<p>My gut tells me that it shouldn't and that the most important thing is actual ability, but I'm thinking that class quality is something.</p>
<p>I've been accepted with Regent's in UC Berkeley and Honor's for UC Irvine. I really love the SoCal weather and the feel of Irvine when I visited. They also have a department dedicated to CS and from the course catalog they have a lot of variety. I feel like I'd be happy living there for the next 4 years.</p>
<p>But then Berkeley is Berkeley, it's world renowned and top 10 ranked in CS. I realize that I'd be giving up on a very rare opportunity that few people get to have. It's also close to the Silicon Valley, so job prospects would be good. I visited the campus once several years ago but I don't remember much.</p>
<p>Rather than go into a lengthy discussion of advice relevant to choosing a college, I will try simply to answer your question. The school you go to (and schools vary in many respects aside from the name) is important in CS, though it is not so important as to be the only factor worthy of consideration. All other things being equal, go to the school with the better name. Things being unequal, it’s your call as to what matters more. I’ll close by pointing out that it matters to you, to some degree, or you wouldn’t have asked the question.</p>
<p>Go to Berkeley then move to “so-cal” after graduation. You have your whole life ahead of you.</p>
<p>It matters in the sense that schools tend to have ties to certain companies. If you want to work for Microsoft, there are some schools that you should really look in to…If you want a strong program and plan to go to grad school, then most schools are fine and the real deciding factors come down to your performance.</p>
<p>Berkeley has its ups, but it’s also hard to get classes that you might want because of the number of people. Search around on this. Sometimes people end up spending an extra year there. Just my two cents…</p>
<p>Actually, the four year graduation rate at Berkeley was much higher in the 2000s (around 70%) than in the early 1990s (under 50%).</p>