I was accepted into Purdue, UCSD, UW, and UIUC, but not by the computer science departments for the last three. I think I’ll transfer to Purdue if I can’t get into CS wherever I do go, and I’ve eliminated UIUC since they do most of their CS admissions in the freshman admission process (so my chances at transferring into the department would be lower than at UW or UCSD). From what I can tell, UW and UCSD are pretty much equal in terms of CS and CE rankings (based on the average of rankings from a number of websites). I kind of like UW more as a school, but UCSD has a bit better academics overall. Also, I had strong stats in the whole application process and was fairly disappointed by the results (not by the schools that accepted me–love them all–just by the number of schools that denied me). For that reason, I’m kind of attracted to UCSD’s lower overall acceptance rate, just so I can feel like all the hard work in high school paid off.
If anyone has any input, I would be super grateful for it. Thanks.
Swallow your pride, take Purdue and the CS major. 2 years from now you are not going to be that interested in impressing your HS pals with how selective the college is that you attend. If you don’t go to Purdue and are not accepted into the CS major then you have the hassle of transferring to Purdue where you don’t know any profs or students (and no guarantee they take you). You’ll start at ground zero for any clubs, which you will care about in 2 years since your work in CS-related clubs has a sizeable influence on how attractive you are as an internship candidate; internships are really important to landing a good job out of college (do you want to hire the kid that spent summers at Facebook and Twitter, or the one that bagged groceries?)
UW is just as strong, has great organic ties with IT community, and is more fun. Are you already admitted to the UW-CS program, which is highly competitive–if so, I would seriously think about attending. They have great recruitment and where else can you kayak to a football game??
Purdue because you’re already in!
I’ve heard a lot that I should go to Purdue because CS there is guaranteed. While it is a great school, I’ve decided, for a couple of reasons, that I’m not going there.
After looking in to both UW and UCSD further, I think it comes down to which one is more likely to accept me into CS. I’m still trying to get some indication of where UCSD stands in this regard, since they’re very tight-lipped about their competitive major admissions. As for UW, I’ve heard that they’re expanding their program. Does anyone know how soon that will come into effect?
Do NOT go with rankings or how prestigious a school sounds to friends of family members. Purdue is a VERY good school with solid academics. If you weren’t accepted into CS and CS is something that you definitely want to pursue/major in, then your question is already answered. Never settle for less than what you want!