Georgetown for Math/Computer Science?

[Anonymous]

It's down to the wire for my nephew, who is deciding between Georgetown and Columbia. He's interested in math/computer science, particularly as applied to public policy issues (not so much a would-be king of Wall Street-type or even a Silicon Valley "making the world a better place through apps" type). He has a strong impulse to do good in the world and is pretty religious (Christian, but not Catholic). He's not super-preppy, though he attends a private day school; nor is he a hipster type -- just a regular nice kid.

He is familiar with Columbia as he has a cousin who is a current student and another who is a recent grad. He likes Columbia, but loved his visits to Georgetown -- it just felt like the right place to him. He and his parents are not concerned about the prestige factor as we have a number of Ivy grads in both generations, so we are familiar with the the limited benefit of going to a marquee name school (i.e., wows people for the first 5 years, then just meh.)

So, here's the issue: Georgetown is a good school with bright students, a strong alum network, and strength in areas related to politics and policy, but how is it for math/CS? I would very much appreciate perspectives from current/recent students and their parents, as well as faculty, and those who hire math/CS students.

Many TIA!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's down to the wire for my nephew, who is deciding between Georgetown and Columbia. He's interested in math/computer science, particularly as applied to public policy issues (not so much a would-be king of Wall Street-type or even a Silicon Valley "making the world a better place through apps" type). He has a strong impulse to do good in the world and is pretty religious (Christian, but not Catholic). He's not super-preppy, though he attends a private day school; nor is he a hipster type -- just a regular nice kid.

He is familiar with Columbia as he has a cousin who is a current student and another who is a recent grad. He likes Columbia, but loved his visits to Georgetown -- it just felt like the right place to him. He and his parents are not concerned about the prestige factor as we have a number of Ivy grads in both generations, so we are familiar with the the limited benefit of going to a marquee name school (i.e., wows people for the first 5 years, then just meh.)

So, here's the issue: Georgetown is a good school with bright students, a strong alum network, and strength in areas related to politics and policy, but how is it for math/CS? I would very much appreciate perspectives from current/recent students and their parents, as well as faculty, and those who hire math/CS students.

Many TIA!

I've never run into a CS student from Georgetown in close to 15 years of hiring and looking at resumes. It's a tiny department that graduates 15 kids per year. I'd definitely pick Columbia between the two.

[Anonymous]

GU alum here. Things may have changed but Georgetown is not known for its math and computer science departments. Still, it may be perfectly respectable in those areas (I really don't know) but highly regarded? Don't think so.

[Anonymous]

Columbia - not even close.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, Columbia is better for Math and CS. At the same time, if nephew's interest in public service is especially strong this might be offset by GU's strong reputation and connections in this realm.