I’m a junior living in Ohio, and while I am applying to several out of state schools known for their CS programs (ex: UIUC, Georgia Tech, Umich, Carnegie Mellon), I was wondering how the computer science program is at Ohio State, which is not only much closer but also a lot cheaper. Some former senior friends of mine have told me that it still is quite difficult and well organized, and that those that strive to be top students land jobs at the biggest tech companies in the country (including some in the silicon valley area). To what extent is this true? Really appreciate it, thanks!
You’ll find people from tons of colleges at the big names. Where you go to school doesn’t matter nearly as much in CS as in other professions. Most if not all state flagships are plenty solid for CS. While there are advantages to top CS programs, they are only worth so much, and where the money is coming from is an important consideration.
GO to OSU, save money and pay less debt!!! You will not regret it. Every CS program is the same, what matters is the student. A student can go to the best school for Meteorology, but in the end is the student, not the college.
Let’s not overgeneralize here. Program depth, strength, teaching approach, research focus, caliber of student, caliber of professor, and more all can have effects on students. While a student can push to be the big fish in a pond, more resources, better help, etc still make a difference. What is true is that difference does not have nearly as much value as most people think, those differences sometimes do not correlate with rankings, and they can be hard to identify without extensive first-hand experience at many schools, something few to no people possess.
CS can differ in what courses are offered and how the courses and curriculum are organized. The good news is that there are many programs that are good, but to say that they are all the same is inaccurate. It is also possible for different programs that are generally good to be better or worse academic fits for a given student and his/her preferences.
On the job, I’ve never noticed any kind of correlation between where someone went to school and their abilities as a programmer. So it is generally true that where you went to school doesn’t matter much for CS.
I’ve also known many people who didn’t have CS degrees that were much better programmers than many people with CS degrees.
Student loans have become the new 21st century subprime mortgage. I would do Ohio State by a mile! It’s a top ranked program with a lot of good job connections. Columbus is a big tech job city and these companies recruit heavily from both OSU and OU. Elite schools are not worth the money, especially for such an employable degree. You want to start a career focused on your job and gaining experience, not worrying how you’re going to pay rent because you can’t make ends meet. Seriously, you’re in a really good place!
OSU is about to put a lot of resources into promoting their CS program globally. You’ll be kicking yourself in a couple of years when their ranking starts soaring and you’ve picked another more expensive school. https://news.osu.edu/news/2017/10/04/digital-flagship/
Actually, and I do have direct inside knowledge on this issue, the apple partnership does not impact the computer science department or degree programs in any way.
Beyond that, I agree with what has been said on this thread – CS@OSU is a solid program, and for students doing well and demonstrating some initiative through their own projects, there is no limit. Though the program isn’t anywhere as challenging as one from, say, CMU, it is not going to leave any visible hole in your preparation either. One very unsual and positive part of the program is smaller-sized classes, 40-45 students max almost always. Overall, a student capable of getting into CMU and surviving in their program can easily shine at OSU, and quite likely finish up with a similar employment outcome.