Graduate school is a non issue. A PhD in CS, provided you do well at CMU, will be fully funded.
I’ve known many people who have gotten Master’s degrees, by going part time at night. It was often paid for, by their employer.
My mom went to Stanford for a masters and my dad went there for his post-doc so they’re very adamant in believing that education is an investment.
So they’re more than willing to pay. I just feel very terrible.
Graduate work in music composition or performance would not likely be funded; so if you’re serious about that, perhaps that’s a way to spend down the education accounts that are restricted.
It’s often possible to shift education funds to a sibling; so if your brother’s college account is not fully funded as you think yours is, that’s another way to spend down “your” balance.
I am going to be a contrarian. And this is odd for me because I am frugal. For an EFC of $50K with $116K of income, there are assets somewhere. I don’t understand why posters assume your parents can’t sustain CMU. They don’t appear to be against paying for CMU. I don’t even believe that you need the 100% 411 on where all the assets reside. Just confirmation that the funds for your education are secure. If there is an investment or some other item out there, that’s there business. Maybe the house is paid off, maybe the some of the college funds were sourced by an inheritance or past gain. If you want to be nosy, log onto College Board and get some CSS details. I don’t think you need to.
If in your parents minds, that money is already spent and was earmarked for school, go ahead and use it. However, be very grateful for the fact that they are doing this for you. Sometimes we put our own sensibilities on others. If later in life, you want to boycott name brands, go for it. There is nothing in your details that would suggest that your parents are not in control of their finances. Give them enormous credit for looking after you.
When I attended the admitted students day for CMU SCS, I sat in on a freshman computer science course. I was blown away by the material they were teaching the freshmen. It was essentially material that I had not learned until I was a graduate student in computer science at a top institution (a peer of CMU). The program is quite special, and unlike anything anywhere else in the world. But understand that you will be living and breathing computer science, so be prepared if you decide to attend.
Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but the financials really don’t add up. If the parents have $200k in 529s, an income of $112k, why would they get any financial aid from CMU? 529s aren’t treated like regular savings right?
^ CMU isn’t a meet need college. However they do give merit scholarships. So the money could be either.
@itsgettingreal17 It depends on who “owns” the 529. If its owned by a parent, its treated like parental assets. If its owned by the student, its treated as a student asset – much worse treatment. If its owned by a grandparent, its not counted at all, but the money taken from it to pay tuition is counted as income to the student and works against the next year’s financial aid. I don 't know how this works with “prior prior”
Have you researched the job prospects of computer science majors at both schools? I’ve heard that CMU computer science students are often widely sought by top companies and usually have no problem finding a high paying job. I don’t know enough about UMD’s computer science program to say if it’s worth it or not compared to CMU. If I were you, I wouldn’t limit myself to only thinking about the cost of attendance. Think about what you would be making in the far future with degrees from CMU or UMD, and then decide if the cost will be worth it. If you already have a preference then just make sure you won’t regret it in the future before committing.
UMD is a Top 20 CS school. Assuming you are a direct admit into their program, it would be hard to make a case for spending very close to $300K extra for CMU. (CMU’s financial package for my kid was $72K a year, zero aid.)
If you’re serious about wanting to do graduate work in composition, you’ll need to build up a portfolio while an undergrad. You may need to do some summer programs to supplement your education, and to get pieces performed. Have you discussed with each department how accessible the composition departments are to non majors and whether there will be any chances to get works performed? That’s often difficult even for composition majors. Also, in terms of studying composition - it’s unclear from your posts what kind of music is of interest to you. Are you a classical composer? Have you had any private instruction? I know you mentioned wanting to tour with a chorus. Have you had private voice lessons? Most universities will allow you to study privately - it’s just often not for credit, or at a cost.
Have you explored the composition professors at UMD and CMU? Do you have a sense of the aesthetic of the department and how your own goals would mesh? For instance - this is on the CMU page: With an intense program in composition and a university environment enriched by computer technology, the School of Music places a strong emphasis on contemporary music. (Contemporary in this case meaning art music, not commercial.) And CMU does offer Music Minors but not in Composition - although perhaps that could be the ‘elective studio.’ The University of Maryland does not seem to offer a BA for a double major in Composition. Of your interests, they only seem to offer vocal music. The aesthetic of the UMD department (at least on the website) for composition seems more conventional than CMU and somewhat last century: In addition to studies in music composition, course offerings include advanced orchestration, Schenkerian analysis, theory and analysis of atonal and twelve-tone music, and jazz theory, as well as graduate seminars on a range of topics. Recent offerings include Analysis of Works by Twentieth-Century American Composers; Masterworks of the Twentieth Century (1900—1950); Postmodernism in Music; Seminar in Advanced Analysis; Theory in Analysis; and Theories of Rhythm, Meter, and Temporality.
You’ve gotten lots of advice about the two computer science programs - you may want to dig deeper into the music programs.
UMD is a very good school indeed.
Get your parents to agree that you will use up the college savings account for your graduate school instead of undergrad.
Forget the costs of the schools for just a moment…which would you pick? That’s the one you NEED to attend. I’m getting the distinct impression that there was “college $$” saved, quite a bit. Go with your heart and don’t look back. Picking a school, and all the factors that weight into that decision, is most likely the most important decision you’ll make to date so I understand the hesitance. You got this.
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I think you are underestimating the value of the B-K scholarship as far as contacts and opportunities it will offer you.
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Is this for real? I feel like I’m being punked. If you’re serious, OP, go to UMD. It’s a no-brainer.
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Please tell us if you have visited CMU and really like the intense experience there. The worst thing that can happen is you go there at that cost, not like it, and lose the scholarship you could have had to UMD. So please, Share with us what you like about both schools and if you’ve visited.
Consider “gallentjilll’s” suggestion.
There is no doubt that the CS reputation at CMU is truly world wide. It might even be possible to argue that there may be some additional premium on your initial job offer with a CMU degree.
Your interest in music has been lost here. What can you actually do with your music interests at each of the universities. I would explore these program particulars at each university before you have that frank discussion with your parents. You want to know about the entire package in making decisions.
You are very fortunate that UMD has such a strong CS department. Can you integrate your music interest with CS in either of both universities? This is a developing field in AI?
Congratulations - there was not a bad choice IMO.
Yes, they are both great CS programs, but UMD CS is not really a true peer with CMU CS.
CMU CS is its own separate school at CMU. The undergraduate students at CMU CS are at the same level as Stanford and MIT students (and CMU SCS has the same reputation in the world of software engineering). This is NOT the case with the students at UMD CS. I cannot stress this enough. As I said on your other thread, you will get a lot more recruiting attention at CMU CS. This is REALLY important if you want intend on going to top/niche PhD program, or for joining a Unicorn or hot startup (as in funded by a prestigious VC/group of investors) after graduation. It used to be super important in order to get interviews with FAANG/Big N tech companies too, but they have automated a lot of their initial steps to be more inclusive of folks from all backgrounds (for example, Amazon sends out its coding challenge to almost any applicant).
For people who are unfamiliar with CMU SCS (as it appears many on this thread are), think of the OP’s choice more like this:
B-K @ UMD CS vs. Stanford/MIT
You will probably not need graduate school if you are going for typical software engineering jobs that most CS majors strive for. The big exception here is if you want to work in something very niche, like Machine Learning, where a graduate degree is par for course.