Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Education > Colleges and Universities
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 07-14-2012, 03:40 PM
 
2 posts, read 6,557 times
Reputation: 10

Advertisements

Does it really matter whether I go to Berkeley or San Diego as a computer science major
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 07-14-2012, 03:51 PM
 
1,468 posts, read 2,146,404 times
Reputation: 584
Which one do you want to go to more?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-14-2012, 03:59 PM
 
2 posts, read 6,557 times
Reputation: 10
Oh god, I would love to go to Berkeley. But right now, I'm in community college and UCSD has a guaranteed transfer program.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-14-2012, 04:25 PM
 
Location: Atlanta & NYC
6,616 posts, read 13,800,678 times
Reputation: 6663
1. Stop whining.

2. It doesn't matter.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-14-2012, 05:16 PM
 
Location: North by Northwest
9,322 posts, read 12,953,726 times
Reputation: 6171
They're both great schools. Beyond access to local jobs, I doubt it will make a meaningful difference after graduation.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-16-2012, 06:04 PM
 
5,500 posts, read 10,500,424 times
Reputation: 2302
Cal is going to carry more name recognition and better recruiting on campus. Assuming it's the same cost why wouldn't you go to Cal?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-16-2012, 08:15 PM
 
12,101 posts, read 17,040,661 times
Reputation: 15764
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gatornation View Post
Cal is going to carry more name recognition and better recruiting on campus. Assuming it's the same cost why wouldn't you go to Cal?
I can chime in on this...

Cal definitely has better name recognition. I went there and relocated to the East Coast for work. Often times, when I tell people from work or academia that I went to Berkeley, they later forget, and ask, "Where did you go again, Stanford?" A dean from a university actually did this to me once!

So, for many outside of California, the schools are synonymous even though IMO Stanford is a significantly better school.

How much will that 'help' you in real life? Probably not much. But just addressing the point Gatornation made...
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-16-2012, 08:43 PM
 
3,082 posts, read 5,428,641 times
Reputation: 3524
To the average person, it won't matter much. To people in academia or intellectuals in general, it will carry a lot more weight.

In the general business world, IME, there are far more average and below average people than there are intellectuals, so to speak. Unless of course you end up working for a firm that recruits only the top talent like Google or Apple.

Hope that answers your question.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-17-2012, 07:14 AM
 
Location: St Louis, MO
4,677 posts, read 5,752,166 times
Reputation: 2981
UCSD has an excellent computer science reputation. Berkeley is much closer to Silicon Valley though, and proximity matters.

Visit both schools and meet the students there. Since you know your intended major, talk to professors in that major. Figure out if one school or the other fits you better and will give you a better chance for success. No matter the reputation, graduating from one of the schools will always turn out better than dropping out of the other school.

All things equal, I would take Berkeley if you want to work in industry just because it gives you better access to Silicon Valley. If you want to go into academia, you might actually find better research funding at UCSD.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-17-2012, 08:57 PM
 
Location: NYC
2,427 posts, read 3,976,661 times
Reputation: 2299
If you want to pursue Computer Science and can get into Berkeley, do it. I have a degree from one of the top comp sci universities and it really opens a lot of doors. Even if you don't want to work at a place like Google or Apple... you're pretty much guaranteed at least an interview at most places as soon as they see your alma mater at the top of your resume. Likewise if you pursue grad school after, you will have a much better chance of getting accepted.

More importantly, the program there is phenomenal - you will be taught extremely well and, assuming you pay attention and work hard, will be prepared for anything you want to do in the industry. As has been noted, having a Cal degree isn't exactly like having a Stanford/MIT/CMU degree - but it's pretty damn close!

That said, SD has a very good program too. You won't exactly suffer if you have to go there instead
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Education > Colleges and Universities
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 09:41 AM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top