GLOBALTRAVELER

You speak as if this happens for a vast majority of grads at top schools. Quants job for IB have about 1,000 jobs per 10,000 applicants. We won't go into how many actually get the big accounts. True, they are only open to those from top schools but let us not forget the actual PROBABILITY of that happening, even with a degree from a top school and a 3.99999 GPA.

Defense-sector startups happen all the time. They make their connections within NSA/FBI/CIA and branch off and create startups. If successful, they sell them years later for millions. Nothing different.

INTEL jobs do not get outsourced. It's pretty much guaranteed employment as long as the USA decides to continue being the "world policeman" and our foreign policies are the same.....and if don't mess up and jepordize your clearance.


I don't know about that. Top-secret clearances with polygraphs nets you an additional $30,000 to $50,000 for the same job done in the private sector. If the average fresh CS grad is getting above $50,000/year and NSA/FBI/CIA gives them the max $50,000 for the clearance, I guess it might be possible.


I guess there are 2 ways to look at this. One can look at the "aesthetics" of the name of the employer (which I probably did when I was younger and working not many years in the industry) and one can look at employers in an "at the end of the day" manner. ACME mortgage company does not care if a software engineer works for Google or Facebook. ACME mortgage company care HOW MUCH that software engineer makes period (and their FICO score). AMEX does not care if a software engineer works for Google or Facebook. AMEX mortgage company care HOW MUCH that software engineer makes period. For the merchant who is swiping 2 separate AMEX cards, that merchant does not care who works for Apple or Facebook, that merchant cares that credit authorization is approved.

I do understand the feeling of being somewhere where there is high selectivity and knowing that you passed through the competition. At the same time, I also understand the "bottom line" on things.

ChrisTKD

QCstudent "Program quality matters. "

Stony Brook has a quality program and brand name tech companies heavily recruit at your school. But you get that quality and recruiting at a university that isn't commonly considered one of the very top CS programs. So, I'd agree with you that quality matters but I'd add that the OP doesn't have to obsess over how high his particular university is ranked. As an international student he does have to be concerned whether there is any brand recognition of the school in his home country.

ucbalumnus

The big companies likely have wider college recruiting than small companies, because they can afford it, and they need larger numbers of hires. And so many people know about the big companies that anyone can apply to GAFM on their web sites even if they attend a non-recruited school.

It is at the smaller companies where your school may matter more -- being at either a local school or a well known school on their short traveling recruitment list can help, because you would not otherwise have known to apply there.

CalDud

Going strictly on what I've heard...

Carnegie Melon & Berkeley.

Dream4Life

if your grades cut it, look into stanford, a large tech. giant, who has a reputable comp sci major.

zee1012

Guys I am sorry If i offended u. But i got annoyed by every1 saying the same thing "can u afford it". Btw yes I can my dad's monthly income is much more than the yearly cost of living and tuition fees of MIT. However, I myself don't want to go to a very expensive uni like MIT, Stanford plus I want to go to a uni whose acceptance rate is 30% above UCB is exception though.

zee1012

Hey dude listen. Firstly privates have a low acceptance rate and I don't wanna go to a uni with such a low acceptance rate. Secondly, My dad is uneducated his parents died when he was 5 and he had to leave school after 12th grade. Since then he worked very hard and is now a above average earner business man but he still values money a lot and never spends a lot of money for anything. 30-40$ tuition fees is resonable for my dad, the cost of living is not a problem! Thats y i want to go to public universities which are top ranked for CS and have a good reputation in market

kartos

someone said that you are from the UK, if that's the case why not try applying to cambridge,oxford or imperial? they are top universties and I believe thay have great CS programs as well and will probably cost you less than attending a US university

OperaDad

> However, I myself don't want to go to a very expensive uni like MIT, Stanford plus

As an out of state student, all universities to you (including public) will be as expensive as MIT and Stanford. Once you accept that, then the discussion can advance.

> Firstly privates have a low acceptance rate and I don't wanna go to a uni
> with such a low acceptance rate.

Fair enough. Then decide what you want: Easy admissions or "I want to go to a uni which has excellent education standards, good job prospects esp for comp sci"

The better schools will be tougher to get into, in general have higher education standards, and better job prospects. That is why kids are advised to apply to reach, mid-range, and safety schools. If all you want are safety schools, then that is your choice. They are safety schools for a reason.

Tell us what you really want, then then we can help you. Otherwise, don't give us all this BS. My guess is that your parents are pushing you, and you have to select a school that is acceptable to them (well ranked, good job prospects), and you want a school where you can coast and have some fun (the large public universities).

zee1012

No I am not from UK. I am Indonesian, i dont wanna go to UK as my whole family lives there i dnt want to b family-bounded.

zee1012

Opera Dad u find bro? Marylands tuition fee is 25,000$, UT Austins $ 32,000, Gatech and Illinois in between $ 25000-34000 howe that even close to private unis like Stanford, CMU whose tuition fees is approximately $45,000. But seriously cant u just answer wat i want instead of arguing over irrelevant things. I want to go to a TOP 20 CS university which has excellent reputation fr CS. And the tuition fees "TUITION FEE" not "COST OF ATTENDACE" should not b more than $40000.

OperaDad

> And the tuition fees "TUITION FEE" not "COST OF ATTENDACE"
> should not b more than $40000.

If $40k for tuition is your cutoff, ...MIT is $42k for tuition and fees. It is a safe bet that $2k/yr is well worth the additional cost of an MIT degree (even if you have to beg, borrow, or work for it). If your cutoff is really $25k, then why all the talk about being able to afford $60k?

Here is the list of top CS schools. If cost is your only issue, then it would take a lot less effort on your part to go down the list (you only need to check the first 20, since that is your desire) and figure out which schools are affordable to you, than waste your time on forums getting responses that are not helpful to you.

Best Computer Science Programs | Top Computer Science Schools | US News Best Graduate Schools

BTW: Here is a link to the MIT Financial Aid page for International Students: http://web.mit.edu/sfs/financial_aid/index.html

ChrisTKD

zee1012 - note that all of the schools that you were considering in your original post appear on the top 20 CS graduate school rankings. There may be some schools that do better in the graduate versus undergraduate rankings or vice-versa but all of the schools that you picked are good. If there's anything that you should take from the rankings its that you may have undervalued Georgia Tech.

zee1012

Yes even I think I undervalued GATECH Initially thanks for help