want to. But getting into the computer programs is very competitive.</p>
<p>Georgia Tech has excellent programs and is very reasonable, even for OOS.</p>
<p>@UBC:
Nah.
I don’t care .. so long as the profs are good.
Don’t really care. I’m in a school where friends are foes right now .. yeah, that competitive !
Rural/Urban both fine with me.
It’s important to an extent …
Pretty much.</p>
<p>I have a list of 103 schools. If that helps …</p>
<p>IMO, if you’re really interested in computer science/engineering it would help if you attend a school in an area that has the type of jobs you seek.</p>
<p>Some computer science/engineering employment hot beds include:</p>
<p>Silicon Valley/Bay Area
Washington (Seattle area)
Texas (Austin area)
Massachussetts</p>
<p>20Legend asks,“@taxguy: Do the “lesser” undergrad schools have fewer (and lower paying) job opportunities upon graduation; and internship opportunities for the final 3 years? And do liberal arts schools have on campus recruitment for majors like Computer Science ?”</p>
<p>Response: I can’t answer your question. However, I can tell you that if you achieve a sold GPA, and you seek out internships during the summer for experience, you shouldn’t have any problems finding a good position, AND, you and your family will be 200K+ richer!</p>
<p>I spoke this summer with a friend of mine who hires lots of people for Google. He says he looks for kids who have programmed a lot. He is looking for students who have completed major projects. If your school only has coursework with simple programs and no major projects then it is less likely you will be hired for a major software development position. There are always positions in marketing or in IT for various companies. So, the question isn’t whether you will get a job upon graduation, the question is what kind of job. I, myself, was hired into marketing directly out of school. I also had a lucrative offer from Shell Oil to work in their IT dept. There’s nothing wrong with those job offers, unless what you want is a research and development job. At the time the offer I chose seemed to fit what I was looking for. However, after a few years on the job, I realized I really wanted development. I was able to change departments by picking up an MSCS and working hard. Other people made careers in the marketing department, and some picked up an MBA to enhance their credentials for those kinds of jobs. I’m sure the same kind of branching applies in the hardware arena. Software just happens to be the area that I know the most about. BTW, MIT and CMU are both also excellent in computer hardware engineering.</p>
<p>Regarding a BA vs a BA… If you look at the course requirements for a BA versus a BS you will see that the BS requires a few more high level courses, usually the ones involving major projects. The BA will allow you to combine an interest in another major with some basic knowledge about computers and programming. The BS, however, will give you more breadth in computer science. You will likely take courses in graphics, networking, database, etc., instead of just the basic courses in compilers and operating systems.</p>
<p>If you are planning to go to graduate school you will most likely get the projects you need at that time as well as more breadth and depth. If you go directly from undergrad to grad without trying to get a job first then it may not matter which school you go to. However, I still think that the two schools I mentioned will give you a better flavor of what specialty you might want to choose because they have such large departments and because they allow the students to help with research (unlike big State U where only 10% of the students get to do this). Then you can choose your grad school based upon a match between your interests and what projects are going on at that school. For example, I recently spoke with a friend of mine at Rice. He says Rice is working on wireless networking, graphics for gaming, and autonomous robot navigation plus at least 3 other areas. If one of those areas interests you then Rice is great, if not, then not for you. Find some other school where they are doing what you want to do. You won’t know, though, until you know more about computer science.</p>
<p>Others have addressed this indirectly, but I thought I would add this: you have no idea whether you will go to grad school. You’re 4 years away, and a lot (especially at college) can change in 4 years. A lot of my friends who graduated from high school did what you did - they would go to the local state university and then go to grad school right after. Already, with just 3 weeks into the semester, 4 of the 9 people who said that to me have changed their minds. 2 now actively regret choosing the state university over the “bigger name” college.</p>
<p>Now I know they have been there three weeks, and the transition is hard (I’ll be starting this coming Tuesday). But these people have been saying they are going to Grad School for two years now, and within three weeks have already changed their plans.</p>
<p>All of this boils down to: go to the best college (both in terms of fit and prestige) that you can afford.</p>
<p>PS: I just noticed were talking about CS at CMU. One of the two students went to the State U instead of CMU for CS, and now regrets it after talking with some of the graduating seniors at the college, who are failing to get job offers. Of course, this is more a local criticism; the other schools you are looking at are still very good. Nonetheless, be very cautious about throwing any opportunity at a top university away.</p>
<p>I realized that yesterday I forgot to answer your question about undergrad and grad degrees. I think that if you don’t know what you want to do, but you are sure it’s something to do with computers then you are better off getting an undergrad degree in Computer Engineering. That degree will give you exposure to both hardware and software design. From there you can get a graduate degree in either engineering or computer science.</p>
<p>If you feel strongly at this time that software is your interest and you change your mind later, you can do it the other way around, but you might have to make up a few beginning level hardware courses.</p>
<p>Well, actually, I am interested in both hardware and software as of now :/.</p>
<p>Will going for CE later(grad school) be a problem ? Or will I be on the same level as the CE undergrads after making up those beginners courses ?</p>
<p>If you are interested in both hw and sw then go for CE (computer engineering).</p>
<p>CE in grad school is best done with CE as an undergrad. Admission will be more difficult from another major. However, one can always take extra time and make up the required courses. Different schools will have different required courses and each student will be different depending upon which extra courses he might have taken as an undergrad. After making up the courses you will be on the same level.</p>