I’m very interested in AI, CS, and ML. My dream school is Cambridge but I didn’t apply in time. I really want to transfer there but they pretty much only allow UK students to apply for transfer. Either way, I’m fine with both locations, I have a US passport, and I just want to go to a good school to help me get into a top notch grad school.
I’m love the UK education structure more than the US structure but the food in US is better.
Here are my schools. Help me pick between them!
Assuming I get rejected from MIT, I’m struggling to pick between Edinburgh and UChicago. I’m leaning towards Edinburgh because the artificial intelligence major is unique af and pretty much the best in the world. My biggest concern is how my peers back in United States will see me as only a few know how good Edinburgh is.
University of Edinburgh
- Artificial Intelligence best in the world. (picked that for major)
- Location
- Lots of International Students
- Drinking age
- 19th in the world
University of Chicago
- Reputation in US
- Machine Learning research is amazing
- 10th in the World (higher ranked)
US
University of Chicago
University of Michigan
Georgetown University
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
University of Maryland
Stanford (rejected)
MIT (waiting)
Vanderbilt (waiting)
Cornell (waiting)
University of Washington in St. Louis (waiting)
UK
University of Edinburgh
Imperial College London
University College London (waiting)
University of Manchester
NO contest in terms of prestige, academic reputation and employment prospects between UChicago and all your UK schools. UChicago is a world leading school. Only Oxbridge could be a better choice in the UK.
And you’ve been accepted to UChicago and Edinburgh?
I mean Chrchill, imperial is #9 in the world and edinburgh has arguably the best AI program in the world. Oxbridge’s computer science department is much weaker than edinburgh’s and imperial’s. That’s why I wanted to go to Cambridge so badly. I know for sure that I want to do computer science and machine learning in the future so I’m going for major specific rather than a school that’s good for a wide range of fields.
Take into account that I really don’t want to spend every hour studying in college. That’s my biggest fear if I end up going to UChicago. UChicago’s cs undergrad department is also pretty weak but it has a very good reputation in the united states.
I don’t know where I want to go now… I really want to go to Imperial or Edinburgh now but all my parents and friends want me to go to Uchicago. I guess Uchicago is much more recognized but I’ve heard about how hard it was.
There’s a tradeoff between what I want and how other people will view me… I’m still stuck.
Just an fyi, I don’t care about employment prospects because I’ve already got 2 job offers at fortune 500 companies. It’s just a matter of having the college experience and having a good foundation for a PhD.
The UK is going through a rough patch with Brexit, and it you are not a UK citizen, it will be more difficult to find a job there until that is resolved. MIT or Chicago are both excellent choices, with MIT being the obvious winner based on what you want to do.
I’m not looking for a job in the UK and I have jobs lined up for me in the United States (don’t know how to word this without sounding arrogant).
The way UK education is structured, I solely want to focus on CS/AI instead of other subjects such as chemistry or introduction to writing. However, I’m debating if a brand name in the United States will overshadow the quality of education and life I might receive the UK. My friend currently goes to UChicago and all he does is study and drink. All I can say is that he’s pretty miserable right now.
In anything CS related, in my opinion, it’s about what you know rather than the brand name; otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to pass the interviews. The only drawback I can see to UChicago is quality of life.
MIT is the one school that I’ll throw everything aside just to go there though.
If you think U of C CS is weak, you don’t know a lot about CS. Or rather, you only know about rankings.
CS at the U of C is highly theoretical. In that respect, it is more similar to Edinburgh/Imperial and the other UK unis than American ones. BTW, CS at Imperial (and Edinburgh, I believe) involves a lot of class time. 30 hours a week. Granted, the Brits tend to assess you almost solely by a few big tests (and sometimes projects/papers) due at the end of the year, so if you are good at cramming, you may have a decent amount of free time.
Honestly, it does seem like the UK unis would fit you better (100% on CS and CS-related classes in England; many electives first year, a handful of electives second year, then 100% on CS in Scotland) and any of the schools you’re considering (actually, any of the ones you applied to) would be able to get you in to a top CS PhD program, so if you are 100% sure about your path, go where you would be happiest and be challenged the most. Academia won’t give a fig about the lay reputation of UChicago/Edinburgh/Imperial in the US.
But if you may go down a different path, UChicago probably would serve you better in the US.
BTW, I would say the American analogues, reputation-wise goes like this:
Imperial=Caltech
Edinburgh=UIUC/UT-Austin
UCL=UMich/UCLA
Imperial is very respected in the former British empire.
Edinburgh is elite in some areas (like UIUC/UT-Austin) but is a biggish public.
UCL is a biggish public just a level below Oxbridge(/LSE/Imperial) (like UMich/UCLA are just below the Ivies/equivalents).
As a rich private, UChicago will offer more resources than the UK unis, though. Even the research-powerhouse flagships like UIUC/UT-Austin may offer more research opportunities.
But you will delve deeper in to a subject at top UK unis than almost all Americans would (since you focus on only one subject). By 3rd year at Imperial/4th year at Edinburgh, everyone is taking a full year of essentially grad-level courses. That is also possible at UChicago, though, but you are not forced to delve so deeply.
Take a closer look at modules in each course at Edinburgh. There are about 15 courses that might be of interest to you
Here is AI
http://www.drps.ed.ac.uk/17-18/dpt/utaintl.htm
Here is cognitive science
http://www.drps.ed.ac.uk/17-18/dpt/utcogscbs.htm
Both are great schools. Check out what would be your typical course load at each school and see which one you prefer. Also, both Chicago and Edinburgh are GREAT cities to spend 4 years in so you can’t go wrong either way there. Please update us when you get your acceptances.
The Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago is also on the U of C campus.
U of C students may enroll in classes at the TTIC:
http://www.ttic.edu/faq/
Courses here:
http://www.ttic.edu/courses/
U of C also has a joint BS/MS program:
http://collegecatalog.uchicago.edu/thecollege/computerscience/
"Outstanding computer science majors may apply to complete an MS in computer science along with a BA or BS during their four years at the College. Students must be admitted to the joint MS program. "
“Participants in the joint BA/MS or BS/MS program must meet the requirements for the BA or BS plus nine courses for the MS and a master’s project. Three of the nine courses for the MS may also be used to meet the requirements of the BA or BS, resulting in a total of 20 courses in computer science. For details visit http://cs.uchicago.edu/info/BxMS.”
That would give you as much depth as Imperial/Edinburgh.
UCicago has become a lot more user friendly and fun. I have no dog in this fight (Harvard grad.), but there is no question that only Oxbridge are in the UChicago league in the UK. Your degree is your key long term investment. Get the one the generates the most bang long term. You never know when the pedigree will come into play. But when it does, you want to be in the strongest position to win. .
@Chrchill, what CS background do you have?
I personally like the U of C but are you aware that pedigree/prestige is like beauty in that it is in the eye of the beholder and thus may differ a fair bit across fields and regions?
First get accepted to UChicago. With their new ED 1 and ED2 you will need to walk on water to get in RD.
^ I think the OP is already in at the U of C.
You have so many excellent universities on your list. Among UK universities, only Imperial is on par with your best US options. Among US universities, Georgetown, Vanderbilt and WUSTL, while clearly outstanding, are not as strong in CS as your other choices. UIUC and Maryland are excellent in CS, but not as well rounded. If you are fortunate to be admitted into all your schools, MIT would be your best option, followed by Chicago, Cornell and Michigan, followed by UIUC.
The reason I’m considering Edinburgh so much over Imperial and Chicago is because they offer an AI major for undegrad, and in my second and third year i’ll already NLP and ML courses. I will be able to take 8 courses for artificial intelligence a year in comparison to the standard computer science track in the US. Artificial intelligence is the future and the major choice probably will be better than a CS major where you take 1-2 classes in ML your third or fourth year.
If it were standard CS, I would choose Imperial or UCL in a heartbeat, but Edinburgh is an AI heavy research school which interests me a ton. Another reason I don’t exactly want to go to US are because of the general reqs like chemistry or physics… I never wanted to touch chemistry again after my sophomore year of high school…
Yes, I agree, Mit would be absolutely perfect though because it’s a combination of both top programs and ranking.
Also, keep in mind that I want to try to transfer to Cambridge my second year, and to my understanding, they only allow UK transfers.
Thanks for all your feedback!
What does it matter whether your mother’s next door neighbor knows your university?
B/c the people whose opinion should matter to you- the people that will offer places in grad schools, who will hire you, who will work with you after you graduate- know which programs are the best. Do you not think that if you - as a high school student!- have worked out which is the #1 program for your subject that just possibly the *experts in your field have worked it out also? Do you not get that in specialized fields, all the experts know each other- and the relative rank of the school means less to them than that you have gone through program A, worked with professor B, done research/published in topic C? That is true on both sides of the Atlantic- I am currently watching it play out with this year’s cohort of students just being accepted into PhD programs in several countries, and it is the same in each place. I know an Edinburgh student (different subject than you, but STEM) who is currently fielding offers from all of the PhD programs she applied to- 4 of the top 10 in the US and 3 of the top 5 in the UK. So yes, somebody in the US knows about Edinburgh.
Also, you misunderstand about transferring to Cambridge. Bluntly: it will not happen. In an infinitesimally small number of cases they have accepted a student who has done their first year in the same course, in a UK university into second year (it is the UK institution that matters, not citizenship). Cam is explicit that It can only happen with “strong support” from the current university: the relevant senior person at your uni writes to the head of the College that you want to apply to and makes the case for why you should be at Cambridge and why Cambridge should be falling over itself to get you. IF the head of the college agrees, THEN you may then submit an application. Your only realistic shot is to either just eat your first year of uni and start over, or take a gap year and apply for next year.
*(with whom you presumably have some pretty good connections, given that you have guaranteed job offers in top tier companies for 4-9 years from now, before you even finish high school)
Ilovecherrypies, I do not recommend majoring in something as specialized as AI. I think CS is a much safer major, and will give you the technical foundation to go into multiple fields. You can always take AI courses while majoring in CS, and if you are still interested in AI after college, you can always get a graduate degree specializing in AI. In this regard, I think US universities will offer you far more flexibility and resources to cater to your specific intellectual interests and needs.
Eindburgh is a good university to be sure but I do not think it is worth choosing over the top US universities or Imperial, especially if your intent is to transfer to Cambridge. If that plans falls through, you will stuck at a university you do not necessarily want to be in.