Congratulations on both!! What an amazing achievement and difficult decision you have to make. If money is truly not a major factor, then you should definitely go to the college that will make you the happiest and where you can see yourself spending the next 4 years of your life. Both schools have amazing CS programs! If you feel you would truly be unhappy at UMD, don’t go there just because of the scholarship. You will regret that decision and probably be upset with yourself and your parents for many years to come.
I have 2 children who both earned the full BK scholarship at UMD and were also accepted to several top schools, but none of the other colleges were full rides (about 75% of the total college expenses would have been covered). My husband and I have college funds for both kids. We told them to choose the school that would make them happy so that they would not have any regrets later. My older child is currently at UMD and loves it there, but it was her decision. My younger child will be enrolling in UPenn in the fall because he loves UPenn more. Also, his decision.
Another option you could consider if you are truly unable to decide is take the BK at UMD for at least a year. If you don’t love it there, kick butt in your classes and then transfer to CMU. If you don’t take the UMD scholarship this year, it will not be available to you in the following years.
There is a good way to determine if going to CMU is worth it to you-think about whether you’d go to CMU if it were coming out of your pocket. Say your parents would give you the money it would cost to go to CMU. You could pay for CMU or pocket it and take the full ride. Would you choose CMU? Another possibility is to go to CMU and then pay your parents back when you are on your feet after graduating. You should be able to get a high paying job with a CS degree from CMU. That’s if you stick to CS even if it is a tough go-which it will be. If you were my kid, it would be CMU.
One thing to consider is if the money is in 529 accounts or other educational accounts, and Graduate school ends up not costing anything, the only thing that can be done with the money is transfer to the brother, but what if the brother also has an account. I would take the money out of it for a second and think about where you would be happiest. If CMU is not a clear winner, then UMD is the better choice. If you really want to attend CMU, then the money is there.
@suzyQ7 On the OP’s other thread, she indicated that CMU’s CS classes were great. I took that to mean she’d visited. In that thread where there was more focus on the music quandry and her ability to pursue both passions.
This is incorrect. You are free to withdraw your original contributions at any time with no penalty. However, you will have to pay captial gains taxes on any investment gains as you would for any investment PLUS a 10% penalty. Its not ideal, but its also not that the money is lost. Only part of the gains are forteit.
But you could pull out the principal for whatever you want (car, house downpayment, etc.) without a penalty, and leave the interest in the 529 for random educational expenses in the future. Lots of us have picked up a few random college courses and even degrees in new fields that relate to changes in professions long after a first BA/BS and initial graduate degree.
I don’t think you will even need to pay the penalty if you can’t use up the funds in the 529 account because of a scholarship.
A CMU CS degree is clearly worth more than a UMD CS degree, but is it worth $200k more? Only OP and her family can decide. CMU is not known for its generous financial aid so it’s not surprising that OP’s family had to contribute $50k out of $116k income.
Leaving OP’s music interest aside, CS experience at CMU SCS will be much more intense than at UMD. Is OP prepared for that intensity and does she enjoy a more challenging environment? If the answers are yes, the outcome with a CMU degree will be better (https://www.ivyachievement.com/computer-science-rankings/). But still, $200k is significant amount of money and will take time to recoup.
@deadgirl it sounds from your most recent post that your parents are fine using the college funds to pay for CMU, and it is really just about your guilt about turning down a free ride? Is that correct? If so, a couple things: as people mention, that college fund will still be there, and grow, tax free, for at least the next four years, which is no small thing. That money can be used for other things, as mentioned above. You’re in a great situation…your family has saved for college, and you got a full ride. Don’t feel guilty about letting the free ride go (that scholarship money will go back into the pool for someone else)…don’t let guilt make this decision. Good luck.
My son is turning down a full ride to go to a better school that he likes better. We are supportive of that. It won’t be easy to afford but we can afford it. My son was fully prepared to go to the full ride school and we really did need to convince him to go to the school he really wants to attend and we think will be better in the long run.
Wishing you the best in college and life. You will be fine and do well at either school.
I’m a little amazed this hasn’t been mentioned but here are 2 points that should be considered:
If you do go to CMU, I would make sure the college funds are put in to something safe (like cash). Definitely not left in stocks. If the stock market tanks by 50% and the money suddenly isn't there for the last 2 years of CMU, that would not be good.
CMU CS is intense. I really doubt you'd have time for musical composition there.
Because of that, you will get opportunities from CMU CS that may not be open to you at UMD CS (then again, you could take grad classes as a UMD CS major, get in to grad school at Stanford, and get those opportunities that way and still at a lower cost).
If you go to UMD, I would ask your parents to preserve your college fund for you in case you decide to spend it on a masters (CS PhD's would be funded; masters and music degrees, you'd have to pay for).
If the main issue is guilt, and you are sure that CMU is the best fit and you would be happy there, I would pick CMU. You earned it. But, as noted above, CMU is intense and not for everyone who can get accepted there.
At CMU SCS (and MIT, and even more so at Caltech), you are forced to drink from a firehose. There is no choice. At UMD as a B-K scholar, you could knock yourself out with the hardest classes possible at the grad level (and they will be plenty tough). You can choose to drink from the firehose. Or do music. Or both.
When you get to Stanford for a PhD in CS, you first take the quals and then you take master’s level classes in those subjects you failed before you have to pass them again and start your thesis. Brin was perfect on all his quals before taking a single Stanford class (evidently the first person ever to pass all Stanford quals before the master’s program). His undergrad education at UMD allowed him to exceed a Stanford grad student (or probably anyone else on Earth) in CS. So you could choose to be as good or better than a CMU SCS student as a B-K Scholar if you want to be.
Actually, thinking of it that way, I see no reason not to take the money.
@SpiritManager Thank you so much for this information!! Really the main conflict when it comes to UMD vs Carnegie is music. I love music and it was everything to me in high school! I’m really hoping to double major. I feel as though it will be good for me at this age especially to develop my aural skills and everything! I seriously LOVE music and I feel like people think I’m idiotic for wanting to pursue it at the collegiate level when I can just do it “on the side” but I really just love the intersection of CS and Music and really just would love to be immersed in music in college! Literally my entire college application is centered around music. Don’t get me wrong. I love CS. But if it were possible to make a living off of solely a music degree, I’d most likely be doing that!
I’d be fine with minoring in music but the problem is that AP Music Theory waives a ton of the first year classes and that’s the opposite of what I want. I want to take classes and I want something more advanced. I scheduled to talk to the head of the fine arts department today on the phone, but I think she forgot about our meeting and she hasn’t answered the email I sent today. : ( I hope that she’ll talk to me before Wednesday because I barely have any time left to make my decision.
What you said about graduate school is very true. Music is very serious at that level. I’m very stressed out about this.
People like Brin, Gates,… are super geniuses. They should not be used as examples for comparison.
OP’s parents went to Stanford, one is a postdoc. They know what they are doing.
@deadgirl: “I’d be fine with minoring in music but the problem is that AP Music Theory waives a ton of the first year classes and that’s the opposite of what I want. I want to take classes and I want something more advanced.”
There is no obligation to apply for, and accept, the AP credit in lieu of enrolling in equivalent classes at UMDCP. You can simply forgo that credit.
Oftentimes a well-regarded university department will recommend (although not require) even for those students who enter with AP credits which make them eligible to skip over entry level classes in that content area at the university (and go into, say, 200/212+ level coursework), that students start with the entry level classes. It is well understood that AP level classes taught in HS simply do not cover the content as deeply as happens in the college classroom.
I can understand that you may not want to sit through material twice, but, all things considered, you may actually be exposing yourself to new material, taught in a new way.
You have a wonderful dilemma, and fantastic opportunities for saying ‘yes’ to whichever you choose. A hearty Congrats to you.
^ Brin did not need to exhaust UMD’s resources. He was on his own. Gates did not benefit much from Harvard’s resources. He just worked by himself then dropped out.
My older son got Trustee scholarship (full tuition) in his college. Last year he studied in Australia with extra scholarships especially provided for the scholars. As a result, we did not pay a penny for his four months staying in Australia plus a visit to New Zealand. I believe the B-K at UMD will give you more opportunities once you are there.