[charlesju]

I go to UCLA. I personally think it's an awesome program (I think we're ranked top 15 in CS). I would definitely recommend it given that UCLA is ridiculously fun, the people there are pretty smart, and LA is a great city for the young and wild.

As a side note, my parents saved up enough for me to go to a private school, but I chose to forego that option to go to a public school. As such, my parents gave me the difference to spend at my discretion and I'm currently using it as seed money for my startup (the disparity is about $100,000 over 4 years, not withstanding scholarships or grants).

[tsally]

I think it's worthwhile to point out that with financial aid and other scholarships, it's often cheaper to go to private schools. All competitive private schools guarantee to meet 100% of demonstrated need. That being said, if no need is demonstrated via the FASFA form, obviously it's going to be cheaper to go to a public school.