#UPenn CS vs. CMU ECE vs. UC Berkeley L&S CS

110 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

floral lily
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Intended Major: Computer Science, though I'm exploring a double major in Statistics or Economics

Penn (85k/year)
Pros:
CS is a smaller community, less competitive
Opportunity to double major in CAS or Wharton
(More of a personal thing) Ivy League Prestige
Connections = better job prospects (?)
Loved the campus
Cons:
Relatively lower ranked CS program (#16 on USNWR)
Most expensive option

CMU (70k/year)
Pros:
Small class sizes
Highly ranked (#8 for EE, #2 for CE)
Cons:
Not Computer Science (would be taking the majority of my classes in the College of Engineering, not the School of Computer Science)
Not especially interested in the hardware side
Haven't heard great things about social life on campus
Pittsburgh doesn't seem as compelling as Philadelphia or Berkeley

UCB (45k/year)
Pros:
In state tuition (by far the cheapest of my three options)
#2 CS program by USNWR
Close to home
Relatively feasible to double major through the College of Letters and Sciences
Cons:
Close to home (might be good to experience a new environment?)
BA vs. BS
Need to get a 3.3 to declare CS
Massive class sizes and difficult to get classes, especially in upper divs

thorny mist
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100000 extra for CMU or 160000 extra for Penn over 4 years is just not worth it 😭

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Just to be sure, you get into UCB for LS CS right?

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BA isn't a problem

pallid crypt
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parents contributing anything? @floral lily

quiet sierra
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its almost twice the cost of Berkeley

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they clearly said penn was 85k

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the difference is 160k over 4 years

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bruh

floral lily
elder wasp
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imo penn >>> here

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berkeley kinda a mess rn

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cmu both very hard and cs is heavily focused towards scs students from what ive heard from my friends in cmu is

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just in terms of overenrollment and stuff

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not a lot of space for students in housing, classes, anything really

quiet sierra
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I would argue it too is a mess rn

elder wasp
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ah i wouldnt know anything abt that, only have friends at the other two

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good to know

quiet sierra
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It's not public school-wide problems but the way they've treated me, including lying to me multiple times

thorny mist
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Also @floral lily please grab some #810227815260618772

thorny mist
elder wasp
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im not sure how confident i am in berk even if you successfully declare major but its maybe ok

pallid crypt
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my friends a freshman at penn, already got SDE intern at amazon

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if that helps

quiet sierra
pallid crypt
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delete CMU

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its not cs

quiet sierra
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and lesser ranked schools too

pallid crypt
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berkeley not guarantee

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so easily penn

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ur parents will be proud to send u to ivy anyway

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hahahaha penn state 😂😂

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if u do double in cs&econ

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ez

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job

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penn especially

quiet sierra
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You could need 6 years

pallid crypt
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didnt know about tht

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whatever penn still better

quiet sierra
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Unless it is a coordinated degree program like huntsman

thorny mist
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My bet continues to go to Berkeley, I don't really see the need to pay for 160k extra for a CS program that isn't much better for the most part

quiet sierra
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That would be what I would personally choose too

thorny mist
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I reiterate, as long as the OP can declare CS without problem, it's not going to majorly hinder the prospect for a quality CS education

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Especially factoring in the double major component

unkempt geyser
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def go to penn it's such a nice environment and u'll have a great time

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invest in ur future

quiet sierra
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I know Aaron really liked Penn’s name but the cost difference

unkempt geyser
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and it's not as cutthroat as the others even tho it's literally penn lol

quiet sierra
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Penn is still cutthroat though?

thorny mist
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I talked to a current Penn student, and apparently Penn has preprofessional tendencies

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And I agree, Penn is still cutthroat

unkempt geyser
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yea it is but i feel like being from ca and berkeley it's like a lott of competition

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both r great options tho

sick berry
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in cs too

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LMFAO

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are you me

tawdry sequoia
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Now kith

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💖

elder wasp
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lmao almost im a uva freshman but live in ca so i have a ton of friends at cal

sick berry
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oh

elder wasp
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got the nu part right though ❤️

sick berry
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hehe

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berkeley isn't cutthroat btw

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don't not come here because of that

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don't come here if your family is rich and you can afford 40k extra a year and you really care about getting into classes

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berkeley cs places incredibly well

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@floral lily

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bekreley isn't competitive idk where people get that from

sick berry
elder wasp
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yes 100%

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i dont think i made the right choice last year with uva though so

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id take most places

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especially nu though cause i love it from what i know abt it

sick berry
gloomy zodiac
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Relatively lower ranked CS program (#16 on USNWR)
doesnt matter unless ur trying to do research with a prof, even then u can still do significant research regardless

dusk karma
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Berkeley

lavish pagoda
lavish pagoda
quiet sierra
dusk karma
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Getting a 3.3 in the courses needed to declare CS is definitely doable

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They're lower division classes and if you can't handle those then how do you expect to handle upper div

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Berkeley is cheaper and the Valley is well the Valley

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As long as they put intended CS on their app they shouldn't be cockbocked by the funding gap

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@grizzled spoke taking on massive amounts of debt to pursue prestige is not worth

white roost
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College simps never seem to get into their dream school

dusk karma
arctic kraken
dusk karma
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itll just lock out those who did not intend CS on their app

arctic kraken
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assuming the policy works properly and everything

dusk karma
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i talked to a lot of people who were doing CS when i was over at cal

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it seemed like getting the three classes needed to declare was doable

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tbh imo L&S CS should just be axed

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just get rid of the damn thing

gloomy zodiac
gloomy zodiac
dusk karma
gloomy zodiac
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ah i c

gloomy zodiac
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if u are taking any first sem