<p>Is there much of difference in CS at the undergraduate level and what disadvantages will I face if I study CS at Hopkins. Also, the entire social life, school spirit and atmosphere at Hopkins looks quite dull and I am quite worried about that. And, should I take my name off the Carnegie Mellon Priority Waitlist or let it be. CMU does not offer aid to internationals so If I am accepted I will have to go paying then entire COA</p>
<p>Don’t worry about making the wrong decision, Berekly and JHU and UIUC are all amazing schools. However, oln a college tour at JHU, I ABSOULTLY HATED IT!!! And I was even in their gifted program since 7th grade…I’d go to Berkely unless you are not solid on CS and might want to be a doctor (JHU’s specialty, like MIT CompSci status).</p>
<p>It’s said that MIT, Carnegie Mellon, Stanford and Berkeley are at another league for CS and no university comes close to these. Is this true more so at the undergraduate level? My 3 most important factors while choosing college are reputation, academics and future opportunities. 120K is a really big amount and I will not have to take a loan - I may earn back that amount but I will never go to college again…so please be more precise on what I should do…dealdine approaching fast… TICK TOCK TICK TOCK</p>
<p>The reputation of a college and its rankings are highly dependent upon the quality of its research. The research at MIT or CMU may be head and shoulders above another university but that doesn’t mean you would necessarily learn more there during undergrad. You know it will cost you $120k more to attend UC Berkeley than JHU. You may have more opportunities or you may not. You may earn the same coming out of UCB as JHU. The outcomes are uncertain.</p>
<p>Berkely.</p>
<p>The Best in The Country.</p>
<p>Do It!!!</p>
<p>CS at Berkeley is very rigorous, but if you survive it and do well, you will come out more than prepared to go into a top grad school and have quite a few job offers to boot. </p>
<p>Johns Hopkins is amazing for its pre-med and med school, but I haven’t heard much about its CS department. Cal’s CS on the other hand is tied #1 with Stanford and MIT for 2012, so you won’t get much better than that. </p>
<p>If cost isn’t an issue for you, go to Berkeley. Even though many of the rankings you see for CS are for their graduate program, undergraduates are still taught by the same professors that teach the graduate program, so the level and quality of instruction is still the same. Although it’s a large university (which is great in terms of building up your social network), building close relationships to professors is quite easy to do - you just need to make the effort of approaching them. </p>
<p>Berkeley is a very “independent” university, in that there’s no hand-holding for students; you need to take the initiative to get what you want. That said, if you need help, there are always a multitude of people with the answers you need and who are more than willing and eager to help. You just need to take that first step - it’s good training for when you’re in the real world and looking for a job! </p>
<p>If you do decide to choose Berkeley, feel free to mail me with any questions/comments you might have, including academics/housing options/college life/etc. </p>
<p>Hope this helps!</p>
<p>Made my final decision - Berkeley</p>
<p>I would not go to Berkeley if you are absolutely committed to doing CS.</p>
<p>The reason is that you need to apply to their CS program because it is competitive and can only hold space for so many students.</p>
<p>When I was in school there, it was pretty competitive to get into the program. I considered doing CS, but it was only one of the options. I decided against it, but rest assured, there are many students who will not get admitted to the major. And the classes there are so competitive and the students are so smart, you never know what your GPA is going to be when it comes time to apply to the major.</p>
<p>Things may have changed since I went there, but I would look into it SERIOUSLY.</p>
<p>I myself am not sure how tough it is to get into the major. However, there is no point in ducking away from the challenge. If I am not intelligent enough to get myself into the CS Major at Berkeley, then I’m not worthy of studying Computer Science. On the other hand if I do perform well there then there is no limit to the opportunities afterwards. Also, one of the reasons why I chose Berkeley was that if I manage to graduate in CS then I’ll probably be very sure of my CS skills and at Hopkins I’m not sure that I will be able to attain the same level of confidence.</p>