PowerY

I am trying to narrow down school choices.

I would like to apply to those:
Tulane University
Fordham University
Southern Methodist University (SMU)
Trinity University OR Stevens Institute of Technology

Which one should I choose? Is Stevens a higher-than-average school? Or I should choose Trinity?

ucbalumnus

People might be able to help you better if you described what you want in a school. For example, what intended or possible majors are you considering? What cost constraints do you have? Do you prefer a religiously affiliated school? If so, what religion, and what level of religious influence would you prefer to have on the curriculum and environment? etc.

PowerY

ucbalumnus:
Thanks for replying. I prefer to have Computer Science (or Engineering, or whatever they named it) as my major or Business as my minor, or vice versa. There is no cost constraints (If you read my old posts, I was kinda crazy, please ignore anything I've said about money before). It does not matter if it is religious affiliated.

I believe I prefer Stevens more than Trinity, but I am not sure if Stevens is as good as Tulane. I don't want to go out of state for an Education (and "impression of college") just like local universities such as LSU.

ucbalumnus

Stevens Institute of Technology and Southern Methodist University have ABET accreditation in computer science and engineering. While not mandatory in the field (except for niche areas like patent agent/lawyer), it does indicate meeting a decent minimum standard, though some good computer science degree programs do not have ABET accreditation (but there are also some bad ones not worthy of the name). For the others, you need to do careful inspection of the courses and degree program to see if they are suitable. A good computer science department should offer junior/senior level courses similar to this list:

Algorithms and complexity
Theory of computation, languages, and automata
Operating systems
Compilers
Networks
Databases
Security and cryptography
Software engineering
Hardware courses like digital systems and computer architecture
Elective CS courses like artificial intelligence, graphics, etc.

Also pay attention to how frequently each course is offered. Some schools offer some courses only once every two years or less frequently.

Federico14

Maybe you should just apply to both of them to see which give you more so you graduate with the least amount of debt and then compare that to the others

jetsfan289

Keep stevens.

PowerY

Bump up to get more comments.

Ucbalumnus:
What other kind of accreditation exist in the nation? (About computer sciences)
So I should not go to ABET accredited schools in CS?
Should I put Fordham off the list?

*For Tulane, I will go for business, but for other schools, I will go for CS. FYI, I still choose Tulane b/c I am from New Orleans.

jetsfan289:
All right, let's see.

ucbalumnus

ABET is the main CS accreditation in the US. The way to think about it is that it sets a minimum standard. An ABET accredited CS degree program can range from ok to excellent. A non-ABET accredited CS degree program can range from poor to excellent. So it is especially important to carefully evaluate the courses and curriculum if the school you are considering is not ABET accredited for CS.

However, it is not necessary for employment or graduate school in CS (provided you attended a school with a decent or better CS degree program, not a poor one), except in niche areas like patent law.

Of the "big four" schools in CS, one and a half (MIT and Berkeley EECS-CSE) are ABET accredited in CS, while two and a half (Stanford, CMU, and Berkeley L&S CS) are not ABET accredited in CS.

PowerY

ucbalumnus:
I see what you saying.
Can you give comments about my other (Tulane, Fordham, and Trinity) college choices?
Thank you very much for replying.

--------------------------------------
Bump up again for more comments.

ucbalumnus

Tulane: no CS major and apparently only a very limited selection of introductory level CS courses.

Fordham: courses here: Fordham University Computer and Information Sciences Undergraduate Courses . Emphasis on data mining; no compiler course.

Trinity: courses here: Trinity University . More varied subjects, but no compiler course for some reason.

jph093

Not exactly.

Reinstating Computer Science Major

Tulane University - Computer science an essential program, says dean

OP would most likely be able to graduate with a major in CS, but as ubcalumnus said, the course offerings are limited.

Check out the link below. In the subject area box scroll click 'computer science' and 'computer sys & technologies' and then click all courses at the bottom. You can see what kind of CS courses are currently offered.

http://classschedule.tulane.edu/

PowerY

jph093 and ucbalumnus:
Thanks for the replies.
Can you recommend what school I should put off the list?

I checked out the link below and I just made a call to Tulane, but they say currently there's no full-time CS degree.


*I want to choose schools with better reputation like Tulane.

PowerY

Bump up again.