<p>I am applying to colleges soon and my major will be computer science. I just want your opinions on which colleges are best for computer science. Please rank these for me based on how good their computer science programs are based on either your experience or what you have heard from people. Thank you.</p>
<p>Umass Amherst
Umass Boston
Umass Lowell
Umass Dartmouth
Boston Univeristy
Syracuse University
Drexel University
Hofstra University
Uconn
Rochester Inst. of Tech</p>
<p>UMass Amherst
RIT
BU
Drexel
UMass Lowell
Syracuse
Hofstra
UMass Dartmouth and Boston</p>
<p>Not sure where UConn is but I wouldn’t put it above UMass Amherst and Lowell that have surprisingly good and well recognized programs (and are a great bargain if you are in-state).
I’m sure others may disagree.</p>
<p>This has already been done for you.</p>
<p>[National</a> University Rankings | Top National Universities | US News Best Colleges](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities]National”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities)</p>
<p>Sort of. It doesn’t cover UMass Lowell very well, because its overall historical reputation is not that great, but it has been transformed over the past 10-15 years and now has excellent programs in some academic areas (engineering, CS, nursing, education). It will take USNews a long time to catch up to this.
And the general ranking of a school **doesn’t always **describe the strength of any particular undergrad major. Syracuse for example has highly regarded Communications and Architecture programs that are better than the school’s overall reputation.</p>
<p>More on UMass Lowell:
<a href=“http://www.lowellsun.com/umasstransformation[/url]”>http://www.lowellsun.com/umasstransformation</a></p>
<p>I would pick Boston University out of those, and then Syracuse (overall rep, not sure about CS department)</p>
<p>UMass Lowell, Umass Dartmouth and UMass Boston are all pretty similar from an academic standpoint. None are very good, but they offer a cheap alternative to better schools in Massachusetts (BC, BU, Northeastern, etc.).</p>
<p>Umass lowell or dartmouth?</p>
<p>informative - No, not true. Some UMass campuses have stronger programs than the others in different areas. UMass Lowell and UMass Amherst have the best engineering and CS programs, by a lot. I would **not **go to Dartmouth for CS or engineering.
Please read some of the supporting documentation I linked to above.
And also this for a small example:
[MIT</a>, UMass helping IBM?s Watson computer tackle Jeopardy! - Mass High Tech Business News](<a href=“http://www.masshightech.com/stories/2011/02/07/daily52-MIT-UMass-helping-IBMs-Watson-computer-tackle-Jeopardy.html]MIT”>http://www.masshightech.com/stories/2011/02/07/daily52-MIT-UMass-helping-IBMs-Watson-computer-tackle-Jeopardy.html)</p>
<p>It is ridiculous for you to state that “none are very good”.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for your help beantowngirl</p>
<p>UMass Amherst has a top 10 CS department, according to the NRC rankings.</p>
<p>It’s affordable, nationally and internationally recognized; it participates in a consortium with four other highly-regarded institutions.</p>
<p>Best school on your list by far.</p>
<p>My personal rankings would be:
Boston University
Syracuse
UCONN
Rochester Tech.
Umass Amherst
Hofstra
Umass Boston
Umass Lowell
Umass Dartmouth
Drexel University </p>
<p>UCONN is really good with Computer Sciences and is an overall great school that is well known among many. Boston University is also great and provides really good opprotunities.</p>
<p>UMass - Amherst appears to have the highest reputation in CS, even though its overall reputation is not all that great.</p>
<p>But check the courses and curricula at each school to see how well they align with what you are interested in. Also consider net cost of each option.</p>
<p>Note that UMass - Amherst does not have ABET accreditation in CS (it does for computer engineering). Normally, this is not an issue per se, but can be if you want to go into patent law.</p>
<p>eh… pinkpokadot Idk about the rankings you made, seems like you just listed them by how popular they are…</p>
<p>Beantowngirl, not sure what makes you down on UMass Dartmouth’s College of Engineering, but it’s program is again listed among the “best in undergraduate engineering” by US News & World Report. The college is ranked 37th overall – tied with Boise State University and the University of Portland (OR) – and 14th among public campuses.</p>
<p>
Never is. I believe the poster’s screen name is meant to be ironic. Caveat lector</p>
<p>OK, maybe I need to learn more about UMass Dartmouth and its engineering programs, I have mostly heard negative things through word of mouth.
Note that it is ranked in a much smaller list that includes only schools without PhD programs in engineering. So many of the other schools on the OP’s list would be in a different USNews category, making it difficult to use the rankings to compare them.</p>
<p>Does anyone have an opinion on smaller engineering programs versus larger well known programs? Do you have to be in a big engineering school because they have the resources or does the personal attention at a smaller engineering program offset that?</p>
<p>I think it is ultimately a matter of personal preference. Each type of school has its advantages/disadvantages so you need to think about what matters the most to you. It really helps to visit schools in each category. My son visited what I consider three categories: LAC-like w/eng. (Bucknell, Union, Lafayette), Universities of various sizes (Tufts, U.Rochester - on the small/medium size, state schools on the larger side), and science/tech schools (RPI, WPI, RIT).</p>