I got accepted for undergrad to both the University of Washington for Direct Admission in Computer Science and to Johns Hopkins University. For undergrad, my understanding is the strength of the CS program isn’t as important as the prestige of the school and name recognition, especially with my plans being to attend grad school. If I attend JHU, I’d minor in Computer Integrated Surgery, which seems to be a strength of the school. I got a large $43k scholarship to JHU so it comes out cheaper than In-State UW for me, so money isn’t a matter I’m considering right now. Overall, because of the large scholarship, the name recognition, and prestige of JHU, I’m leaning towards there but I want some other opinions. Since pre-med is a well-respected field of JHU, the Computer Integrated Surgery would be a unique minor I’d get there, but receiving that minor is not a deciding factor between any schools. Which school should I attend?
For CS, it would not be surprising if much of the recruiting at JHU were from government entities and contractors, due to the location.
What type of work in what region are you thinking about after graduation?
@ucbalumnus I am thinking to go to grad school eventually somewhere else most likely, and then possibly doing some sort of work in Artificial Intelligence. If I were to attend JHU, I’d most likely look for a career that integrates CS with some medical uses.
If you mean PhD program in CS when you write “grad school”, either should be fine; consider your subarea interests and what each school offers in terms of upper level courses and undergraduate research opportunities.
For PhD programs, reputation / ranking / prestige in major as viewed by PhD granting departments (whose views may differ from that of the general public and each other) is the more important aspect, although the difference between these schools (with Washington being ranked higher in CS) probably is not significant enough for you to worry about when choosing an undergraduate school.
@ucbalumnus Would the same apply for a Masters program? Would schools looking to accept me for Graduate School to get a masters degree care much about the ranking of CS. I thought these rankings were for the graduate programs at the school.
Both are good schools for CS and I’d doubt a graduate school would favor one over the other.
Why do you want to get a Masters? You don’t need one to get a job.
@simba9 With a Masters I would be open to more interesting and in depth job opportunities, and then could possibly go on to get a PhD and do research.
Many students go straight to PhD programs from bachelor’s degree graduation. Master’s degrees are commonly picked up on the way to a PhD (and PhD students who do not complete often leave with master’s degrees).
In industry, a master’s degree is often viewed as being like an extra year or two of experience. But industry experience tends to pay more than even funded master’s degree study (and terminal master’s degree study is less likely to be funded than PhD study).
I agree with ucbalumnus regarding master’s degrees. I have one, and while I’m glad I got it, they aren’t that valued in private industry unless you studied something directly relevant to what a company does.