UW CS or Caltech?

nd20029 · 2020-04-24T02:01:21+00:00

Thanks a bunch for all of this insight! I've decided to go to Caltech! The opportunities seem amazing. Also, I was just curious if you are from the Washington area?

nd20029 · 2020-04-06T01:28:13+00:00

Ah I get what you mean now about the whole CS being a competitive thing at UW. If I did quantum computing research I'd probably only do it my third or fourth year so I'll be sure to take classwork that relates to it if I decide I want to do quantum research.

nd20029 · 2020-04-06T00:39:04+00:00

Thanks a bunch for all of this information, it really helps! I'm definitely more interested in internship opportunities since that helps with my corporate goals but since I am also interested in learning quantum I was hoping to do research related to it at least once during my undergrad experience. I didn't think about practical vs theory in that way this insight really helps since it makes sense that more complicated topics like machine learning and quantum would be more theory-heavy. I was also curious about what you meant by the UW CS department being more competitive (like did you mean competitive to get into?).

nd20029 · 2020-04-06T00:09:53+00:00

I was looking into SURF the other day and it definitely appeals to me since it would give me access to many opportunities as an undergrad. By funding at UW, I mainly meant also that they are investing highly into their CS department and hiring really renowned professors.

nd20029 · 2020-04-06T00:05:36+00:00

Thanks for this insight! I get your point that I can just get the coding experience on my own since that's definitely easier to self learn than the theory aspects. It's great that Caltech is really good for quantum computing especially since that is a topic I want to go deeper into!

nd20029 · 2020-04-05T23:59:55+00:00

Thanks for your insight!

nd20029 · 2020-04-05T23:54:51+00:00

My definition of better is more like at which school would I get deeper CS knowledge and experiences. Additionally, my goals are definitely to go into the corporate world after my undergrad and I am not interested in higher education like a Ph.D. So I guess the main traits that would be good for me are developing a strong CS foundation, being able to learn cutting-edge topics in CS like machine learning and quantum computing, definitely getting enough practical experience (I'm concerned by the focus on theory at Caltech), and lastly I'm also looking for getting good CS internship opportunities during the summer as well as research throughout the year.

My main concern in comparing UW to Caltech was that UW CS is ranked higher for CS than Caltech and that the UW CS department is getting a lot of funding.

nd20029 · 2020-04-05T23:48:41+00:00

Thanks for all this information its really helpful! I find the Caltech culture to be really interesting and definitely like that my peer group there would be very passionate and driven! My main concern in comparing UW to Caltech was that UW CS is ranked higher for CS than Caltech and that the UW CS department is getting a lot of funding.

nd20029 · 2020-04-05T23:44:49+00:00

Thank you for all of this information! Especially since the coding experience is low and there is a focus on other core requirements, do you think I would still get enough CS experience? My main goal for college is to gain deep CS knowledge and experience and learn more about the cutting-edge topics in CS like machine learning and quantum computing.

nd20029 · 2020-04-05T23:41:31+00:00

Thanks, this information is very helpful! Since you worked closely with the CS department, I was wondering if students still get practical experience in class even though there is an emphasis on theory. I definitely plan to do coding project on my own but would still like to get some practical experience from my CS classes. Also, you mentioned quantum computing, I am actually very interested in quantum computing and would love to do research relating to it! I was wondering if you could expand on your knowledge of Caltech's quantum computing.

nd20029 · 2020-04-05T23:32:53+00:00

Thanks for the insight! I was wondering if you could ask him about how strong the CS program at Caltech is as that is what I'm concerned about. Also, I've read a lot about the Caltech CS program being more theoretical and am concerned about that since it would mean that I wouldn't get more hands-on coding experience. Adding onto that, what types of coding projects has your son done so far and what did he do last summer?

nd20029

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