University of Washington (Direct Admit to CS major) vs. University of Texas Austin - Turing Scholars

UW:

Pros:

  • One of the best, if not the best, institutions for Human-Computer Interaction (subfield in CS) research
  • Very good Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence research
  • Located in Seattle, so internship opportunities at big tech companies (Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft)
  • Relatively small size of CS major (~200 undergrads/graduating class)
  • Have enough AP/IB credits to graduate in 2.5-3 years

Cons:

  • Gloomy weather
  • Intro CS classes are usually 300-600 students (not unlike other big public schools)
  • Slightly weaker in robotics but still strong
  • $55K cost of attendance

UT Austin Turing Scholars program:

Pros:

  • Exclusive group of 60 Turing Scholars out of ~1800 CS undergrads per graduating class, so all CS classes will be small
  • Very good Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence research
  • Better weather
  • Turing Scholars have easy access to research opportunities
  • The Turing Scholars name carries enough weight that even many freshmen find good summer internships (unlikely for freshmen at UW or really any other school)

Cons:

  • Honors requirements may make it difficult to graduate in less than 4 years
  • Austin's tech industry is growing but still not at Seattle's level
  • $60K cost of attendance