How good is CS at Columbia SEAS?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Columbia University
1

Hello,

I have been a silent spectator of CC for a few years now and have enjoyed reading the posts. I have the following questions:

  1. How good is CS at Fu?
  2. What are the opportunities available for research and internships starting 1st year?
  3. Where (which companies) do students normally end up for careers?
  4. Are there opportunities for entrepreneurs?
  5. How does it compare with Cornell's COE-CS and Berkeley's EECS?

I would like feedback especially from current/past CS undergraduates and Egleston scholars.

Thanks much and good luck!

2

Anybody? Please share your experiences/opinions. I am an OOS with LL@Fu (Egleston) and early admission @UCB.

3
  1. CS in Fu is top notch. That said, if you are into Intelligent Systems, good luck getting the classes you want. Many students end up giving up the Intelligent Systems track cause getting into those classes are extremely hard. Many CS majors end up majoring in the Applications Track.

Research? I guess non-CS related areas. Probably chem or bio or physics related.
If you are thinking of those cool robotics stuffs, those research are reserved for third year summer with specific courses completed (and you still have to be lucky) or grad students. This is cause well… students need to learn substantial amount of CS before they can contribute anything in those areas.
Internships first year? What’s with the Internship desperation? First year… what do first years even know? Sure, first years can get internships but most students get their internships in third year. For internship first year, it’s more about luck than anything else.

From seeing my peers, it seems bank related firms are relatively common for CS graduates here.
JP Morgan seems to come to the CS department every month. Heck, even some of the professors seem to work in JP Morgan.
https://www.careereducation.columbia.edu/sites/cce/files/2015_gss–cc__seas-ug_.pdf
I guess the top 10 hiring organization includes also Goldman Sach, Google, Citi Group, etc.

As much as almost every other school.
Other words, sure it exists but it “exists”. Entrepreneurship is somewhat overrated in the media. Honestly if you are smart enough to create the next Dropbox, then … how much can college help? I don’t know.

In the West, Berkeley will have more power for CS.
In the East, I honestly believe Columbia CS has more power for undergrad than Cornell CS. At least when I look downtown. I might be wrong.
That said, at a certain point, the differences are insignificant. And certainly at schools like Columbia, Cornell, Berkeley for CS in undergrad.
Firms don’t discriminate at this point. From here, it’s more about your interview skills.
Grad schools don’t discriminate much at this point. From here, it’s more about your GPA and research.
Cornell, Berkeley, Columbia are all world ranked schools. There really isn’t much difference in opportunities at this point.
It’s more about fit than anything else.
Do you enjoy the West (Berkeley) for 4 years OR in a forest (Cornell) OR in uptown New York (Columbia)?
That’s really it.

  1. All that said, CS is becoming saturated for finding internships and stuff. Don't be surprised if your first internship might require you to send over 200~300 job applications. Things get much better after that but don't think that the world owes you a silver platter or something. Seems like almost one-third of incoming Fu students are trying to major or minor in CS now.