!!**HELP**!! Carnegie Mellon Computer Science vs UT Turing Scholars

College Majors Math/Computer Science Majors
1

I was recently accepted to Carnegie Mellon’s School of Computer Science, and was accepted to the Turing Scholars program at the University of Texas in late November. I really do love both programs, and I’m a little torn as to which school to attend. A big factor for me is also location/culture - whether I want to stay close to home in sunny Texas or live farther away. I know Austin is filled with so many things to do, and I’m not so sure about Pittsburgh. My brother currently attends CMU for CS so I’m pretty comfortable and familiar with that department but I’m also attracted to the specialized plan for Turing Scholars (Attending a huge state school, but being a part of such a small program). I’ve toured both programs/faculties and I’m very familiar with both programs, but I’m still not sure about where I want to go. I was hoping I could get some opinions on what others think of these programs in comparison. Maybe some stuff about internship and job availability or just overall college experience.

Money not being a factor, how do you think the programs compare?

2

Carnegie Mellon CS is the gold standard - even a specialized program won’t compare in the end, though if personalized attention is important it could be a better option for you.

These days, you’re going to have good job prospects out of any decent school for CS, but CMU will certainly be a bit of a step above still.

I can’t say I know the two schools social environments well unfortunately - hopefully someone else can speak to that.

3

As a former staff member of the CS Dept at CMU, I would recommend CMU if…

  • You have thoughts of going to grad school in CS
  • If you are contemplating a job in R&D or academia (which also would involve grad school)
  • If you are looking to land a job at a “prestige” company (Microsoft, Google, etc)
  • If you are looking for a job in a specialty within CS (e.g., AI, Robotics, etc)

If you are looking for a “typical” CS job (programming), then go where the cost is less.