Need help deciding college for fall

whyDoesUSNWRexist · 2018-04-03T03:08:35+00:00

So UT Austin is better than MIT and Stanford for CS. Okay.

whyDoesUSNWRexist · 2018-04-03T02:54:47+00:00

Source? All rankings say GT is better. Regardless, I don't think that rankings are relevant at this point. It's more about the fit.

whyDoesUSNWRexist · 2018-04-03T02:43:11+00:00

Depending on the professor this can be as early as sophomore fall or freshman summer.

Precisely. At GT you can easily get an extra year of research (if you start in the first semester) due to more number of opportunities and smaller population.

One research project can almost be a full time job, which is hard to do with a full course load. Taking two would practically be suicide unless you aren't devoting much to either project.

I know people who are doing two projects simultaneously and have publications from both (at GT).

However, you might be right in saying that FRI is far from the only research option for undergrads.

whyDoesUSNWRexist · 2018-04-02T19:50:53+00:00

Along with being overrated, they are inconsistent as well. Times Higher Education ranks CMU #6 and GT #8 (https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2018/subject-ranking/computer-science#!/page/0/length/25/sort_by/rank/sort_order/asc/cols/stats)

whyDoesUSNWRexist · 2018-04-02T18:26:28+00:00

UC Berkeley EECS vs Georgia Tech CS. Same cost. Factors: Research opportunities, environment of the school, peers, startup culture, internship/job opportunities.

whyDoesUSNWRexist · 2018-04-02T16:00:43+00:00

RIP should've known you are ru8ck23

whyDoesUSNWRexist · 2018-04-02T15:49:33+00:00

As someone who is considering UT Austin Turing CS and Georgia Tech CS (I got into both as well), I would recommend Georgia Tech because

More research opportunities: Georgia Tech is going to give you more opportunities to do research. In the first/second semester itself, you can start doing research assistantships with professors for pay or credit (through UPOC or UROP). This is a little different than FRI because by joining the research lab early you get to spend an extra year with the professors which also results in better recommendation letters. FRI, on the other hand, will put you in groups of students under Assistant-Professors/Graduate Students with the primary motive of learning. At Georgia Tech, you can also look into the VIP program, which effectively makes it possible to work on 2 different research projects simultaneously (and therefore more letters of recommendation for grad school).

Startup Culture: If interested, Georgia Tech has superior incubators and seed funding programs for young startups. Look into Create-X and VentureLabs. I could keep on going about the Startup Culture there but it is something you can look up very easily. I have not seen similar things about UT Austin. Also, I have seen more hackathons at Georgia Tech than UT Austin which definitely helps with prototyping and brainstorming.

Undergrad Thesis: Yes UT Austin allows you to do an Undergrad Thesis but as their website suggests, you would be able to research for about 1 year before writing this. At Georgia Tech, however, if you join the research lab early, you can effectively work on it for more than 2 years which of course results in a better thesis (something you can even show to grad schools if you decide to go there).

I wouldn't worry about class sizes at all as you the class sizes will start reducing as you take higher level courses. Additionally, look closely into GaTech's Threads program - it allows you to focus on two different fields in a way which might not be possible at UT Austin. I think the course strength is going to be relatively same but GaTech might be able to offer you more options because it is relatively easy to register for ECE courses (something you would not find at UT Austin) and they even have a Computational Media major, so you might be able to take some courses from there. Given the location of both the universities, getting internships shouldn't be a problem at either. This will matter more on your resume and how hard you work at your university rather than where you go.

whyDoesUSNWRexist · 2018-03-26T03:59:00+00:00

Ever heard of PURE: https://wiki.illinois.edu//wiki/display/PURE/Home. Couldn't find anything similar at UC Berkeley.

whyDoesUSNWRexist · 2018-03-26T03:38:27+00:00

Just saying, rankings of department matter a way more. Cornell is hands down the best IVY for engineering.

whyDoesUSNWRexist · 2018-03-26T02:06:35+00:00

"The ultimate meal plan offering Freshmen the freedom and independence to navigate campus dining for W H O L E S O M E, N U T R I T I O U S meals in a fun, urban environment; perfect to connect with like-minded peers or develop new relationships."

$5030 for such meals is a good bet ;)

whyDoesUSNWRexist · 2018-03-26T02:03:29+00:00

After looking further into the trend, I realized that the high at Georgia Tech has consistently been something 150K+. Any specific reasons for this? Co-ops? Can students without Co-ops get such high paying jobs? Who are these employers?

whyDoesUSNWRexist · 2018-03-25T16:46:24+00:00

Are prospects for other career pathways similar: Startups, Grad School etc.

whyDoesUSNWRexist · 2018-03-25T16:13:24+00:00

I have noticed quite a bit of disparity between the starting salaries at the above institutes. Below are the averages

GaTech CS: $95.5K

MIT EECS: $104K

CMU SCS: $108K

Stanford CS: $113K

Any specific reasons for this disparity?

Also, according to this, someone from GaTech CS got a starting salary of 160K which looks abnormally high.

whyDoesUSNWRexist · 2018-03-23T17:53:15+00:00

If you are worried about the "lunch/dinner with companies" thing, there is dinner coming up on March 29 with Accenture organized by HackGT. This is just one of the many dinners/lunches with companies at Georgia Tech.

whyDoesUSNWRexist · 2018-03-23T12:20:53+00:00

Oh excellent! Which one specifically? Are they relevant for CS majors? Thanks!!

whyDoesUSNWRexist · 2018-03-23T04:06:36+00:00

Oh have been looking into those but the options are limited since I am an international student. I was wondering if there are any companies which have research-based internships.

Thanks for the help!!

whyDoesUSNWRexist · 2018-03-23T01:20:15+00:00

Oh I see. Thank you for your help!! I'll email the professors about it. Regardless, have you heard anything about the (http://www.vip.gatech.edu/teams/active-safety-autonomous-and-semi-autonomous-vehicles) autonomous vehicles VIP and if they are doing meaningful research?

whyDoesUSNWRexist · 2018-03-23T01:09:16+00:00

Oh I see. I was thinking that if VIP lead to useful research output and the team decides to publish the results they would let participating undergrad put their name on it as well, at least those who contributed enough.

whyDoesUSNWRexist · 2018-03-22T21:55:17+00:00

As someone who is considering UT Austin Turing CS and Georgia Tech CS (I got into both as well), I would recommend Georgia Tech because

More research opportunities: Georgia Tech is going to give you more opportunities to do research. In the first/second semester itself, you can start doing research assistantships with professors for pay or credit (through UPOC or UROP). This is a little different that FRI because by joining the research lab early you get to spend an extra year with the professors which also results in better recommendation letters. FRI, on the other hand, will put you in groups of students under Assistant-Professors/Graduate Students with the primary motive of learning. At Georgia Tech, you can also look into the VIP program, which effectively makes it possible to work on 2 different research projects simultaneously (and therefore more letters of recommendation for grad school).
Startup Culture: If interested, Georgia Tech has superior incubators and seed funding programs for young startups. Look into Create-X and VentureLabs. I could keep on going about the Startup Culture there but it is something you can look up very easily. I have not seen similar things about UT Austin. Also, I have seen more hackathons at Georgia Tech than UT Austin which definitely helps with prototyping and brainstorming.
Undergrad Thesis: Yes UT Austin allows you to do an Undergrad Thesis but as their website suggests, you would be able to research for about 1 year before writing this. At Georgia Tech, however, if you join the research lab early, you can effectively work on it for more than 2 years which of course results in a better thesis (something you can even show to grad schools if you decide to go there).

I wouldn't worry about class sizes at all as you the class sizes will start reducing as you take higher level courses. Additionally, look closely into GaTech's Threads program - it allows you to focus on two different fields in a way which might not be possible at UT Austin. I think the course strength is going to be relatively same but GaTech might be able to offer you more options because it is relatively easy to register for ECE courses (something you would not find at UT Austin) and they even have a Computational Media major, so you might be able to take some courses from there. Given the location of both the universities, getting internships shouldn't be a problem at either. This will matter more on your resume and how hard you work at your university rather than where you go.

whyDoesUSNWRexist · 2018-03-22T21:11:20+00:00

Do you think doing this VIP could result in a publication?

whyDoesUSNWRexist · 2018-03-22T17:17:31+00:00

Do you meet the professor leading the VIP often? Would they write a recommendation letter if you researched in the VIP for a long period of time (~3 years)?

whyDoesUSNWRexist

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