UMD CS vs UW-Madison CS

[wooden hinge]

UW-Madison
School 1 Pros:

• Good CS program (t15 for CS)
• campus looks nice

School 1 Cons:

• Doesn't have that good of a reputation overall (still regarded as good in the CS world though im assuming)
• A massive party culture from what i've heard (I'm not introverted necessarily, but I do not plan on partying my entire time in college)
• kinda cold (but doesn't bother me that much)

UMD

School 2 Pros:

• Good CS program (t15 for CS) also but idk how it compares with the other schools
• heard it has a lot of FAANG+ prospects
• location and proximity to DC (defense companies potentially hiring more?)

School 2 Cons:

• Has a good CS rep, but overall not really known as prestigious
• I've heard it's kind of socially dead, but tbh all I need is a group of friends to go out with and I'd be fine with that

Tiebreaking considerations:

• Best for FAANG+ job prospects/internships
• Best CS culture overall (a relatively competitive enviornment)

[grim salmon]

what about cost?

[wooden hinge]

cost is not an issue for me, I'm full-pay for all my colleges

[grim salmon]

if cost is a non-factor, UMD CS

[wooden hinge]

is there a specific reason why

[grim salmon]

Close to industry

[wooden hinge]

do you know if it's just better for defense companies or does UMD have a better presence at faang aswell?

[signal brook]

theres hella ppl who go on to jobs at amazon, capital one, leidos, and google, so u have some good chances

a lot of government jobs are also avaialble

[wooden hinge]

bet bet

[signal brook]

umd actually has a few clubs that does work for these companies, and that might increases ur chance of getting an interview

[wooden hinge]

oh interesting, what are the club's names. I'll look into them

[signal brook]

ai/ml club and app dev club

They get like 1k apps and accept around 200 to be placed in their project teams

[wooden hinge]

are the project teams like internships? or are they just programs by these companies

[signal brook]

well u are doing work for the company so it kinda like an internship but more like a contract

but its still really good experience and people from these teams get rlly good internships

https://appdevclub.com/

heres some more info

[wooden hinge]

damn looks fire

thanks a lot, I'll def look into it

I think for now I'll probably pick UMD over uw-madison, but I'll wait for my Rd and UC decisions first

[proven comet]

I’d say UMD