#Caltech vs UT Austin CS

55 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

worldly parrot
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Schools: Caltech vs UT Austin (Not Turing)
Intended major: Computer Science, especially focusing on AI & Scientific Computing
Similarities: Both are highly ranked CS programs with good outcomes and academics
Caltech
Pros:

  • Very rigorous academics (I want to drink from the firehose)
  • Probably carries more prestige
  • Lots and lots of research opportunities such as SURF (I plan to go into academia, but not 100% set on it)
  • Smaller school
  • Has some research labs I'm interested in
  • Theoretical focus

Cons:

  • Crazy expensive and I'm unlikely to get much aid
  • Far from home
  • Most people probably don't recognize the name outside of JPL/NASA/academia
  • Really one sided toward research and not as much toward industry or entrepreneurship
  • Not sure how good LA/Pasadena area is for tech

UT Austin
Pros:

  • Close to home
  • In-state tuition is really cheap
  • Highly ranked CS program
  • Austin is a good tech city with good industry & entrepreneurship
  • Better food

Cons:

  • Less rigorous and less theory than Caltech
  • Research opportunities are good but not comparable to Caltech
  • High student-faculty ratio
  • Hard to take graduate courses or courses in other majors
  • A lot of the research labs I want don't have undergrad researchers listed on their page
  • Probably a bit less prestigious than Caltech

Tiebreaking considerations:

  • How flexible I'll be with my path of going into research/industry/entrepreneurship for each
  • Whether the rigor of Caltech is worth paying triple the price
vapid adder
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As great as Caltech is, that in state tuition from UT is incredibly hard to ignore giving how good they are in CS.

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With that said, are you and your family able to comfortably afford Caltech for 4 years with no financial issues whatsoever?

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Also, to note, LA/Pasadena area is still an excellent tech area so I wouldn't consider that a con. And Caltech does have that whole massive reputation in the engineering/CS field wherever.

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Ultimately, if finances aren't an issue, it seems the academics and research community that Caltech has seems to appeal to you a lot more, and atp I would just go for them if you feel like you'd do better there.

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In general, I'd say going you'd probably have to work a bit more to getting more research opportunities at UT given their size but I believe you'd still get similar results compared to if you went to Caltech, especially with research being the major focus? So the price UT gives is extremely hard to ignore with the benefits they have.

worldly parrot
thin quail
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ROI on Caltech is too high to say no. I think its number one in the country

vapid adder
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A good ROI takes into consideration with how much you pay for that degree and how much you make after. As good as Caltech is, it is unwise to go to a school that would mess up with your family's finances.

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Your other option, UT, is an excellent university, and the cost for it makes it too even better as an investment option

young karma
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I really want to say caltech….man I feel ur pain, but ut might be the way if caltech is substantially more expensive

grand hare
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I see it like this: if you're smart enough and motivated enough to get into CalTech, then you're gonna crush UT and get whatever job you want anyway. To me, the difference is the experience. It you want the CalTech experience and are willing to pay for it, then it could be awesome. But if you're more concerned about outcomes, then I suspect you'll find the difference to be more minimal. Either way, no wrong choice here. Congrats!

grim shoal
# thin quail ROI on Caltech is too high to say no. I think its number one in the country

ROI? with a bachelor's in CS you're just going to take a software dev job in SF/Seattle/Austin. They don't pay more for more expensive bachelor's degrees. Better off getting a 5th year MS at UT than paying extra for Caltech.
Hyperbolizing, but the BS->FAANGMANSLUTS pipeline is popular so unless there's a compelling specialty that Caltech can offer, there ain't no ROI for fancy private schools in the tech industry.

thin quail
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in companies like Jane Street, Citadel, and etc

grim shoal
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pretty sure UT is a target for them, but okay yeah that path can be a bit more specialized even for a bachelor's

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standing by my UT MS > Caltech BS tho

grim shoal
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A lot of the research labs I want don't have undergrad researchers listed on their page
a lot of labs don't list undergrads because
they're usually flaky
it takes time and effort to keep a website updated

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do you care that caltech is tiny compared to UT? i'll check the numbers rq but i think UT probably has more CS majors than caltech has students

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which can be worse for student:faculty ratio but does lend itself to broader social opportunities

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fwiw, it's not hard to talk to profs at a large school (ucb eecs) just because very few kids go to the effort of emailing the prof and going to their oh

grim shoal
worldly parrot
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Thank you for the resources!

candid sandal
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I would take UT. Although Caltech is pretty revered upon, I'm not sure you're getting that great ROI compared to if you went to UT.

valid trout
worldly parrot
valid trout
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60k is like a few months of salary

worldly parrot
valid trout
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oh nvm 😭

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that's crazy

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go UT Austin

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240k total debt is gonna set you back like 2 years

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or more

valid trout
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first time i've ever heard this term

grim shoal
# valid trout wtf is FAANGMANSLUTS

A few years ago some tech influencer referred to the fastest growing tech companies at the time as FAANG: Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, google. Since then it's been a shorthand for big tech companies (which was funny for college students because Netflix didn't hire new grads at the time). Then someone thought it would be funny to add some other major tech companies. Microsoft, Airbnb, Nvidia, stripe, Lyft, uber, t something, square maybe?
Anyway more properly it's MANGAMANSLUTS because Facebook is now meta.

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Facebook
Apple
Amazon
Netflix
Google
Microsoft
Asana
Nvidia
Stripe
Linkedin
Uber
Twitter
Square

valid trout
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people come up with the craziest acronyms

worldly parrot
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I just got a financial aid offer from Caltech, and it turns out the difference will work out to be more along the lines of 180k

grim shoal
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total for 4 years?

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is that tuition and housing?

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ngl that's a lot of money

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save it for grad school

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bruh they're even ranked the same (if that's something you care about)

image.png
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btw SURF is open to non-caltech students

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larger pool of applicants i suppose

grim shoal
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you check out the course requirements? ngl caltech looks like it offers greater breadth, for example concentrating in learning & vision which comprises courses across several departments. that might be just a product of the small size of the school.