<p>Hi guys</p>
<p>I have to decide between SCS at CMU and EECS at UC Berkeley. With May 1st looming, I have to choose one quickly. So I'd be grateful if you guys could answer a few questions.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>How much better is the CS program at SCS as compared to EECS at Berkeley?</p></li>
<li><p>Is the width of courses available at CMU much larger than that at Cal?</p></li>
<li><p>How much difference does the larger class size at Cal make?</p></li>
<li><p>Are there any special advantages to be had at Cal due to its location near Silicon Valley?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Money and weather do not really matter to me. Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>Berkeley no doubt. Name says it all.</p>
<p>Two of my friends and I had to make this choice. Two of us, taking money into consideration (we’re both full pay), decided on Berkeley, and the other person (who got decent financial aid from CMU) just decided on CMU after Cal Day.</p>
<p>1, 2) The variety of CS courses is much larger at CMU (after all, it is the School of Computer Science, not a department :P), but there definitely aren’t as many humanities/social science courses as there are at Berkeley. Berkeley EECS does give you a lot of freedom once you’ve finished the CS prereqs (the three 61 series courses and 70); you basically take whatever upper-division courses you want to fulfill your major requirements. CMU has a somewhat less flexible approach to the CS major requirements, but it is quite generous with AP credits (for example, I would only have to take two humanities courses at CMU, while I have to take four at Berkeley).</p>
<p>And don’t believe anything you hear about “cutthroat competition” at Berkeley. At the EECS presentation/Q&A on Cal Day, students repeatedly told us that the opposite of the stereotype is true; it’s more collaborative than competitive.</p>
<p>3) You probably won’t have problems getting into classes at CMU, while the course waitlists at Berkeley can be annoying. I’m not sure if the class sizes themselves really matter that much, though - you’ll still have to attend lectures/discussions/labs, and at Berkeley, only lectures might have particularly large class sizes (>30ish) from what I’ve seen. </p>
<p>4) Recruiters will have to travel farther to CMU, but this won’t have much of an effect - I compared the schools’ job placements, and as far as I’m concerned, CS people from both school do just about as well.</p>
<p>If I had gotten decent financial aid from CMU, then I probably would have gone to CMU, but I decided that paying nearly $30k/year more would not be worth it.</p>
<p>I realize that jobs for graduates of both schools are pretty easy to come by, but what about the support system for entrepreneurs? Is Cal more linked with the industry than CMU? I get the vibe that CMU is more academic than Cal.</p>
<p>CMU CS program is extremely theoretical. Berkeley being in Silicon Valley is a great advantage. Cal is far more entrepreneurial than CMU and much more well rounded as a university. E.g., CMU has zero sports representation. Other than Stanford, Harvard and perhaps one or two others, no university has so many top ranked programs across a wide array of fields as does Cal.</p>
<p>I have to add that I’m an international student.</p>
<p>More opinions please!</p>
<p>I would say go to CMU just because Berkeley is cutthroat.</p>
<p>Umm iPhone are you a ■■■■■?</p>
<p>Umm iPhone are you a ■■■■■?</p>
<p>@pratyush - Thought you were set on Cal, last minute indecisions I guess.</p>
<p>I think you should ask yourself - whether you want a smaller school or a large public school. I get the impression CMU is very tech focussed and Cal is more diverse academically (lots of different majors that are as good as EECS). Also think about your personality, Would you want a school with Div 1 sports, a lot of happenings or you prefer the low key lifestyle of Pittsburgh?</p>
<p>I think both schools are great and will get you all the opportunities. Choice really comes down to your personal preference at this point. Given OOS tuition, and if I don’t care about the 100 different things that Cal offers (student clubs, groups, sports etc) and I just want to really do CS, get a job and get out, I would choose CMU.</p>
<p>I was offered priority waitlist at CMU and accepted to UCB, and I decided not to pursue CMU. As far as CS reputation goes both are comparable. However, at the risk of inciting any CMU fans reading this thread, my understanding of CMU is that it’s essentially a CS school. In other words, if you ever decide to switch out of CS, you’re kind of getting a raw deal for one of the more expensive tuitions in the country. On the other hand, UCB is still very strong in math, chemistry, or whatever field you decide on instead. At least, this is what it looks like on paper.</p>
<p>iPhone is definitely a ■■■■■.</p>
<p>Berkeley is cutthroat. Go to CMU.
Never really thought CMU as a school that I wanted to go.</p>
<p>@iphone started to recommend Berkeley and then went against.</p>
<p>I think @iphone (like a lot of us) is tired of people micro-differentiating between 2 great programs.</p>
<p>the fact of the matter is - both cmu and Berkeley are full of brilliant students and both need immense amount of hard work, to shine among your peers.</p>
<p>Make a pros/cons list and go with it. I would go with Berkeley …since I like the opportunities a large school provides and I wouldn’t be fazed with large class sizes. And opportunities are much more in the bay area. And I think the EECS is not as impacted and has lots of funding.
There is good support for international students also. </p>
<p>If you thrive in a small class environment with more hand holding, then CMU may be for you though I kinda doubt CMU will be any more hand holding than berkeley. At this level, you will have the BEST students as your peers. Just see the people who replied…most of them barely missed HYPMS …</p>
<p>CMU admissions process this year was extremely strange. Appears they were more motivated by trying to increase yield than any other metric. Many students with high GPA/SAT were out on priority waitlist and encouraged to express their desire to attend CMU. Most probably did not.</p>
<p>Thanks for the inputs guys.</p>
<p>I SIR’ed at Cal today!</p>