My son was admitted to Cornell Arts & Sciences and Johns Hopkins Engineering, both for Computer Science (BA from Cornell, BS from JHU). He’s considering a career in software engineering, or possibly law school. He prefers stem classes, especially math and physics, but also likes the idea of having freedom to choose other classes which interest him, e.g. economics/foreign language. At Cornell, he is considering transferring to Engineering, but is concerned about the potentially much greater, more competitive and high-stress/high-anxiety workload and grading.
Here are our questions:
- We’ve heard from some that a BS/Engineering Degree is preferred over a BA by employers of CS grads. Is this true? Opinions seem to vary a lot.
- Does it matter much at the undergraduate level that Cornell’s CS program is ranked more highly than JH’sU? It’s #5 according to US News and World Report, compared to JHU’s #20.
- We have heard that Hopkins professors are more understanding and caring than Cornell professors (i.e. to grant extensions, develop relationships with students, understand extenuating circumstances, etc.) Does anyone have any insight on this or know if it’s true? He likes the idea of JHU’s small, more intimate CS department. Assuming Cornell’s is much larger, how does this affect the CS student’s undergrad experience?
- How are the Cornell A&S vs. Engineering CS major experiences different?
- Is either JHU or Cornell’s level of all-nighter-stress/competitive pressure much greater or less than the other?
Financially the two would be similar for us. He likes different things about both campuses and communities. Some concern about long walks to class and study spaces from North campus dorms during Ithaca’s cold, dreary winters, but that’s offset by concern about safety issues near the JHU campus. We figure both are doable.
Thank you very much!