<p>So, I have an interesting dillema on my hands. I want to study computer science for my undergraduate degree with an eventual goal of either working in finance or entrepreaneaurship. I will be going to Business School after working for a few years after my undergraduate. So, I was accepted to CIT but waitlisted for the ECE department and for SCS. This means that I would have to declare some other CIT major and then attempt to transfer into SCS. I was also accepted to USC straight into their computer science program and I might do a dual degree with marshall business school. When I visited CMU for a sleeping bag weekend, I was not dazzled by pittsburgh but I really enjoyed CMUs campus and the CS program. However, the social scene at CMU seemed to be lacking and the CS major that I talked to said that he had no time to be involved with any clubs, sports or organizations. Also, the freshman that I talked to said that they had not explored Pittsburgh at all which points to the fact that they only study. At USC, I know that I would be very involved and have an amazing social life, but I would not have as prestigious of a CS degree. Affordability is not a concern of mine and I could care less about bad weather. But I am having trouble with the idea that I would need to transfer once i am at CMU, which likely means a very tough freshman year. So should I go to USC for a balanced undergraduate experience or go to CMU with hopes of transfering into SCS? If i dont plan on staying in a programmer career for my whole life, is SCS really that much better than USC's comp. sci department?</p>
<p>I’m studying both Business and Comp Sci at USC…I haven’t looked at rankings or anything of the sort for comp sci specifically…Viterbi is known to be a great engineering school and Marshall is definitely a great business school…It depends on what you want to do after you graduate. If you plan to stay in the LA area, USC all the way. If not, CMU is probably better. USC has high prestige value especially in LA (and are actually tied with CMU in the college rankings by US news) If you want to focus on business more then USC for sure. They have a CSBA (com sci/ business admin) dual degree that is amazing and seems to fit what you want to do perfectly. Either way there is going to be a lot of studying done. Viterbi is really really hard and requires a ridiculous amount of time studying. Just my thoughts. 
(I’m a current usc student and am biased haha but USC is a great school and I’ve enjoyed it tremendously)</p>
<p>Thanks for the response! How do you think silicon valley companies view USC comp. sci students? LA is not exactly the best area for tech companies and I think that before B-School, I will end up working at a major tech company (Google, Apple, Facebook, not Microsoft).</p>
<p>Based on a sample size of exactly 1, tech recruiters view CMU more favorably.</p>
<p>I was chatting with a former Google recruiter a few months back. When I asked him which schools they target, CMU was in the top 10. The only Southern California school he mentioned was Caltech.</p>