<p>I know someone who wants to study CS and is currently deciding between Yale and Columbia. The Columbia CS dept seems stronger and is larger than Yale's (~40 faculty at Columbia vs ~20 at Yale). Yale's CS dept is not weak but Yale is not known for CS or engineering in general, and it seems that there are very few CS majors. At the same time, Yale seems to have more general international recognition and more resources per student. Any thoughts, especially from current Yale CS students, would be appreciated.</p>
<p>Neither Yale nor Columbia are immensely notorious for their CS (although the programs at each are of course very good). I actually recently had lunch (pre-frosh here) with a senior who is about to graduate from Yale in computer science. He said even as a fresh undergrad about to graduate, he could already see the effects of the Yale brand: he received an interview – each company flew him out to their location – from almost every place he applied. He said that especially with larger companies, they look for quick ways to differentiate applicants. Of course, Columbia also has some brand power. I would suggest your friend considers other aspects strongly at both: housing, extracurriculars, locations, core curriculum, etc. He can’t go wrong :)</p>
<p>P.S. – the guy I had lunch with is going to work for twitter next year</p>
<p>If you’re doing CS at Columbia through SEAS you’ll have to take 4-6 more CS courses for a B.S., plus other science courses, whereas at Yale it’s 12 courses for a B.S. and you can choose to take Chem, Phys. etc. if you want. If you’re doing CS Through Columbia College, you get a B.A. and I believe it’s only 9 courses, and you have to take the Core.</p>