My D23 was accepted for CS at Northeastern (NEU) and UCSC and trying to decide which school would be better for her. We’ve been hearing lots of positives on NEU’s end (e.g. COOP, large/robust CS program, etc.). Positives for UCSC is close proximity to Silicon Valley and closer to family.
I don’t want to go into details on our tuition situation but let’s just say it’s not a factor for either schools. I’d like to get more positives for UCSC if anyone can help (reason why I’m posting this on this forum). For example, would love to get info on the quality of the program, data on employment rate, feeder companies, etc. She also prefers a less rigorous program (I know that’s hard to measure or compare). TIA!
Lower tuition at UCSC but less housing. Kidding. Well true but kidding.
Ucsc: This attached is about 7 years old. I could not find a current. But you can ask the CS dept or career center for one.
They seem to have a current overall school one but at least on my phone there was no way to parse by major.
I ran NEUs - it just shows high employment, low grad school plans, low still seeking. I filtered for 2021 only and CS. Very high level.
I think the major is hard core and will be anywhere with upwards of half changing. I can see UCSC being more regional in hire but today placement is all over for most schools. This is because so many kids find jobs on LinkedIn and indeed. But the co op obviously helps one ease into employment. And a lot will depend on the location of where they apply. But I can see NEU kids getting to CA no problem if that is the goal.
I would review the links but then hit up ucsc for more current and NEU for more detailed including salaries and companies placed. It’s always great to see job titles too.
You can also google search school name + LinkedIn + computer science and you’ll see lots of grads. It’s more anecdotal but gives you an idea.
Finally you can ask the schools to set you up 1:1 with a current student ambassador. Most will be honest with your student in a 1:1 discussion.
NEU’s big selling point is co-ops. If that’s important to your daughter then NEU has the edge (although IMO co-ops aren’t as value-additive for CS as they are for other fields).
Otherwise, I would pick UCSC for the reasons you mentioned (proximity to SV and family).
My S is an NU student who has a few CS students for roommates. Based on parent FB comments, I think CS is a rigorous program, especially “Fundies,” the fundamental classes. They all seem to enjoy their co-ops and the co-ops give the students a break from homework and the parents a break from tuition. One of my son’s friends is on co-op with a software developer in San Francisco. Some students do co-ops in Silicon Valley. NU used to have student housing in Mountain View, although I’m not sure if they still do. My cousin’s D graduated from NU with a CS degree and a job offer from a co-op employer in Boston, which is common.
My S took a great remote entrepreneurship class with a Silicon Valley executive who had many IPOs.
This ranking of CS programs, put out by Brown University, averages 5 different rankings. Northeastern ranks 39th, UCSC ranks 74th. computer science open rankings (brown.edu)
It comes down to how much Silicon Valley job placement and proximity to family matters to OP. UCSC punches well above its weight with regards to Big Tech job placement due to its location. But if stronger CS program is more valuable, NEU is the better choice.
TIA!