UC Berkeley Data Science vs Carnegie Mellon Stats/ML (transfer to IS if possible)

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Hi all! I’m a Cali resident, and I’m very grateful to have been admitted into both schools. I know most people would recommend Berkeley just based on my in-state status and lower cost of attendance, but there’s a lot more that I like about CMU that makes this decision really tough for me.

Net price:

  • CMU: ~$55K per year (not including any airfare/trips home)
  • Berkeley (in state): ~32k per year

My family’s income is enough to afford Berkeley, and while CMU might be a bit tougher financially, affordability isn’t my primary concern. Rather, I’m more focused on both ROI and which school would better position me for securing a job straight after graduation.

  1. Student/Career resources:
  • cmu has smaller class sizes and overall undergrad population, each student has access to more resources (and there’s also a lot more hand holding).
  • cmu also has better job placement and has a higher % of ds and IS students employed after graduation than berkeley, along with better average starting salaries.
  1. Major selection (I want to major in data science with a minor in cs, but if I go to cmu i’d like to transfer my major into Information systems (IS))
  • I’ve heard many complaints from berkeley students struggling to get into classes, especially upper div cs ones.
  • Smaller class sizes and easier to get into classes at cmu so getting a minor in cs there
    would be more straightforward.
  • To transfer into IS, i’d have to complete cs 15-112 with an A ideally and maintain a gpa of 3.5, and im not sure how difficult that would be, or whether my transfer would be guaranteed
  • At Berkeley, the closest major to IS is cs, which is pretty much impossible to transfer)
  1. Stress/grades. Both schools are gonna be pretty tough academically but i’ve heard that berkeley grading can be really unfair. The same can obviously be said about cmu but i’ve heard way more complaints regarding grade deflation at berkeley in particular. I’m not too worried about this (since it’s all rumors), but again it is still something i want to take into consideration when making my final decision.

Thank you all in advance for any tips/advice on what I should choose :slight_smile:

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This analysis gave CMU a rarefied Career Outcomes rank of #3 nationally:

Nonetheless, UCB did fine at #39.

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Some random thoughts…

How did you arrive at a net price of only $55k for CMU? Tuition, room/board, fees and expenses all-in is much higher than that figure. Did you receive a scholarship or grant that you did not disclose in the post? CMU is notoriously stingy with need based aid and does not provide merit awards.

I’ve seen several posts on CC about “grade deflation” at UC Berkeley. I would instead consider it “honest grading”, like we had at most universities 30 years ago. The problem is that grade inflation is all too common at many US colleges (looking at you, Harvard). Last I heard, CMU does not engage in rampant grade inflation.

CMU used to be known for being not very student friendly and pretty stressful. I think that they have improved, but don’t expect to be coddled there. There was a time when they were trying to fail out the bottom 20% of engineers, but they were not unique in this. Majors with juried studio classes like design and architecture in particular, were infamous for taking a toll on students.

Have you visited CMU yet? If not, you will notice a couple things. First, the weather in Da Burgh is generally grey and overcast. Second, it is in the Oakland neighborhood, which is pretty nice with restaurants, bars, shopping and parks, with residential neighborhoods nearby. Third, CMU has plenty of money, and they have been spending it on new buildings, expansions, and equipment. In just the last few years they have doubled the size of the main science building, doubled the size of the computer center, replaced an old science building with a much larger building, and replaced the athletic building.

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My daughter (D22) is attending UCSD and has been quite successful in securing internships and co-op opportunities with top firms. I believe it’s more about the student’s initiative in exploring opportunities than the specific university they attend. In my opinion, all UC campuses are good and offer a strong return on investment (ROI).

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