<p>OP, I think the state cali schools are where you should start. The reality is any of your UC schools will prepare you well in CS and if my family lived in your state, we would be highly sold on just staying in the UC system if possible for any engineering or CS major. </p>
<p>To research CS programs, sometimes you have to research the top graduate schools in computer science to see how robust their programs are. Those lists are out there on the net. Sometimes smaller colleges, including liberal arts colleges, offer computer science. If they don’t offer it through engineering, some employers will feel it is a less rigorous program. </p>
<p>The other problem is figuring out the size of the program. There are pros and cons–too small and courses may only be offered every other year at best. Too big could be impersonal and hard to get to know your professors. So here is one of my favorite tips: go on College Navigator. You can do a search of programs within a college and see how many students graduated in CS last year. One small problem with the data: If the person doublemajored, I <em>think</em> it only counts the first major. So confirm your findings with the college you’re interested in.</p>
<p><a href=“College Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics”>http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/</a></p>