Which one - UW-Seattle / UCLA / UT-Austin

College Search & Selection
1

My son is having a hard time in deciding which one.
He’s got UW Seattle - Direct admit into CSE, UCLA Reagents (CSE) and UT-Austin - Turing Scholars (CS)

I am a California resident - but cost is not into consideration in selection of the colleges. I think all these are schools are great - but if he has to make a choice - which one
Looking into which department stands out and pros/cons

Appreciate suggestions and opinions.

2

UW or UCLA. UW Amazon, Microsoft, and spin off companies, Seattle is great. UCLA great school overall. Great job getting to this point. Congrat to your son. And his parents.

3

All good choices for CS since he has direct admission.

Perhaps look at the courses and requirements to see if any is academically preferable to him.

Also, does quarter or semester system matter to him?

4

I think the choice has to be between UCLA and UW, while UT has an excellent engineering department and Austin is a great city it can’t compete with Seattle or LA for opportunities. UW is great if he wants to work for Microsoft or Amazon in the future. UCLA would be better if he wants to work for a silicon valley startup. Both will provide equal academic opportunities. The classes will be large at both universities. They might be a bit smaller at UCLA especially intro CS classes that have about 700-800 people at UW. Both the universities are on a quarter system. There is really not much to split these universities your son should go with wherever he is happy to be.

5

OOS direct admit to UW CSE is very rare and a tremendous accomplishment. Here are two articles about UW that you might enjoy:

http://www.quora.com/What-is-it-like-to-be-a-computer-science-major-at-the-University-of-Washington

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2012/07/08/technology/u-of-washington-a-northwest-pipeline-to-silicon-valley.html?referrer=

As others have noted, all three are highly regarded departments:

http://www.computersciencedegreehub.com/50-innovative-computer-science-departments/

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-doctorate-computer

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/computer-science-rankings

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-engineering-schools/computer-engineering-rankings

Congratulations to your son, and good luck!

6

Thx for the suggestions and reviews … Really helpful -
So far - its UW … unless one of the wait listed confirms (Cal (EECS), CMU (SCS)) … Any opinions … .