<p>Well, I don’t think that the presence of the MCS program really means that the program is truly ‘applied’. It may simply mean that Chicago sees the program as a way to generate more tuition. It seems to me that the Chicago MCS program is a self-encapsulated program with coursework devoted strictly to program students. Students in Chicago’s computer science bachelor’s or PHD programs are, with few exceptions, not allowed to take courses that are devoted to the MCS program and count them for credit. </p>
<p>Let me give you an analogy. Many business schools run highly theoretical PhD programs. They also (obviously) offer professional MBA degrees. The MBA programs in no way impinges upon the theoretical nature of the PhD programs, because they are basically 2 entirely separate programs. Stanford GSB, for example, runs arguably the most theoretical PhD business program in the country, more so than even that of MIT Sloan. Yet the Stanford MBA program is obviously highly applied. They are 2 entirely different programs that just happen to exist in the same school. The presence of the highly applied Stanford MBA program does not make the PhD program any less theoretical. Stanford business PhD students generally take few MBA courses and vice versa. </p>
<p>But anyway, that’s all neither here nor there. The point is, many perfectly fine CS programs are not counted within engineering rankings.</p>