4 ms·

What are the big schools? I always thought that what was holding the Midwest up, not enough high quality schools.

coreycr 6y ago
Most midwestern states have a world-class research university. Northwestern, U of Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Purdue...
- tolbish 6y ago
  Minnesota, Iowa State, and the University of Ohio State are very good schools too for tech prospects.
- OldHand2018 6y ago
  The "Big Ten Academic Alliance" does more funded research than the Ivy League and the UC system combined [1]. [1] https://www.btaa.org/docs/default-source/reports/btaa-annual-report-16-17-accessible.pdf https://www.btaa.org/docs/default-source/reports/btaa-annual...
DetroitThrow 6y ago
There are plenty FAANG engineers minted from the top Midwestern schools - think CMU and other state schools - even if they rank behind the top schools on the coasts. Top paying tech jobs tend to be found on the coasts though as well.
- santaclaus 6y ago
  > There are plenty FAANG engineers minted from the top Midwestern schools - think CMU and other state schools - even if they rank behind the top schools on the coasts. CMU is a private school, ranked number 1 in CS, and is not in a Midwestern state! That said, there are lots of top CS programs in the Midwest.
  - dexwiz 6y ago
    CMU is on the wrong side of the Appalachian mountains to best East Coast. Pittsburg has much more in common with neighboring Ohio than it does with Philadelphia. Its regularly included in the Rust Belt which is a subset of the Midwest.
    - santaclaus 6y ago
      It’s certainly not East Coast, but it’s very North East - the rust belt spans well beyond the Midwest. Even culturally Pittsburgh feels like it has more in common with, say, Buffalo or other North Eastern rust belt cities than Wisconsin or Minnesota.
      - throwawaygh 6y ago
        Exactly. I think Pittsburgh has more in common with non-NYC New York than with Ohio. It feels much more like a non-Boston/NYC Northeastern city than like e.g. Columbus or Indianapolis.
        steveklabnik 6y ago
        I'm from Pittsburgh, my partner is from New Jersey. We argue about this (in a playful way) all the time; Pittsburgh is east coast, to me. Ohio is midwest. She counters with "a seven hour drive to the water is not on the coast."
        santaclaus 6y ago
        I used to follow your Rust work and had no idea you are yinzer! Mineo’s or Aiello’s? :)
        steveklabnik 6y ago
        Fun fact: Carol, my co-author on the Rust book, is too, and still lives there! I worked for Pizza Outlet/Vocelli's for seven years, so, I have some bias, haha! One of the locations I was at competed with Mineo's, so... not saying that Vocelli's is the best, but it has a special place in my heart anyway.
santaclaus 6y ago
University of Illinois Urbana Champagne, University of Michigan, university of Wisconsin Madison, and Purdue are all top 20 in CS.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
dexwiz 6y ago
Most of the Big Ten Schools are decent. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Ten_Conference https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Ten_Conference They aren't Ivy League, but they do compete internationally. My alma mater, Purdue, boasts the most amount of astronaut alumni of any nonmilitary school.
analog31 6y ago
In my view, what holds the Midwest up, is that not everybody gets to live in the high-wage cities, yet we don't just give up on inventing and making things. Wherever smart, creative people live, there will be stuff happening, albeit perhaps at its own pace. I tend to look at the high-wage regions like silicon valley, like they are a different country. Some folks will emigrate to that country, and I'm happy for them. Those of us who are left behind, for whatever reason, get on with our lives and find what there is to enjoy in our humble surroundings.
ryansmccoy 6y ago
Washington University in St. Louis?
- dole 6y ago
  I have a friend who graduated from WUSTL’s CS program, who suspected the lack of accreditation stopped him from numerous job prospects. While WUSTL was a cornerstone of the early internet, it’s never been known since (IMHO) for particularly strong CS.
throwawaygh 6y ago
The midwest has the following top 20 CS schools: Illinois (tied for #1), Michigan, Wisconsin, Purdue, maybe Carnegie Mellon (also tied for #1). In addition, the midwest also has the following universities which are top institutions in some fields: Northwestern, University of Chicago, Washington University in St. Louis, Ohio State, Minnesota. I'm probably leaving out at least one Chicagoland school. Indiana is also quite good for CS, but is just not big enough to show up at the top of the rankings. The problem is not a lack of top-tier universities. The problem, especially in Computer Science, is that everyone leaves after university. E.g., here's a map from CMU (page 4): https://www.cmu.edu/career/documents/2017_one_pagers/scs/BS_SCS_One_Pager_2017_%20rev.1.18.pdf https://www.cmu.edu/career/documents/2017_one_pagers/scs/BS_... From CMU, only 2% go to the midwest while 67% go to the west coast and 17% go to the northeast. Similarly, from UW-Madison, only about half stay in the midwest: https://dataviz.wisc.edu/views/FirstDestinationSurvey_0/EmployerLocation?%3Aembed=y&%3AshowAppBanner=false&%3AshowShareOptions=true&%3Adisplay_count=no&%3AshowVizHome=no https://dataviz.wisc.edu/views/FirstDestinationSurvey_0/Empl... ------- US News 20 CS schools by state/region (note that UIUC is now in the tie for top): 1. Carnegie Mellon (Pittsburgh, regionally ambiguous) 1. MIT (New England/Northeast) 1. Stanford (California/West Coast) 1. Berkeley (California/West Coast) 1. UIUC (Great Plains or maybe Upper Midwest/Midwest) 5. Cornell (New England/Northeast) 6. UW (PNW/West Coast) 6. Georgia Institute of Technology (South) 8. Princeton (New England/Northeast) 8. UT-Austin (Texas/South) 10. California Institute of Technology (California/West Cost) 11. University of Michigan--Ann Arbor (Upper Midwest/Midwest) 13. UCLA (California/West Coast) 13. Wisconsin (Upper Midwest/Midwest) 13. Harvard (Northeast) 16. UCSD (California/West Coast) 16. University of Maryland--College Park (Mid-Atlantic/Northeast) 16. University of Pennsylvania (Mid-Atlantic/Northeast) 19. Purdue (Midwest) 20. Rice University (Texas/South) 20. USC (California/West) 20. Yale (New England/Northeast) 20. Amherst (New England/Northeast)

Most midwestern states have a world-class research university. Northwestern, U of Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Purdue...

tolbish 6y ago
Minnesota, Iowa State, and the University of Ohio State are very good schools too for tech prospects.
OldHand2018 6y ago
The "Big Ten Academic Alliance" does more funded research than the Ivy League and the UC system combined [1]. [1] https://www.btaa.org/docs/default-source/reports/btaa-annual-report-16-17-accessible.pdf https://www.btaa.org/docs/default-source/reports/btaa-annual...

DetroitThrow 6y ago

There are plenty FAANG engineers minted from the top Midwestern schools - think CMU and other state schools - even if they rank behind the top schools on the coasts. Top paying tech jobs tend to be found on the coasts though as well.

santaclaus 6y ago
> There are plenty FAANG engineers minted from the top Midwestern schools - think CMU and other state schools - even if they rank behind the top schools on the coasts. CMU is a private school, ranked number 1 in CS, and is not in a Midwestern state! That said, there are lots of top CS programs in the Midwest.
- dexwiz 6y ago
  CMU is on the wrong side of the Appalachian mountains to best East Coast. Pittsburg has much more in common with neighboring Ohio than it does with Philadelphia. Its regularly included in the Rust Belt which is a subset of the Midwest.
  - santaclaus 6y ago
    It’s certainly not East Coast, but it’s very North East - the rust belt spans well beyond the Midwest. Even culturally Pittsburgh feels like it has more in common with, say, Buffalo or other North Eastern rust belt cities than Wisconsin or Minnesota.
    - throwawaygh 6y ago
      Exactly. I think Pittsburgh has more in common with non-NYC New York than with Ohio. It feels much more like a non-Boston/NYC Northeastern city than like e.g. Columbus or Indianapolis.
      - steveklabnik 6y ago
        I'm from Pittsburgh, my partner is from New Jersey. We argue about this (in a playful way) all the time; Pittsburgh is east coast, to me. Ohio is midwest. She counters with "a seven hour drive to the water is not on the coast."
        santaclaus 6y ago
        I used to follow your Rust work and had no idea you are yinzer! Mineo’s or Aiello’s? :)
        steveklabnik 6y ago
        Fun fact: Carol, my co-author on the Rust book, is too, and still lives there! I worked for Pizza Outlet/Vocelli's for seven years, so, I have some bias, haha! One of the locations I was at competed with Mineo's, so... not saying that Vocelli's is the best, but it has a special place in my heart anyway.

santaclaus 6y ago

University of Illinois Urbana Champagne, University of Michigan, university of Wisconsin Madison, and Purdue are all top 20 in CS.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

dexwiz 6y ago

Most of the Big Ten Schools are decent. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Ten_Conference https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Ten_Conference They aren't Ivy League, but they do compete internationally. My alma mater, Purdue, boasts the most amount of astronaut alumni of any nonmilitary school.

analog31 6y ago

In my view, what holds the Midwest up, is that not everybody gets to live in the high-wage cities, yet we don't just give up on inventing and making things. Wherever smart, creative people live, there will be stuff happening, albeit perhaps at its own pace. I tend to look at the high-wage regions like silicon valley, like they are a different country. Some folks will emigrate to that country, and I'm happy for them. Those of us who are left behind, for whatever reason, get on with our lives and find what there is to enjoy in our humble surroundings.

ryansmccoy 6y ago

Washington University in St. Louis?

dole 6y ago
I have a friend who graduated from WUSTL’s CS program, who suspected the lack of accreditation stopped him from numerous job prospects. While WUSTL was a cornerstone of the early internet, it’s never been known since (IMHO) for particularly strong CS.

throwawaygh 6y ago

The midwest has the following top 20 CS schools: Illinois (tied for #1), Michigan, Wisconsin, Purdue, maybe Carnegie Mellon (also tied for #1). In addition, the midwest also has the following universities which are top institutions in some fields: Northwestern, University of Chicago, Washington University in St. Louis, Ohio State, Minnesota. I'm probably leaving out at least one Chicagoland school. Indiana is also quite good for CS, but is just not big enough to show up at the top of the rankings. The problem is not a lack of top-tier universities. The problem, especially in Computer Science, is that everyone leaves after university. E.g., here's a map from CMU (page 4): https://www.cmu.edu/career/documents/2017_one_pagers/scs/BS_SCS_One_Pager_2017_%20rev.1.18.pdf https://www.cmu.edu/career/documents/2017_one_pagers/scs/BS_... From CMU, only 2% go to the midwest while 67% go to the west coast and 17% go to the northeast. Similarly, from UW-Madison, only about half stay in the midwest: https://dataviz.wisc.edu/views/FirstDestinationSurvey_0/EmployerLocation?%3Aembed=y&%3AshowAppBanner=false&%3AshowShareOptions=true&%3Adisplay_count=no&%3AshowVizHome=no https://dataviz.wisc.edu/views/FirstDestinationSurvey_0/Empl... ------- US News 20 CS schools by state/region (note that UIUC is now in the tie for top): 1. Carnegie Mellon (Pittsburgh, regionally ambiguous) 1. MIT (New England/Northeast) 1. Stanford (California/West Coast) 1. Berkeley (California/West Coast) 1. UIUC (Great Plains or maybe Upper Midwest/Midwest) 5. Cornell (New England/Northeast) 6. UW (PNW/West Coast) 6. Georgia Institute of Technology (South) 8. Princeton (New England/Northeast) 8. UT-Austin (Texas/South) 10. California Institute of Technology (California/West Cost) 11. University of Michigan--Ann Arbor (Upper Midwest/Midwest) 13. UCLA (California/West Coast) 13. Wisconsin (Upper Midwest/Midwest) 13. Harvard (Northeast) 16. UCSD (California/West Coast) 16. University of Maryland--College Park (Mid-Atlantic/Northeast) 16. University of Pennsylvania (Mid-Atlantic/Northeast) 19. Purdue (Midwest) 20. Rice University (Texas/South) 20. USC (California/West) 20. Yale (New England/Northeast) 20. Amherst (New England/Northeast)