[s_baar]

Sorry for trying to hijack, but I was going to create a similar thread for myself too, and I don't think it would be a good idea to create two. (I got waitlisted at Rice too!) Right now I'm trying to decide between UCLA, UCSD, and Univeristy of Washington. Which one would be best for a CS major?

[jbarciauskas]

5 years ago, UW, far and away. They were ranked #12 when I was looking, and even higher before that I think. Seattle is also of course a great town for technology, and not just for Microsoft hangers-on.

[Shooter]

UW is still a great school. Some great CS research is done there.

[dspeyer]

University of Washington has the best overall CS department of those three by a fair margin.

At least, that was the general impression of grad schools at UMaryland undergrad, and UWashington alumni are noticeable at both Microsoft and Google (UCLA and UCSD, not so much).

From my brief contact there, the culture is like a toned-down version of UCBerkeley. Whether that's a good thing is up to you.

The weather is as bad as you've heard -- worse because the three monthes of sunshine a year are the three monthes you won't be there.

[Zev]

The weather is as bad as you've heard -- worse because the three monthes of sunshine a year are the three monthes you won't be there.

FWIW, RIT is the exact same way. Not that I go there, even though I was accepted. I go to the state school down the road — cost of 4 years here is a year and a half at RIT. And it's undergrad. It amounts to the same things being taught in similar manners regardless of where you (or I) happen to be.

[Dilpil]

See if you can find a course catalogue- they tell you exactly how the school structures its CS program.

[HalcyonMuse]

Better yet, send one of the counselors/advisers an e-mail and ask them about a track you might be interested in. Or, e-mail a professor and ask them. Or both.