Penn Engineering or CMU computer science?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

<p>Hey everyone,</p>

<p>I was accepted to CMU SCS and Penn Engineering and am having trouble deciding which school to attend. Obviously, CMU's computer science department is phenomenal and can't be compared to Penn's, but Penn seems to be more well-rounded and I may be interested in pursuing a dual-degree (compsci and some humanities/liberal arts major). I know I definitely want to major in computer science but I'm not sure if that's the only thing I want to do. Extracurriculars are also pretty important to me and I'm worried that the difficult coursework at CMU will hinder my ability to participate actively.</p>

<p>I visited Penn this past weekend and had a fantastic time but didn't completely fall in love...and chances are I won't be able to visit Carnegie Mellon. </p>

<p>Any help I can get with my decision is greatly appreciated. Thanks!</p>

2

<p>You obviously want people to say Penn. I think Carnegie Mellon is a better idea because although Penn is one of the best schools in the country, Carnegie Mellon is the place to go to when you want to study Computer science</p>

3

<p>I’ve had a lot of people say Penn already - what I’m looking for are reasons beyond what I’ve mentioned above, because I’m still not sure and I’ve been debating this for weeks. I posted this on the CMU board as well and am hoping to get answers from students/prospective students at both schools…</p>

<p>Thanks for your opinion though!
What do you think about the social scene at Carnegie Mellon? I don’t need it to be as good as Penn’s but I don’t want to be stuck in my room doing nothing but homework for the majority of weekends.</p>

4

<p>Is there a social scene at CMU lol? I’d say Penn because it provides a more full college experience.</p>

5

<p>People who go to Penn are usually dead-set on what they want to do. They know and theyre ready. You will get a good education either way. To be honest, Penn probably has a better social life than CMU but you’ll enjoy yourself either way. I always say this but… You cant go wrong either way.</p>

6

<p>Penn because the school has a much richer heritage / history.</p>

7

<p>“People who go to Penn are usually dead-set on what they want to do.” </p>

<p>Completely false. People who go to Wharton or Nursing know what they want to do. I am in SAS and have no idea what I want to do</p>

8

<p>ditto to the statement of falsehood</p>

<p>i changed career paths twice over the past 4 years</p>

9

<p>Most of my peers at Penn CS chose it over CMU. Easy decision. The better quality of life on the Penn campus and the Penn education makes a better experience than CMU - plus, you can always go there for grad school, which is the only place where the relative difference really matters.</p>

<p>I’ll put it this way: on a friday night, where are you? Coding? Or doing <em>anything</em> else? If you’re coding, go to CMU. If not, go to Penn. Otherwise you may end up miserable. (The 3 friends I knew from HS who went to CMU all transferred out)</p>

10

<p>It depends on how serious you are about computer science. It is one of the most difficult majors there is and it requires a single-minded determination to gain fluency in object oriented programming and general software design principles.</p>

<p>Carnegie, Stanford, MIT, UIUC and Berkeley are the premier places in the world to study computer science. You will be with like-minded students and learn from elite faculty. In return, you will be heavily recruited by Microsoft, Google and Facebook. Penn CS unfortunately cannot offer you anywhere near this amount of opportunity.</p>

<p>in CS, CMU vs. Penn –> CMU (not even close)</p>

11

<p>penn’s not better on a pure cs level, but microsoft and google do come here to recruit…</p>

12

<p>cmburns14 (I wonder where you want to go…)</p>

<p>When you use words like “premier” and “elite” you lose all credibility. Additionally, Microsoft, Google, and Facebook recruit heavily at Penn as well. You won’t be missing out on any opportunities by attending the only ivy in that list.</p>

13

<p>CMU has the best computer science program in the nation, and will only get better with Gates Center in fall 2009. Give credit where it is due.</p>

14

<p>sang54, i don’t think anyone in this thread has discredited the superior quality of cmu; your point is moot</p>

15

<p>

</p>

<p>Stanford and MIT yes, but you will not get more recruiting from companies like Microsoft and Google at Carnegie than you will at Penn</p>

16

<p>Don’t forget that departmental rankings are for graduate programs, and that the fact that any school has a #1 department in any field, does not necessarily imply that it is the best choice for studying that major at the undergraduate level.</p>

17

<p>It really depends on what you want to do after college…I think doing CS at Penn will offer you a wider range of post-graduation options. That’s why I chose it at least :). On the other hand, if you’re really interested in pure CS and perhaps want to go for a PhD at some point, then Carnegie is perhaps a better option. In my opinion, Penn’s CS degree will offer more versatility in the job market (and especially given that you can dual degree/take courses at the other schools).</p>

18

<p>And if you’re interested in doing a PhD in CS, look at the CS PhD placement this year at [url=<a href=“http://www.cis.upenn.edu%5DComputer”>http://www.cis.upenn.edu]Computer</a> & Information Science<a href=“under%20the%20right%20%22Events%22%20column”>/url</a>.</p>

19

<p>As a current employee at Google I can say with confidence that Carnegie Mellon will offer you a wider range of job opportunities in the tech industry. Penn is great but the CS program is much more limited.</p>

20

<p>Go to CMU, it’s a better school and in a better area.</p>