Every large public university has a solid computer science program. The curriculum isn't that varied between school. They're all good enough to get their graduates solid entry level jobs in their regions. Every school also has a few students who luck out and jump start a start up and get local venture and angel money. It's harder for their grads to move to the Bay Area, but that's not where most of the jobs are.

OP is looking for a safety school. Cal is not a safety school for STEM. As noted, it's probably top 10 in the country.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking for something just a notch or two down from the killer programs like Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, MIT, CalTech, Harvey Mudd.

Competitive: Berekeley, Cornell, Duke ... very good but easier to get into Illinois and UMCP.

berkeley eecs is at the level of stanford, cmu, mit, harvey mudd. it is brutally hard to get into and even harder to get out of with a decent grade.

+1. Berkeley is ranked number 1 or number 2 in the country for CS/Engineering along with MIT & Stanford although said to be more rigorous than Stanford/MIT.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking for something just a notch or two down from the killer programs like Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, MIT, CalTech, Harvey Mudd.

Competitive: Berekeley, Cornell, Duke ... very good but easier to get into Illinois and UMCP.

berkeley eecs is at the level of stanford, cmu, mit, harvey mudd. it is brutally hard to get into and even harder to get out of with a decent grade.

Anonymous wrote:Looking for something just a notch or two down from the killer programs like Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, MIT, CalTech, Harvey Mudd.

Competitive: Berekeley, Cornell, Duke ... very good but easier to get into Illinois and UMCP.

UMBC is wonderful.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:University of Maryland Baltimore County. Bonus: Good computer science program (with lots of interest from large local employers, including Northrop, NSA, etc.)

yes, umbc is very strong in cs.

downside - i hear it is a bit sink or swim.

stonybrook university (it's part of SUNY) is also extremely strong in cs/applied math. lots of access to nyc employers and quant funds.

We hire quite a few UMBC grads, but I never hear from them that it was particularly hard. UMCP is night and day harder from what I'm able to tell.

It does give a more than solid CS education and isn't particularly hard to get into.

Case Western

Looking for something just a notch or two down from the killer programs like Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, MIT, CalTech, Harvey Mudd.

Anonymous wrote:University of Maryland Baltimore County. Bonus: Good computer science program (with lots of interest from large local employers, including Northrop, NSA, etc.)

yes, umbc is very strong in cs.

downside - i hear it is a bit sink or swim.

stonybrook university (it's part of SUNY) is also extremely strong in cs/applied math. lots of access to nyc employers and quant funds.

University of Maryland Baltimore County. Bonus: Good computer science program (with lots of interest from large local employers, including Northrop, NSA, etc.)

penn state

George Mason

One kid's reach is another kid's safety. What sort of student is your DC?

Looking for ideas ...