My career plan leans towards Software Engineering. Electrical and Computer Engineering at UofR vs Computer Science at Vassar. I immensely like both schools, so no worries with “fit.” Which school would you all recommend?
Vassar
$16,000 loan per year or $16,000 loan after four years?
Important question.
The history of Grace Hopper at Vassar and IBM’s large facility nearby (not sure what the current relationship is between the two, but…) are nice. Also, you can go to engineering grad school with a CS undergrad degree.
Over 4 years. $3500 a year.
It’s not a debilitating amount of debt at all, but are you (or your family) comfortable with it? If not, Vassar.
But vassar has a lower acceptance rate. Is the UoR higher ranked for your major?
@HiToWaMom, UofR was my first choice until I was startled by Vassar’s finaid package. $3500 over 4 years is the subsidized loan, and I was initially okay with it… but I can only imagine what it might feel like to not have debt in college. If Vassar’s CS department was one of its best, I’d have taken it in a heart-beat. But right now, it’s very hard to decide.
My D went to Vassar with no loan. It frees your mind and soul. Unfortunately, I don’t know anything about Vassar’s strength in CS department. You should investigate.
Both are wonderful colleges where you will have smart peers and can get a great education. You can’t go wrong here!
Even without the difference in cost, Vassar is an amazing choice.
It is a top small liberal arts college with all the benefits of that: small classes, close relationships with professors, all research opportunities going to undergrads, close community.
It is really beautiful- from its incredible library to dorms like Main and Cushing to the Shakespeare Garden to the lake to the fact that it is an arboretum with gorgeous trees.
It has nice dorms and rooms. Seniors live in on-campus college-owned apartments.Food services have recently been changed and are reportedly really nice now; food used to be an area of comparative weakness to the other top northeastern small liberal arts colleges, but not anymore!
It has a great social environment, too- no fraternities, and a nicely inclusive environment which begins with the dorm communities.
The college has great resources and provides wonderful opportunities for its students. There are tons of clubs and activities and lots going on every weekend. Its theatre shows are especially amazing, and there are famous alumni in theatre/film/TV who return frequently to campus.
Alumni are loyal and involved in general.
As a former women’s college, it is a comfortable, empowering environment for women and men alike.
However, if you want to major in engineering, Vassar does not have an engineering major, so you would have to do the dual degree 2-1-1-1 program with Dartmouth (junior year and the year after senior year spent studying engineering at Dartmouth, with the freshmen, sophomore and senior years spent at Vassar). But software engineering sounds like something you could do from a computer science major (?), in which case Vassar would be fine.
Basically, unless you want a major that is available at Rochester but not at Vassar, it is hard to think of a reason to pick debt at Rochester above debt-free at Vassar.
EDIT:
I cross-posted with you and just saw that, at one point at least, you preferred U of Rochester to Vassar. If you still feel that way, show U of R the package you got at Vassar and see if they will adjust yours. And the debt is not staggering.
@TheGreyKing, thank you so much for the insight. I am leaning towards Vassar at the moment.
I am aware of the fact that what you do in college is upto you and the name brand does not matter. But in this case, a technical uni vs an LAC… I don’t know if a BA instead of B.Eng. would be better. Or perhaps this stigma is totally unnecessary? Hard to decide.
Well, you could do the dual degree program and earn your bachelor of engineering from Dartmouth through the 2-1-1-1 program.
Ooh, sidebar. Reading @TheGreyKing’s post made me reminisce about memories of Sunset lake (the lake on Vassar’s campus to which he refers) and I read that it is no longer surrounded by a hillside of daffodils in the springtime. That makes me sad. It was such a spectacular sight.
No one in industry cares what degree you got. The major may be important, but no, whether it is a BEng or BA or BS doesn’t matter. A Harvard CS major would receive a BA (well, AB; same difference). They seem to have done well.
$3500/year isn’t that bad. If they’re even, use it as a tie-breaker.
Here’s how I see relative strengths:
U of Rochester
- Stronger overall in STEM
- More majors to choose from if you change your mind
Vassar
- Smaller classes
- Greater access to profs
I would scour their course catalogs to see which school meets more of your academic needs.
If the CS major at Vassar offers enough of what you’re looking for, I would choose Vassar.
But (!) make sure you visit both if you haven’t already.
Personally I would be looking at the Profs in your major online to see who or how many specialize (specific research, programming, whatever) in what you personally like. then pick that school. Being involved in something specific you love for four years would make a nice bonus to the college degree. That low of a cost difference would only come into play if both schools were tied. It’d be like a coin toss.
If you look through job websites like indeed or monster you will find it difficult to find a job asking for a BA degree. They for the most part all ask for a BS of which I believe Vassar does not provide outside of a 3+2 or 3+1+1 with an affiliate school. UofR is a great Stem school liable to easily get you a higher paying job in the end. Check me on this though as the last time I checked which was a year ago, Vassar didn’t have a BS.
If you are a zero EFC at Vassar, $16,000 could be a LOT of money to you/your family. My friends who were CS majors (or created independent majors with C and psychology, as one did) have done quite well for themselves. Vassar is the choice.
Vassar has a wonderful alumnae network that could help with internships or job placement.
“If you look through job websites like indeed or monster you will find it difficult to find a job asking for a BA degree.”
Do take a look. I think you’ll find a BS to be a requirement to be rare.
Something like the following is more typical:
“Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Computer Information Systems, or related area”