HACKER Q&A
📣 adrian_mrd

Best universities to study computer science?


What are the most highly-regarded universities - and their affiliated departments, colleges or units - to study computer science around the world?

And what makes them so highly-regarded?

  👤 ThrowawayR2 Accepted Answer ✓
The top CS universities are highly regarded for the research that their faculty and graduate students perform. The impact on undergraduates is indirect: there's a bigger variety of advanced CS courses, opportunities to hear about or participate in cutting edge CS research, and better equipped facilities but for the 90% of students who go on to work on web frontend/backend, none of those matter much. Going to a top CS university is important primarily if the student is planning to work for a FAANG or another context where CS knowledge is useful or the student is planning to get a Ph.D.
👤 halfmatthalfcat
Tangentially, does it actually matter if one does attend these universities purely for their CS prestigiousness?

I guess it could be akin to working at FAANG and increasing your opportunity surface area.

In terms of learned skill, what's the difference between "Tech Ivy" and a State university curriculum that actually has real world implications (e.g. ability to do your job professionally).

👤 WalterGR
UC Berkeley, Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, MIT.