I was extremely fortunate to have been admitted to Princeton and CMU, among other top Ivy/non-ivy institutions, and I have narrowed it down to these two. However, it’s, April 27 and I am still 50/50 split between Princeton and CMU CS. After thoroughly researching the course flow for each program, speaking to alumni from each school, and looking at post-graduate outcomes, I almost feel overwhelmed by how much information there is to synthesize. I’ll present the facts in a pro-con list as I see them. In terms of my short-term goals, I want to go to Stanford for grad school (my consolation of being rejected for undergrad ) . Long-term, I want to be an entrepreneur and/or industry leader that solves a major problem in the world using computer science. Without further adieu, here’s the comparison:
Carnegie Mellon University (SCS)
Pros:
-Stronger CS (tied for #1 CS according to USNWR)
-Strong prestige within tech world
-Better CS/nerd culture
-More research accessibility
Cons:
-37k/year cost
-Tons of hw
-location (Pittsburgh, PA)
-dead social life
Princeton University
Pros:
-20k/year cost
-Stronger prestige overall (#1 in national universities according to USNWR)
-More of a social life
-Campus
-Better for interdisciplinary work outside of cs & math
-I could branch out a bit more
Cons:
-A bit weaker in CS (#8 CS according to USNWR) /not as much prestige in the tech world
-not as strong CS culture/pure love for CS
Also, money is not a huge factor. I guess it all really boils down to one question: are my career goals better served by a well-rounded Princeton or technical CMU education?
Thank you so much for reading this far – any advice would be appreciated!!
Let’s see - according to you CMU is in a bad city, has no social life and cost more.
Is that where you want to spend four years day after day after day? Sounds like prison - as you describe it.
Plus their food is not rated highly - Princeton is - and you have to eat. People get cranky after one missed meal. For my money, food is as important a metric in college choice as anything else.
Your list, as @DadSays is ridiculous but if those metrics are important to you - do you want to be in Vegas or on Riker’s Island? Those are your choices as you describe them.
Good luck at Princeton…I’m sure 99.9% of society were able to go there too. Congrats.
When I was a student at CMU, the social life was great. Not everyone participated, but there were lots of traditional college frat parties and house parties and other outlets for those who wanted it.
Also, most people love Pittsburgh, and those in tech especially appreciate the thriving tech sector in the city. Princeton, NJ, is a nice little town, but there isn’t much there behind the college.
I am not telling you which to choose, and a case could be made for either, especially if you had articulated what about CS is interesting to you, but some of your pros/cons are nonsensical.
Also, I hope you take a deeper dive into both before making the decision. You list homework as a con for CMU. If academic rigor and homework is an issue for you, neither of these schools seems like a good fit. Princeton is arguably the most academically challenging of all the Ivies.
There is more in your list that I would argue, but as others here have said, it’s a shockingly superficial list that gives the impression that you don’t really understand the colleges and certainly haven’t done a deep dive into the specifics of the programs. If you had, #1 vs #8 in some ranking would be insignificant and which program better addresses your specific academic focus, CS interests, learning style, and more, would matter far more.
If this is as deep is your analysis is going to go, I would choose Princeton. If you don’t like Pittsburgh and are focused on overall prestige, there is no reason to be miserable for four years in a city you don’t like and a lower ranked (overall) university. I am not convinced you will stay in CS, so going to Princeton might be your better bet…not because CMU isn’t strong in many other areas (it is), but because of your priorities.
A deep dive into why CMU’s CS program is stronger would cause a lot of back and forth debate so I’ll pass. I’ll only mention here that CMU has a separate School of Computer Science with a lot of resources dedicated to this field, and many specializations not available elsewhere.
Of course, Princeton has a great computer science program too so it’s only a relative comparison. By no means a chasm between the two programs.
Yeah i mean it’s crazy that people have been saying I don’t know what I’m talking about when they say stuff like CMU’s CS quality is only a magazine ranking. I’ve done my research, and nearly every breakthrough in SV lags behind 4-6 years the cutting-edge CMU research. Again, the only reason for including the rankings is for someone unfamiliar with a program.
There is another CS student on CC right now deciding between Harvard & Princeton. The biggest ‘con’ s/he had for both was that the CS programs are more theory based at H & P than at CMU. Is that a difference that is meaningful to you?
Re: Pittsburgh: the experience of life as a CMU student is not the experience of life growing up there 40 years ago. My SIL was born & raised there, and my brother moved there when they married. Visiting a couple of times a year since then, and hearing from the two of them about the evolution of Pittsburgh as a town.
I’m sorry you didn’t get the chance to visit both schools & see for yourself, b/c imo the school environments are meaningfully different.
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Schools have relative strengths and CMU’s is in Comp Sci and Drama. Similarly, if it were physics that we were talking about I would have said Princeton has a strong advantage.