Reputation of USC CS PhD Program

[vraman]

Was wondering on what people's thoughts are on USC's CS PhD program (and specifically the theory group) are. I've been admitted to the theory group and am debating between USC (CS PhD) and UM (Stats PhD)

[Man_About_Town]

I'd say USC CS overall falls into the 2nd Tier for CS PhD programs, if you consider the top tier to be MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, CMU type programs and 2nd Tier to be Caltech, UCLA, USC, U Illinois, Purdue type programs. Living in Los Angeles is obviously way better than living in Ann Arbor, unless you have love for college towns. You write your ticket in industry and in academia with a CS PhD. The job market for Stats PhDs is robust but in no way as great as it is for CS PhDs. 

Edited May 7, 2021 by Man_About_Town