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Ask HN: Carnegie Mellon or Stanford

4 points by abii ↗ HN
I'm trying to decide which of the two to go for undergrad. No real difference in the cost. So, for doing computer-related major (CS or something like Symbolic Systems @ Stanford interests me too), which is better? I've heard good things about both universities.

P.S. I did see another thread about choosing a college but most of the comments seemed to be specific to the submitter's circumstances (i.e. Tufts vs. Cornell)

12 comments

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trickjarrett
Wow, that's a tough call. Congrats to you for having the choice of which to go to.

I'd probably recommend Stanford overall. It's very highly ranked. Though if you're looking for CS academic work, you might go with Carnegie Mellon.

abii
Yes, it's a tough decision. But I don't think rankings really matter.

Do you mean that CS classes are better at CMU? How so?

EDIT: I claimed that "Gatech was ranked as #1 in CS but everyone I speak to tells me CMU and Stanford are definitely better (just look at the alumni of these two as opposed to gatech)." It is not. Its undergraduate program is ranked #6 and its graduate program is ranked #9 by the U.S. News & World Report. http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/grad/com/s...

brent
Who claims GT is #1?
trickjarrett
This is just an anecdotal recommendation, I don't have any data to support this. During my time as a research assistant at GT I seem to recall hearing more from/about CMU people than Stanford.
catch23
It might be too early to decide, but if you take the entrepreneurial route, stanford is the better choice given its affinity to the valley. cmu is possibly a better choice for academia if you enjoy paper & proposal writing.
abii
I'm probably more entrepreneurial than theoretical. But I'd likely be so deep in debt when I get of college, that I'd have to work for a while before doing a startup.

Anyway, I think the quality of students matters quite a bit. Does CMU attract the more academic kind and Stanford the more startupy kind? Are you saying that the CS research done at Stanford is not as good?

menloparkbum
Are you saying that the CS research done at Stanford is not as good?

At the undergraduate level I don't think this matters much. Aside from the goodness of the CS department, which I consider equal at these two schools, you should think about the total college experience. IMO Stanford has better weather, a better campus, better looking students, better non-CS departments, better surrounding environment, etc.

eli
Definitely consider the strength of non-CS depts as an important factor. That said, I think CMU has some pretty decent non-engineering schools in too (e.g. theatre).

But what do I know, I went to state school :)

rms
Stanford wins because of the weather
krishna2
Both are GREAT schools and consider yourself lucky to have a choice. I did my masters at CMU (and have lived in Pittsburgh for 4 years) but for the past 8+ years have been in the bay area.

The cost of living is very very cheap in Pitt, no doubt. Personally, I like having four different seasons - so weather was not a big deal for me. If you want consistent weather and clear blue skies, palo alto, it is. YMMV.

In CMU, you are very close to a whole lot of other big cities and universities - so travelling is lot easier.

So all that said, now to the important part: the important decision will be based on what your interests are. CMU is very strong in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence fields of study. Similarly, Stanford has its big specialties as well. So if you already know that you might major in Computer Science, try looking at the profiles and research interests of the computer science faculty at each school. Give yourself as much flexibility as possible here, because what you think/know now will be lot different in 2 years, 4 years and 6 years from now.

If you are entrepreneurial and you want to do a start up, then just close the circuit and take the shortest path - the bay area.

Or if you still want to do that, but take the road less taken, come here via CMU.

In anycase, read Robert Frost's "Road less travelled" poem. :)

Good luck.

joshu
I went to CMU (BS ECE 96) and now live in the Bay Area. The weather in Palo Alto cannot be beat.

I get the sense that CMU will work you a bit harder.

alecco
A friend was studying in Pittsburgh but he hated living there and left because the city was culturally closer to "middle America" and the "bible belt" (no offense intended.) He is foreign from a large cosmopolitan city, though. It probably matters where you'd feel more comfortable.