<p>Ds would like to put together a list of schools that 1) has a strong CS department (depth/breadth in course offerings); 2) i strong in STEM (should he change majors); 3) offers opportunities for undergrad research; and 4) is located in California. </p>
<p>So far we have:</p>
<p>Harvey Mudd
Stanford
Caltech (weaker in CS but STEM research is top notch)
UC - Berkeley
UC - San Diego
UC - Irvine (safety)
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (safety)</p>
<p>He purposefully left off UCLA as we have been told that it's difficult for undergrads to participate in CS research. He prefers small to mid-sized schools, but we have to keep UCs on the list because the others are reaches for anyone.</p>
<p>Are there any other California schools he should consider? </p>
<p>Thank you! USC is known for their CS Games major. My son is not interested in games. How strong are they in CS overall? I heard that the CS school was going through upheaval. Is this true?</p>
<p>I’ve not heard anything about USC’s CS department going through upheaval. You might go to the USC forum and ask.</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, the ARWU rankings have USC’s CS program at #10 in the world. </p>
<p>I’m an SC alum, and get all kinds of propaganda from the school. From what I can tell, there’s a lot of good stuff going on in the CS department. That said, it doesn’t much matter where you get an undergraduate CS degree, as long as you don’t go to an art school or for-profit school or a place like that.</p>