2024 USNWR Undergraduate Computer Science

[Anonymous]

Bama ranked the same as William & Mary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Remember to look at how this list is put together though. I'm not a huge fan of how USNWR does them. They basically survey a bunch of old dudes affiliated with CS programs (your kid could probably email a bunch of respected profs and industry professionals and get a better ranking):
"Top academics and officials at computer science programs rated the overall quality of undergraduate programs with which they were familiar on a 1-5 scale. A school’s undergraduate computer science rank is solely determined by its average of scores received from these surveys."

how would you rate a CS program, then?

People look at various rankings, and some on here use Poets & Quants, which is a ranking based on alumni survey.

NP. I would consider PhD rates for one thing. True, not everyone wants to pursue, but they are highly selective and students pursuing CS PhDs tend to be among the best prepared upon finishing college. Interestingly, certain LACs do very well with CS PhD placement. Swarthmore and Carleton come to mind. I think LACs tend to be be underrated in all the discipline specific rankings because administrators tend to think of schools known for their research rather than their undergrad instruction when ranking by discipline.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Remember to look at how this list is put together though. I'm not a huge fan of how USNWR does them. They basically survey a bunch of old dudes affiliated with CS programs (your kid could probably email a bunch of respected profs and industry professionals and get a better ranking):
"Top academics and officials at computer science programs rated the overall quality of undergraduate programs with which they were familiar on a 1-5 scale. A school’s undergraduate computer science rank is solely determined by its average of scores received from these surveys."

how would you rate a CS program, then?

People look at various rankings, and some on here use Poets & Quants, which is a ranking based on alumni survey.

NP. I would consider PhD rates for one thing. True, not everyone wants to pursue, but they are highly selective and students pursuing CS PhDs tend to be among the best prepared upon finishing college. Interestingly, certain LACs do very well with CS PhD placement. Swarthmore and Carleton come to mind. I think LACs tend to be be underrated in all the discipline specific rankings because administrators tend to think of schools known for their research rather than their undergrad instruction when ranking by discipline.

Whatever works.

[Anonymous]

Meh. Just this morning at a tailgate in the south, family members of my child's close friends, I met two people working at FAANG, a sibling of one friend and a parent of another, both of whom attended schools not on any of these lists.

Rankings for CS are less meaningful in the long run than more prestige-focused fields. It's up to the student to perform.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Remember to look at how this list is put together though. I'm not a huge fan of how USNWR does them. They basically survey a bunch of old dudes affiliated with CS programs (your kid could probably email a bunch of respected profs and industry professionals and get a better ranking):
"Top academics and officials at computer science programs rated the overall quality of undergraduate programs with which they were familiar on a 1-5 scale. A school’s undergraduate computer science rank is solely determined by its average of scores received from these surveys."

how would you rate a CS program, then?

People look at various rankings, and some on here use Poets & Quants, which is a ranking based on alumni survey.

NP. I would consider PhD rates for one thing. True, not everyone wants to pursue, but they are highly selective and students pursuing CS PhDs tend to be among the best prepared upon finishing college. Interestingly, certain LACs do very well with CS PhD placement. Swarthmore and Carleton come to mind. I think LACs tend to be be underrated in all the discipline specific rankings because administrators tend to think of schools known for their research rather than their undergrad instruction when ranking by discipline.

Ranking CS programs on PhD rates? That's silly.

Vast majority of CS grads don't pursue PhDs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Remember to look at how this list is put together though. I'm not a huge fan of how USNWR does them. They basically survey a bunch of old dudes affiliated with CS programs (your kid could probably email a bunch of respected profs and industry professionals and get a better ranking):
"Top academics and officials at computer science programs rated the overall quality of undergraduate programs with which they were familiar on a 1-5 scale. A school’s undergraduate computer science rank is solely determined by its average of scores received from these surveys."

how would you rate a CS program, then?

People look at various rankings, and some on here use Poets & Quants, which is a ranking based on alumni survey.

NP. I would consider PhD rates for one thing. True, not everyone wants to pursue, but they are highly selective and students pursuing CS PhDs tend to be among the best prepared upon finishing college. Interestingly, certain LACs do very well with CS PhD placement. Swarthmore and Carleton come to mind. I think LACs tend to be be underrated in all the discipline specific rankings because administrators tend to think of schools known for their research rather than their undergrad instruction when ranking by discipline.

Ranking CS programs on PhD rates? That's silly.

Vast majority of CS grads don't pursue PhDs.

Not silly even so. It is apart of the big picture, just like early and mid career salaries are a part of the picture, even though some will go to Wall Street and some will teach high school.

[Anonymous]

UC Berkeley, being a large public school, has limited advising (long waits). I guess some students don't care about that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Remember to look at how this list is put together though. I'm not a huge fan of how USNWR does them. They basically survey a bunch of old dudes affiliated with CS programs (your kid could probably email a bunch of respected profs and industry professionals and get a better ranking):
"Top academics and officials at computer science programs rated the overall quality of undergraduate programs with which they were familiar on a 1-5 scale. A school’s undergraduate computer science rank is solely determined by its average of scores received from these surveys."

how would you rate a CS program, then?

People look at various rankings, and some on here use Poets & Quants, which is a ranking based on alumni survey.

NP. I would consider PhD rates for one thing. True, not everyone wants to pursue, but they are highly selective and students pursuing CS PhDs tend to be among the best prepared upon finishing college. Interestingly, certain LACs do very well with CS PhD placement. Swarthmore and Carleton come to mind. I think LACs tend to be be underrated in all the discipline specific rankings because administrators tend to think of schools known for their research rather than their undergrad instruction when ranking by discipline.

Ranking CS programs on PhD rates? That's silly.

Vast majority of CS grads don't pursue PhDs.

It’s a data point, but if you don’t think PhD CS programs know which undergrad programs are high quality year after year (the same schools tend to dominate over decades), then perhaps consider head to head competitions. There’s an intercollegiate CS league. Last year Carleton finished ahead of seven of the Ivies. The year before Swarthmore finished ahead of all of them.

[Anonymous]

Another CS ranking that is often referenced,

https://csrankings.org

1 ► Carnegie Mellon University closed chart 19.1 166
2 ► Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign closed chart 14.8 115
3 ► Univ. of California - San Diego closed chart 12.2 117
4 ► Massachusetts Institute of Technology closed chart 11.5 97
5 ► Georgia Institute of Technology closed chart 10.8 140
6 ► Stanford University closed chart 10.7 69
7 ► University of Michigan closed chart 10.5 99
8 ► University of Washington closed chart 10.4 80
9 ► Univ. of California - Berkeley closed chart 9.9 90
10 ► Cornell University closed chart 9.8 83
11 ► University of Maryland - College Park closed chart 8.8 87
12 ► Northeastern University closed chart 7.9 80
13 ► University of Wisconsin - Madison closed chart 7.5 72
14 ► Purdue University closed chart 7.3 74
15 ► University of Texas at Austin closed chart 7.2 49
16 ► Columbia University closed chart 7.1 57
17 ► University of Pennsylvania closed chart 7.0 73
18 ► Princeton University closed chart 6.3 58
19 ► New York University closed chart 6.0 64
19 ► University of Massachusetts Amherst closed chart 6.0 62
21 ► University of Southern California closed chart 5.7 60
22 ► Univ. of California - Los Angeles closed chart 5.6 42
23 ► Stony Brook University closed chart 5.4 60
24 ► Univ. of California - Santa Barbara closed chart 5.3 38
24 ► University of Chicago closed chart 5.3 46
26 ► Univ. of California - Irvine closed chart 5.2 75
27 ► Rutgers University closed chart 4.7 49
27 ► Univ. of California - Riverside closed chart 4.7 49
29 ► Duke University closed chart 4.6 48
30 ► Northwestern University closed chart 4.4 46
30 ► Pennsylvania State University closed chart 4.4 61
32 ► George Mason University closed chart 4.1 55
32 ► University of Utah closed chart 4.1 65
34 ► Harvard University closed chart 4.0 30
34 ► Ohio State University closed chart 4.0 47
34 ► Yale University closed chart 4.0 41
37 ► Texas A&M University closed chart 3.9 47
37 ► Univ. of California - Santa Cruz closed chart 3.9 62
39 ► Brown University closed chart 3.8 38
39 ► North Carolina State University closed chart 3.8 52
39 ► University of Virginia closed chart 3.8 44

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another CS ranking that is often referenced,

https://csrankings.org

1 ► Carnegie Mellon University closed chart 19.1 166
2 ► Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign closed chart 14.8 115
3 ► Univ. of California - San Diego closed chart 12.2 117
4 ► Massachusetts Institute of Technology closed chart 11.5 97
5 ► Georgia Institute of Technology closed chart 10.8 140
6 ► Stanford University closed chart 10.7 69
7 ► University of Michigan closed chart 10.5 99
8 ► University of Washington closed chart 10.4 80
9 ► Univ. of California - Berkeley closed chart 9.9 90
10 ► Cornell University closed chart 9.8 83
11 ► University of Maryland - College Park closed chart 8.8 87
12 ► Northeastern University closed chart 7.9 80
13 ► University of Wisconsin - Madison closed chart 7.5 72
14 ► Purdue University closed chart 7.3 74
15 ► University of Texas at Austin closed chart 7.2 49
16 ► Columbia University closed chart 7.1 57
17 ► University of Pennsylvania closed chart 7.0 73
18 ► Princeton University closed chart 6.3 58
19 ► New York University closed chart 6.0 64
19 ► University of Massachusetts Amherst closed chart 6.0 62
21 ► University of Southern California closed chart 5.7 60
22 ► Univ. of California - Los Angeles closed chart 5.6 42
23 ► Stony Brook University closed chart 5.4 60
24 ► Univ. of California - Santa Barbara closed chart 5.3 38
24 ► University of Chicago closed chart 5.3 46
26 ► Univ. of California - Irvine closed chart 5.2 75
27 ► Rutgers University closed chart 4.7 49
27 ► Univ. of California - Riverside closed chart 4.7 49
29 ► Duke University closed chart 4.6 48
30 ► Northwestern University closed chart 4.4 46
30 ► Pennsylvania State University closed chart 4.4 61
32 ► George Mason University closed chart 4.1 55
32 ► University of Utah closed chart 4.1 65
34 ► Harvard University closed chart 4.0 30
34 ► Ohio State University closed chart 4.0 47
34 ► Yale University closed chart 4.0 41
37 ► Texas A&M University closed chart 3.9 47
37 ► Univ. of California - Santa Cruz closed chart 3.9 62
39 ► Brown University closed chart 3.8 38
39 ► North Carolina State University closed chart 3.8 52
39 ► University of Virginia closed chart 3.8 44

Should have probably avoided a couple of columns in your copy and paste. You may wantcto give a little background to your audience about the source.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Remember to look at how this list is put together though. I'm not a huge fan of how USNWR does them. They basically survey a bunch of old dudes affiliated with CS programs (your kid could probably email a bunch of respected profs and industry professionals and get a better ranking):
"Top academics and officials at computer science programs rated the overall quality of undergraduate programs with which they were familiar on a 1-5 scale. A school’s undergraduate computer science rank is solely determined by its average of scores received from these surveys."

how would you rate a CS program, then?

People look at various rankings, and some on here use Poets & Quants, which is a ranking based on alumni survey.

NP. I would consider PhD rates for one thing. True, not everyone wants to pursue, but they are highly selective and students pursuing CS PhDs tend to be among the best prepared upon finishing college. Interestingly, certain LACs do very well with CS PhD placement. Swarthmore and Carleton come to mind. I think LACs tend to be be underrated in all the discipline specific rankings because administrators tend to think of schools known for their research rather than their undergrad instruction when ranking by discipline.

Ranking CS programs on PhD rates? That's silly.

Vast majority of CS grads don't pursue PhDs.

It’s a data point, but if you don’t think PhD CS programs know which undergrad programs are high quality year after year (the same schools tend to dominate over decades), then perhaps consider head to head competitions. There’s an intercollegiate CS league. Last year Carleton finished ahead of seven of the Ivies. The year before Swarthmore finished ahead of all of them.

Another interesting data point: when you cross reference the per capita PhD list and PayScale's career salary lists for computer science, 11 schools are in the top 25 of both lists:

Harvey Mudd
MIT
Stanford
CMU
Princeton
Brown
Harvard
Duke
Dartmouth
Yale
WPI

And the first 4 are in the top 10 on both lists.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Remember to look at how this list is put together though. I'm not a huge fan of how USNWR does them. They basically survey a bunch of old dudes affiliated with CS programs (your kid could probably email a bunch of respected profs and industry professionals and get a better ranking):
"Top academics and officials at computer science programs rated the overall quality of undergraduate programs with which they were familiar on a 1-5 scale. A school’s undergraduate computer science rank is solely determined by its average of scores received from these surveys."

how would you rate a CS program, then?

People look at various rankings, and some on here use Poets & Quants, which is a ranking based on alumni survey.

NP. I would consider PhD rates for one thing. True, not everyone wants to pursue, but they are highly selective and students pursuing CS PhDs tend to be among the best prepared upon finishing college. Interestingly, certain LACs do very well with CS PhD placement. Swarthmore and Carleton come to mind. I think LACs tend to be be underrated in all the discipline specific rankings because administrators tend to think of schools known for their research rather than their undergrad instruction when ranking by discipline.

Ranking CS programs on PhD rates? That's silly.

Vast majority of CS grads don't pursue PhDs.

Not silly even so. It is apart of the big picture, just like early and mid career salaries are a part of the picture, even though some will go to Wall Street and some will teach high school.

dp.. it is silly for CS because the vast majority do not go on to PhDs. So, why would a CS major care about CS PhD programs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another CS ranking that is often referenced,

https://csrankings.org

1 ► Carnegie Mellon University closed chart 19.1 166
2 ► Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign closed chart 14.8 115
3 ► Univ. of California - San Diego closed chart 12.2 117
4 ► Massachusetts Institute of Technology closed chart 11.5 97
5 ► Georgia Institute of Technology closed chart 10.8 140
6 ► Stanford University closed chart 10.7 69
7 ► University of Michigan closed chart 10.5 99
8 ► University of Washington closed chart 10.4 80
9 ► Univ. of California - Berkeley closed chart 9.9 90
10 ► Cornell University closed chart 9.8 83
11 ► University of Maryland - College Park closed chart 8.8 87
12 ► Northeastern University closed chart 7.9 80
13 ► University of Wisconsin - Madison closed chart 7.5 72
14 ► Purdue University closed chart 7.3 74
15 ► University of Texas at Austin closed chart 7.2 49
16 ► Columbia University closed chart 7.1 57
17 ► University of Pennsylvania closed chart 7.0 73
18 ► Princeton University closed chart 6.3 58
19 ► New York University closed chart 6.0 64
19 ► University of Massachusetts Amherst closed chart 6.0 62
21 ► University of Southern California closed chart 5.7 60
22 ► Univ. of California - Los Angeles closed chart 5.6 42
23 ► Stony Brook University closed chart 5.4 60
24 ► Univ. of California - Santa Barbara closed chart 5.3 38
24 ► University of Chicago closed chart 5.3 46
26 ► Univ. of California - Irvine closed chart 5.2 75
27 ► Rutgers University closed chart 4.7 49
27 ► Univ. of California - Riverside closed chart 4.7 49
29 ► Duke University closed chart 4.6 48
30 ► Northwestern University closed chart 4.4 46
30 ► Pennsylvania State University closed chart 4.4 61
32 ► George Mason University closed chart 4.1 55
32 ► University of Utah closed chart 4.1 65
34 ► Harvard University closed chart 4.0 30
34 ► Ohio State University closed chart 4.0 47
34 ► Yale University closed chart 4.0 41
37 ► Texas A&M University closed chart 3.9 47
37 ► Univ. of California - Santa Cruz closed chart 3.9 62
39 ► Brown University closed chart 3.8 38
39 ► North Carolina State University closed chart 3.8 52
39 ► University of Virginia closed chart 3.8 44

lol GMU is above UVA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Remember to look at how this list is put together though. I'm not a huge fan of how USNWR does them. They basically survey a bunch of old dudes affiliated with CS programs (your kid could probably email a bunch of respected profs and industry professionals and get a better ranking):
"Top academics and officials at computer science programs rated the overall quality of undergraduate programs with which they were familiar on a 1-5 scale. A school’s undergraduate computer science rank is solely determined by its average of scores received from these surveys."

how would you rate a CS program, then?

People look at various rankings, and some on here use Poets & Quants, which is a ranking based on alumni survey.

NP. I would consider PhD rates for one thing. True, not everyone wants to pursue, but they are highly selective and students pursuing CS PhDs tend to be among the best prepared upon finishing college. Interestingly, certain LACs do very well with CS PhD placement. Swarthmore and Carleton come to mind. I think LACs tend to be be underrated in all the discipline specific rankings because administrators tend to think of schools known for their research rather than their undergrad instruction when ranking by discipline.

Ranking CS programs on PhD rates? That's silly.

Vast majority of CS grads don't pursue PhDs.

Not silly even so. It is apart of the big picture, just like early and mid career salaries are a part of the picture, even though some will go to Wall Street and some will teach high school.

dp.. it is silly for CS because the vast majority do not go on to PhDs. So, why would a CS major care about CS PhD programs?

You are looking at it from the wrong angle. It's not about every student in the program wanting a Phd; it's about who is in the class and how PhD programs view their preparation, whether they go on to a Phd or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another CS ranking that is often referenced,

https://csrankings.org

1 ► Carnegie Mellon University closed chart 19.1 166
2 ► Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign closed chart 14.8 115
3 ► Univ. of California - San Diego closed chart 12.2 117
4 ► Massachusetts Institute of Technology closed chart 11.5 97
5 ► Georgia Institute of Technology closed chart 10.8 140
6 ► Stanford University closed chart 10.7 69
7 ► University of Michigan closed chart 10.5 99
8 ► University of Washington closed chart 10.4 80
9 ► Univ. of California - Berkeley closed chart 9.9 90
10 ► Cornell University closed chart 9.8 83
11 ► University of Maryland - College Park closed chart 8.8 87
12 ► Northeastern University closed chart 7.9 80
13 ► University of Wisconsin - Madison closed chart 7.5 72
14 ► Purdue University closed chart 7.3 74
15 ► University of Texas at Austin closed chart 7.2 49
16 ► Columbia University closed chart 7.1 57
17 ► University of Pennsylvania closed chart 7.0 73
18 ► Princeton University closed chart 6.3 58
19 ► New York University closed chart 6.0 64
19 ► University of Massachusetts Amherst closed chart 6.0 62
21 ► University of Southern California closed chart 5.7 60
22 ► Univ. of California - Los Angeles closed chart 5.6 42
23 ► Stony Brook University closed chart 5.4 60
24 ► Univ. of California - Santa Barbara closed chart 5.3 38
24 ► University of Chicago closed chart 5.3 46
26 ► Univ. of California - Irvine closed chart 5.2 75
27 ► Rutgers University closed chart 4.7 49
27 ► Univ. of California - Riverside closed chart 4.7 49
29 ► Duke University closed chart 4.6 48
30 ► Northwestern University closed chart 4.4 46
30 ► Pennsylvania State University closed chart 4.4 61
32 ► George Mason University closed chart 4.1 55
32 ► University of Utah closed chart 4.1 65
34 ► Harvard University closed chart 4.0 30
34 ► Ohio State University closed chart 4.0 47
34 ► Yale University closed chart 4.0 41
37 ► Texas A&M University closed chart 3.9 47
37 ► Univ. of California - Santa Cruz closed chart 3.9 62
39 ► Brown University closed chart 3.8 38
39 ► North Carolina State University closed chart 3.8 52
39 ► University of Virginia closed chart 3.8 44

lol GMU is above UVA.

Not that silly. GMU has some well respected CS faculty.