I have NYU, Georgia Tech, University of Maryland, and the University of Toronto on my list of schools which I’m willing to do computer science major, and I want to be able to get a good job in the tech field-looking for Microsoft, Apple, Google, Facebook, etc-but out of all of these schools, my favorite is NYU, but is there another school on this list which is a recruiting school for any of those companies that I should consider more instead? Also, which of those schools in the best in computer science? Thank you!
University of Toronto is highest ranked for computer science. But, I wouldn’t go there if your goal is to work for the companies you list. MAGF hire mainly local students. So, if your goal is Microsoft, go to University of Washington. If your goal is one of the others, go to a school in the Bay Area.
Ehhhh, I don’t think it’s true that those companies hire mainly local students. I work at Microsoft, and UW is definitely overrepresented here, but Microsoft’s many businesses do national recruiting for both summer internships and full-time positions and we have fresh graduates from all different schools across the country. I’m not straight from undergrad, but my orientation table was mostly CS and EE majors who had just graduated from college, and not one of them went to UW (the only school I remember was Penn, but I do remember that none were UW alum). Apple, Google, and Facebook also do national recruiting, so you don’t have to go to school in the Bay Area to work there at all - although Stanford is definitely overrepresented at those companies. I know several Columbia alumni who went to work at Google post-college, for example.
And oh yeah! All of these tech companies are huge multinational companies with sizable offices outside of their HQ. I live in the greater Seattle area and all four of those companies has a significant presence here. Google [actually has two offices](Build for Everyone - Google Careers) in the greater Seattle area, and it’s the third largest location in the country! Google and Microsoft I also know have large presences in New York and all of them have offices in DC. Microsoft and Google both have tons of offices, and I remember when doing a job search looking at Facebook jobs in different cities.
All four of those schools have excellent computer science departments and I’m willing to bet that they all have all four of your target companies come to campus to recruit, so you should be fine attending any of them.
While all these companies hire locally, they also take students from all over the country. You could ask at each of the career offices or the CS of these colleges what the story is. (I checked NYU and couldn’t find anything on line, but I know you can find this info about Carnegie Mellon, so I assume other schools put it up as well.) A lot of comp sci hiring is based on how competent you are and what internships you’ve done.
Not sure why everyone on this forum focuses on the GAFAM companies with respect to hiring of CS majors, since there are numerous other computer companies, and numerous other companies that hire CS majors.
Also, the advantage of local hiring tends to be strongest with the smaller companies who, unlike GAFAM and other big companies, have neither the need nor the resources to travel to recruit at dozens of schools all over the country.
I’d pick Waterloo Co-op for CS over UToronto.
@MYOS1634 cant do waterloo unfortunately 
Why?
@ucbalumnus because its way cooler to stare at your computer writing code from your cube at Microsoft or Apple than some random “boring” insurance company/misc corporation. Its all about brand recognition, and kids dont realize that being a standout at a place where everyone has similar credentials and looks the same as you is a lot harder than working at a company that has career and visual diversity. Well, its Apple after all… How cool is that?
@suzyQ7 Not that cool when you realize none of these companies offer much mobility up the corporate ladder. Startups are much more exciting these days to many CS majors.
Looking at which colleges place CS students at GAFAM is like looking at which high schools place students at tippy-top name brand universities: seeing at least a few placements is reassuring that you can achieve at high levels. Then students learn about options like Palantir or Swarthmore. Or they go to the state flagship or get a great summer internship at a large corporation, and realize they like the vibe just fine.
Some CS grads will want to advance up the management ladder. Some will want to maximize their net worth. Some will want to ensure work-life balance. Some will want to work on the most cutting-edge technical issues. Some will want to use their talents to be able to work in a field that would otherwise pay peanuts or be difficult to enter (e.g. entertainment, international development, journalism, the arts). A high school student isn’t going to be able to see the range of possibilities, and that’s OK.
However, having graduates work at GAFAM companies does not make a given college unique or special, since graduates of lots of colleges go to work at GAFAM companies. The GAFAM companies recruit widely (contrary to the apparently popular perception that they recruit only at elite schools plus a few other special schools), and it is not like students do not know who they are to apply to them even if they do not come recruiting.
Agreed–just like having graduates at Harvard or MIT does not make a given high school unique or special. But if you’re a parent looking for a high school for your high-achieving kid and you aren’t seeing any graduates at all go to a tippy-top school, it might give you pause. Same deal for looking to see CS alums at GAFAM–and since those don’t have to be fresh-out placements, it gives more latitude. Google famously flies out the top 10% of their college senior technical applicants for on-site interviews, and then extends offers to the top 1% of that cadre. But they keep tabs on those who came near making the cut, and look to recruit from that additional pool after they’ve been seasoned at other companies.
I don’t think you have to work for GAFAM - hey you can work for either of my brothers who are at companies you’ve never heard of! But I agree it’s a proxy for knowing a school is strong enough if they send some students to those companies year after year.
I agree @ucbalumnus! but the OP asked specifically about them, so I answered with that context in mind. Statistically speaking it’s actually unlikely that the OP (or any single computer science major) will work there, though - at least as a first job. It’s also very ok to start smaller and work one’s way up!
And YES, they do recruit widely! All of these companies are trying to diversify their workforces, and that includes recruiting at places that don’t seem stereotypical.
I agree that it’s more difficult to stand out at top companies, because you are competing with other students who are just like you. However, it could potentially be “cooler” to work at a Microsoft et al. than another company. One of the things I love about working at MSFT is that I work on projects that pretty much everyone has heard of and that touch millions of people every day. It’s not something I ever cared about before, but it is nice. To be frank, top tech firms also have excellent benefits and work environments.
That said, pretty much no one has heard of Palantir outside of the tech industry, but I think that would be insanely cool! (I actually applied to a couple positions at Palantir.) And because of the competition, many smaller firms and start-ups are offering the same great benefits. I applied to a couple of start-ups that were offering similar health, time off and retirement packages as Google et al.
“However, having graduates work at GAFAM companies does not make a given college unique or special, since graduates of lots of colleges go to work at GAFAM companies.”
That is true. These companies need lots of people and recruit broadly. However, they also have high standards, so I would say that if a college is putting a significant percent of its grads into those companies, they must be doing something right.
Or those schools may simply have high admission selectivity. In aggregate, stronger students on entry are likely to be stronger job applicants at graduation, although it is certainly true that some students will be much stronger or weaker at graduation than they were at entry.
Of course, regional bias among the students can also matter. Even though big companies recruit nationally, there is still a bias in favor of local or regional schools (e.g. Washington → Microsoft, San Jose State → Apple), which may reflect a bias among the students (not everyone wants to go work in a distant location from where they grew up and went to school).
@ucbalumnus yes but I live in nyc so maybe google ny, or microsoft hq in ny may recruit me, and the same could go for other regional universities like georgia tech in atlanta with google atlanta
Keep in mind that most of the Computer Scientists in the US do not work for Google, Amazon, or Microsoft… and they are doing quite well and have very interesting work.