How is USC's Computer Science Program?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
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<p>Hey guys, I'm a senior in high school and it's college application season. I'm really interested in attending USC, and I'm looking to major in CS. I know USC has a strong Games program, but I'm not too interested in the games industry (I love playing games though!).</p>

<p>Anyways, how is the CS department? I've heard they changed some things this past year too.</p>

<p>E.g. how does USC's CS compare to a school like UIUC, University of Washington, or Georgia Tech? Do a lot of companies recruit on campus?</p>

<p>Thanks in advance!</p>

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<p>I know Facebook, google, and similar companies go to sc’s job fairs.</p>

<p>I’m wondering how USC comp sci compares to UCLA, Berkeley, and UCSD’s CS</p>

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<p>@AtypicalAsian, the reason I mentioned UIUC, UW, and GA tech is because they seem to consistently rank in the top 10 for CS while USC is around 20 (according to USNews).</p>

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<p>I don’t think it really matters where you go for a CS degree, at least among the schools mentioned. When it comes to getting a job, it’s about what you know rather than where you went to school. But if you’re into rankings, here’s ARWU’s ranking of worldwide CS programs - </p>

<p>[Academic</a> Ranking of World Universities in Computer Science - 2012 | 2012 Top 100 Universities in Computer Science | ARWU-SUBJECT 2012](<a href=“http://www.shanghairanking.com/SubjectCS2012.html]Academic”>http://www.shanghairanking.com/SubjectCS2012.html)</p>

<p>It has Berkeley as #3, UCLA as #8, USC as #13, UCSD as #14, Illinois at #15, Washington at #21, Georgia Tech at #24.</p>

<p>The CS graduates I see coming out of Berkeley, UCLA and USC all seem to be equally qualified. </p>

<p>From the alumni magazines USC sends me, it looks like there are some pretty interesting things going on in the department.</p>

5

<p>Rankings can be subjective and controversial. So much depends upon critera used. I suggest you take the time to view the Viterbi website and note the CS professors and their academic credentials. Also, the Viterbi School of Engineering is quite new with up to date facilities, labs and classrooms.</p>

<p>Here is another ranking…The Jiao Tong University global academic rankings placed USC’s computer science department 10th in the world. </p>

<p>If there is any chance for a visit to the school it would be a fine opportunity to see for yourself what SC has to offer.</p>

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<p>Simba was referring to the 2012 rankings. The 2013 rankings placed SC 10th, up from 13th the previous year.</p>

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<p>Ah, that’s good news. Thanks Georgia Girl.</p>

<p>[Academic</a> Ranking of World Universities in Computer Science - 2013 | 2013 Top 200 Universities in Computer Science | ARWU-SUBJECT 2013](<a href=“http://www.shanghairanking.com/SubjectCS2013.html]Academic”>http://www.shanghairanking.com/SubjectCS2013.html)</p>

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<p>@OP: Compared to the other schools you listed, USC’s CS program has been a little more implementation focused and a little less theory focused for the last 7+ years. Other threads in this subforum details the revisions the program is going through. I still think its at least at a similar quality to those other good CS schools. And the rankings seem to confirm that (note they focused on research and high level academia as criteria). As the common thing to do now is apply to over 10 schools, USC, UIUC, Georgia Tech, etc. should all be on your list as good CS schools whether you want to go into industry or research (or Master’s/Ph.D.).</p>

<p>Lots of companies recruit on campus, and you’ll be well qualified for internships/jobs, but it’s as simba9 says “it’s about what you know”. You’ll have to have solid CS fundamentals and programming knowledge to do well in interviews. This is a partial list of companies coming to campus for the engineering Career Expo: <a href=“http://viterbi.usc.edu/assets/162/87753.pdf[/url]”>http://viterbi.usc.edu/assets/162/87753.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;