Penn State vs Pitt for Computer Science

College Majors Math/Computer Science Majors
1

<p>Hey guys,</p>

<p>I've been accepted to both Penn State and Pitt for CS and I am having trouble deciding which one I should go to. While I haven't gotten my financial aid offer yet obviously, judging by the calculator they should both be about $20,000 a year, so price difference is negligible. I understand both programs are pretty good but Penn State's is ranked higher than Pitt's is. I think that objectively, Penn State will grant me better career opportunities, but I don't know by how much.</p>

<p>The problem I run into is that I enjoyed Pitt and the city more than Penn State. I love the fact that if I go to Pitt, I get to live in Pittsburgh which I loved when I visited, and I am right across the street (and can cross-register courses) from Carnegie Mellon. I don't dislike Penn State, I enjoyed my visit there, but the rural surroundings disappointed me a little compared to the city atmosphere of Pitt. I guess my worry is that if I decide to go to Pitt, I might regret it later on if it really is a class below Penn State in terms of CS.</p>

<p>I probably want to work for a big tech company like Google/Facebook/Microsoft to start off my career, and then I'll figure it out from there. I'm not going to make any predictions on what specific field I'll be interested in since I don't know enough about CS to make that claim, so I guess a general company like Google is a good benchmark. I know Google has an office in Pittsburgh so that eases my fear a little.</p>

<p>If anyone has experienced with the two programs or has gone through this decision before, advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.</p>

2

<p>I would go to the school preferred. Life is not all school work. I don’ t believe the CS program is sooo much better at PSU that the opportunities will be that much better. But you have to live a lot of days in the environment. My kids who looked at the schools as their new homes did much better in terms of school experiences. </p>

<p>My one son did not even major in CS, but took some courses, went to a LAC not known for it at all, and has been heavily recruited based on the work he did there and the knowledge gained. He was up with a lot of heavy hitter CS school grads, and felt a bit intimidated, but the bottom line is they wanted to know what he could do. Pitt, PSU would be regarded equally in terms of schools. </p>

3

<p>Unless a hiring manager went to either Penn State or Pitt, it won’t matter which school you go to for CS. If you like Pitt better, go there.</p>

4

<p>Go to Pitt. There’s no meaningful difference between them and “fit” is ultimately more important to ensure your success since a happier student is a more hard-working student who is a higher-achieving student. ;)</p>

5

<p>Some info on Pittsburgh/ Pitt:</p>

<p><a href=“Pitt, CMU make most of proximity | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette”>Pitt, CMU make most of proximity | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette;

<p><a href=“http://www.cmu.edu/hub/registration/undergraduates/cross/incoming.html”>http://www.cmu.edu/hub/registration/undergraduates/cross/incoming.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“Business Design News & Trends | Fast Company”>Business Design News & Trends | Fast Company;

<p><a href=“/ccpa/”>/ccpa/;

<p><a href=“http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/02/pittsburgh-robots-technology-103062.html#.VHFRjjd0x9A”>http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/02/pittsburgh-robots-technology-103062.html#.VHFRjjd0x9A&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;