ETH vs EPFL

If internships is what you are interested in go with Epfl, they have a ton of resources for getting them (eth has them too but generally for later years) and many friends of mine did internships during breaks and even during the year ( if they were repeating the year ). If I may say keep in mind that 60-80% of students fail the first year of studies and have to repeat it. This is not because they are not good or party too much but really because making it in either of those schools is a high level sport almost. So with that said u need to count 3-5years to get the bsc, 5 being veery common. Now the prestige difference between epfl and eth really does not matter, what matters is what you gain out of your courses, internships and profs. Lastly there is one really positive thing with Eth logistically and its that you can get a masters in 1 year rather than 1.5 or 2, if you have done your bsc there. Now i know that you say you wont do an msc in Switzerland but keep an eye on your choices as things change in the span of 3-5 years.

EPFL clearly has many many things to do outside of studying.

Since it is a very dense and well integrated campus there are hundreds (literally) of associations on all different topics: https://www.epfl.ch/campus/associations/list/

Joining an association is a great way to do something apart from your studies (and clear your mind) as well as meeting people.

So far, I have the impression, this is less present in Zürich, also due to the fact, that the campus is not separate, but mostly integrated into the city!

On another note:
The administration at EPFL mostly treats you as a number! So don't expect them to make any exception for you personally, no mater what situation you are in! And this is not nice at all (For example: Get sick during the exams, tough luck, you most probably loose a year!).
ETH is much more accommodating there, and the people in the administration actually tend to treat you as a human being.

Glad it helped !

Concerning the grades, people know that the grading scheme is harsh, and behave accordingly. I actually think it's better because it lets truly exceptional people shine.

Concerning the student life, I personally prefer the Zurich one, as it's a much bigger city, though it's quite expensive. I worked part-time in a lab when I was at ETH, which definitely helped me enjoy more ;)

Yes, you can definitely go skiing on the weekend, but bear in mind that most people study at least one of the two days.

I think teaching is high level. There are good professors and there are assholes professors, like in any university, but NO dumb professors for sure. There is a strong focus on tech transfer towards industry, many professors are very happy towards helping you setting up a startup if you wish so.

I did my internship during summer (MS though, not Bachelors) and so did all my friends so it is possible. There isn’t a specific time to do it, you have to plan your time for the next years (I prepared two exams while working..) and it’s not uncommon to overlap work and study and work extra hard to get everything done on time. There are burnouts, there is a psychological counseling, it’s definitely demanding, but it’s worth it.

With competitive I mean that all the people you are surrounded with are just as good and smart as you, you don’t have any competitive edge, the only thing you can do is be ready to do ANYTHING necessary to get where you want to get. Strong competitions for internships, for semester projects, for thesis projects, for exam results (you compete against the rest of the class, since the results are weighted on a Gauss curve), for being accepted into certain courses.. there is space to develop everyone’s interests, but you really have to be ready to commit to them. The true competition is against yourself: you will be there for 2-3 years, and you have to get as much as you can out of it, how far are you ready to go? That’s the real question. Eg. I didn’t get involved in student associations, worked extra hard on courses, took a 6months internship, began to study German, and finished the master in 2 years. Could I have done it faster? Yes, with less interesting courses, a shorter internship, no German. Could I have got more out of it? Yes, but I would have needed more time. You set your own pace, sky is the limit and you will never get bored. Set yourself goals (timeframe and targets). Just get your priorities straight, your goals, your expected timeframe, and be ready to kill to get there. If you get in, it’s because you have potential, believe in yourself and never settle.

A question I asked myself often while there was “what would you do if you could do anything you wanted?”. Ask yourself that and please tell me if you find the answer, I’m still looking for it

Disclaimer: I didn't study CS (I did EE at ETH), so I don't know about the exact landscape of companies for your field. But this is a general consideration I've seen concerning ETH degrees.

I feel like the bachelor's degrees themselves from ETH/EPFL aren't all that useful. If you're not planning on doing a master's and want to work in Switzerland with a bachelor's, then one from ETH is kind of a waste as you've basically only covered the (admittedly very wide range of) basics but not much in-depth. It's basically spending extra effort to qualify for an ETH master's but not using it after, without gaining much experience useful for working.

There's universities of applied science (Fachhochschule) that have a much less theory-based and much more practical and industry-close curriculum, making the bachelor's degrees from there much more useful for getting to work right after (in my opinion). Also I must say I don't know the EPFL degree and whether that's so theory-focused as the ETH ones tend to be.

The ETH/EPFL bachelor's degree was born out of necessity when switching to the Bologna system. In the time before that there was the "Vordiplom" (pre-diploma) that you got after passing the first two years which qualified you to study at ETH for the "Diplom" (today's master's degree). So there's nothing really useful that the new bachelor's degree replaces and many consider ETH studies "completed" only with the master's.