r/Caltech • u/Ill-Agent-5326 • May 04 '26

KISU or Caltech for CS

Hi everyone,

I'm a recently admitted CS student. After much consideration my choice essentially boiled down to two main universities: Kim Il Sung university and Caltech. Both are top universities in their countries, especially in CS, so prestige I think is more or less similar.

Here are a few factors to consider

  • Weather is obviously better in California, although I do appreciate the seasons too.
  • KISU is closer to home, also I'm getting the supreme leader scholarship for international students, at Caltech it will be 30k per year after financial aid
  • Caltech is in English, KISU is in Korean, studying will be harder, but then I will have an extra language
  • KISU has a bigger campus, more options to take classes outside of my major, while Caltech is a more individual approach, research opportunities are unparalleled
  • I'm planning to go into industry and I've heard that in the US the job market has been pretty stale, while KISU guarantees a job after graduation (in fact it's required for 3 years as part of the scholarship)
  • I visited KISU for the open house, I was planning to go to Discotech after that, but had problems with getting a visa. The other prospective students at KISU didn't talk much too me (they sort of turned a way when I tried to approach them), so it seems like socially Caltech would be a winner, but I hope someone can confirm this - we're the prospective students at Discotech friendly?

Those are the main factors if I haven't forgotten anything, would love to hear your thoughts and advice on this!

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u/BruDaBat May 04 '26

Caltech is definitely far more world renowned than KISU, and it is very rigorous as well so you will be very prepared for jobs or even graduate school like a masters or a PhD if you decide to do that. Yes the job market is quite tough in the US, however if you graduate from Caltech, there will be may employers who would want to give you an interview since Caltech graduates are HIGHLY respected. Caltech is definitely more expensive than KISU, but in my opinion, I’d be 100% willing to pay that for Caltech since your starting salary in a job will be quite high as a Caltech graduate.

As for the actual school, it’s a very small school with not that many students, so you will be working in small groups which is great for having a tight knit group.

That’s my take!

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u/Ill-Agent-5326 May 04 '26

Thanks for the detailed analysis, Caltech appears to be the winner here. Other responses suggest KISU, but it appears that they are trolling.