<p>The thread tile basically says it all, if you were offered admission to both universites at Carnegie Mellon School of Computer Science and MIT for Computer Science. Which one would you choose and why?</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon its better</p>
<p>Since you’ve already made it clear in the Chicago thread that Chicago is your “dream school” seems you got your answer already.</p>
<p>You also got a ton of advice in the MIT thread-- without AP classes-- whatever the reason, your program of study is not strong enough for either CMU or MIT with an intent to study CS.</p>
<p>Regarding financial aid–CMU doesn’t aim to meet unmet need-- you can read this on their webpage and in previous responses to the CMU board by many posters.</p>
<p>Mom2012and14 what do you mean by my program of study is not strong enough? </p>
<p>Reason for no-ap’s</p>
<p>I could not enroll in AP courses becuase currently I go HS and in 9th grade I went to another school and I was enrolled in the magnet EST (Engineering Science and Technology) but had to leave becuase my dad got a job transfer. At the other school they did not offer AP courses to Freshman they only offered Honors which I took and I took 5 of them and we are required to have 7 classes a year and the other 2 were Hope and Spanish 1, which they did not offer Honors. Then for 10th grade I came to High School but when I transfered here classes had already been chosen so it became difficult for me to enroll in AP becuase the state government passed a class size amenmandt stating only 25 kids per class and those spots were already taken. Also I was forced to take some regular courses because Honor spots had been taken. Now I am in 11th grade and my idiotness enrolled in AP classes but the spots in AP classes went to the CIS (kinda like IB but not as hard) kids first which is a magnet program offered here I would have enrolled in CIS but you have to enroll as an incoming Freshman and there were no open spots becuase if they tried to squeeze me into some of the AP classes then my school faces fines from the school district for breaking state law and now I am stuck again 5 honors classes, the non-honors are Web Design 2 and Team Sports 1. In my school district OCPS we are required to have 8 elective credits to meet graduation requirements and they dont offer AP or Honors in the electives classes offered are like Basketball, Team Sports 1, Team Sports 2, Hope, and Weightlifting, etc…</p>
<p>In addition to, my school is so underfunded they have had to remove elective teachers and are forced to teach a English, Math, or any other core based class becuase we don’t have enough money to hire additional teachers.</p>
<p>Thats why I could not enroll in AP’s but I have taken the most rigourous cirriculm that I could possibly take and I would have taken AP’s but due to a variety of reasons as stated above, I was unable to.</p>
<p>MIT and CMU are basically tied for the #1 position in computer science, with a few other schools (I think it’s safe to say this even though I don’t know of any official ranking of undergrad CS programs). </p>
<p>My advice would be to look beyond the stats and do some research on these two schools. Look at the roster of professors and see what their research interests are. Look at the key “sub-programs” within the colleges - for example, CMU has the Robotics Institute and Software Engineering Institute; MIT was the birthplace of AI. Then decide where to go, based on which school inspires you more.</p>
<p>Chicago</p>
<p>If your essays /application have put you in a defensive position, the application isn’t strong.
You have to highlight other noteworthy accomplishments, b/c the program of study will not be a rigorous one.
You need to have AP Calc BC behind you to remain a competitive applicant for CS.</p>
<p>Don’t fall into love yet, UChicago2016. I’ve been following your post on the MIT forum. Your chances in being accepted at either college, are not promising no matter what your accomplishments and future goals.</p>
<p>MIT, hands down. Although the reputation of both schools (with respect to computer science) is similar, MIT just… sounds better, I guess? The college experience would most likely be more enjoyable (since CMU students, I hear, comprise “dorks” mostly). I would probably command more respect and be more proud of myself because I was an MIT student. My son/daughter would (I assume?) have an easier time being admitted because of legacy status, and my son/daughter may want to study some type of engineering but not necessarily computer science, in which case MIT would clearly be the better choice because it is better at overall engineering.</p>
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<p>Heh, I imagine you haven’t met many people from MIT, then.</p>
<p>You all really need to answer the question that was asked, instead of just crushing a kids hopes, I’m sure he already knows it’s tough to get into both schools, no need to go digging into his past threads just to put him down and say how he has no chance(mom2012).
As for the question that was asked, uchicago, it really depends on preference when it comes down to things like school size, location, whether you want to be a part of a comp sci and electrical engineering department(MIT) or a separate comp sci school(CMU). Also, the focus of the cmu Comp sci school is much more on math and the antalytics of programming, and you are probably going go be surrounded more often with other comp sci kids. But obviously, both are amazing schools and a degree from either one would give you a great chance of getting a job anywhere.
And good luck! Don’t let what the people say on cc stop you from applying.</p>
<p>Why worry about the question of which one? Why not apply to both schools, and since MIT and CMU SCS are somewhat of a longshot for anyone…see where you get accepted, then visit and make your decision upon which school you like and feel as if you’d fit in best? Most people would be very lucky to have those schools to choose from, they are both amazing. So in the end, it comes down to where you think you would enjoy yourself more. You should go to where you’d be happiest in college. You don’t want to spend 4 years in misery just to get an edge on that first job. It is an imminently employable career field, no matter where you go.</p>
On Carnegie Mellon’s website, they seem to emphasize “interdisciplinary” learning while integrating an extremely rigorous curriculum with a plethora of resources…MIT seems to have the edge in terms of prestige, name recognition, and overall ranking (in US News and World Report). I think those who are truly passionate and invested within the domain of CS would know a lot better than the average armchair judge. But I’m relatively new to these really deep-minded forums and appreciate all the info I can get. 