@coolweather: “He was on his own.”
Please back up this assertion. From what I read, both Brin and his father credited the excellent education he received from his profs at UMD.
Ok op and others. Just for fun here’s a few others who leveraged umd for success. And all had other options too.
Or were all these people “on their own” , lol.
Let’s start with the first 8 billionaires one can find in about a minute and a couple of other notable grads who seemed to scrape by in life.
Most of billionaires are all cs and tech related fwiw.
It’s silly to overlook a school like umd based on some mythical prestig-o meter. Take a look below.
Sergey Brin. You know the story.
Jim Walton—16th richest man in the USA. Walmart exec , philanthropist and investor. . Pretty sure he could have gone elsewhere.
Timothy Sweeney —billionaire with a net worth of 10b. He is an American computer game programmer and the founder of Epic Games, being best known for his work on ZZT and the Unreal Engine.
Brendan Iribe — Billionaire and American game programmer, entrepreneur and the original CEO and co-founder of Oculus VR, Inc. and Scaleform
Ed Snider — billionaire. Chairman and CEO of Comcast and owner of the Philadelphia Flyers. Vanguard of tech in cable and fiber optics.
Kevin Plank— Billionaire founder of UnderArmor clothing and shoes.
Larry David — Billionaire creator of Seinfeld tv show.
Jim Henson—Billionaire creator of Muppets and Jim Henson enterprises.
Notables.
James Clapper - Director of the CIA under President Obama.
George Hantzig. World renowned Mathematician and computer scientist. Won the Von Neumann Theory Award.
Cmdr. Judith Resnick. Renowned computer programmer and one of the world’s first female astronauts. Died in the challenger shuttle explosion.
Carl Bernstein. Uncovered watergate and won a houseful of Pulitzer’s along the way
William Mccool. American astronaut and space shuttle commander.
Karl Rove. Political mastermind, chief of staff of pres bush.
CMU is ranked #3 in CS, UMD is #46. Big difference. You have very educated parents who have college funds for you. Take them up on the offer, you have earned it.
@socaldad2002 Why would show only one ranking?
OP You must know how rankings are subjective and we know that it can be fractions of difference between schools at this level. If not trust me on it.
And no one is disputing CMUs excellence!!!
I love the school and the city. It’s top of the charts.
Suggesting your family should spend $200,000 dollars versus $0 —free is nearly negligent imho.
How about global rankings. Grad school rankings.
How about CSranking.org ? The best ranking I can find. Although ranking schools these great is like selecting Miss America. Silly and subjective. All are great.
Is number one in the USA worth 200k more than number 10. And with a more fun campus and diverse student body. I just don’t get it, I am sorry. Plus the honors college. Good lord that’s an awesome offer. They must really want you.
But if you choose CMU that’s awesome too. But you asked for our opinions.
1 ► Carnegie Mellon University
2 ► Massachusetts Institute of Technology
3 ► Stanford University
4 ► University of California - Berkeley
5 ► Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
6 ► Cornell University
7 ► University of Michigan
8 ► University of Washington
9 ► Georgia Institute of Technology
10 ► University of San Diego
10 ► University of Maryland - College Park
12 ► Columbia University
12 ► University of Wisconsin - Madison
14 ► University of Pennsylvania
15 ► Northeastern University
15 ► University of Texas at Austin
17 ► Princeton University
17 ► University of California - Los Angeles
19 ► University of Southern California c
20 ► Purdue University
20 ► University of Massachusetts Amherst closed piechart
@privatebanker In your list, I think you meant University of California San Diego, not University of San Diego.
Putting the money issue aside, OP, this is an easy choice based on your interests. You aren’t going to be able to pursue music and CS at CMU. It’s hard enough to do that combo at UMD.
I wouldn’t discount the benefit of being in a small, elite program with extra resources, or the benefit of being able to pursue any opportunities you want, in the summers or otherwise, without any financial constraints.
CMU has minimum GPA requirements for some classes like the concepts in mathematics before you can enter their CS program, I think. Passing those classes opens the door for you to anywhere. Their higher level classes are difficult for people who have not really trained in math. If you just want to get a CS degree and go to grad school later for others, school matters. If you just want to work after college, the classes you take and interviews matter. Passing CMUs requirements usually gives you a ticket to the place you want to go.
There is no doubt that CMU is a tremendous school for CS. However, you aren’t comparing CMU to Unkown U. UMD has a T10 CS program, they are giving you a full ride, honors college (which has wonderful advantages) and more flexibility to continue with your music. I would choose UMD without hesitation.
No one is questioning the challenge of a CS major at CMU or at any other university. This does not mean that a good education is mono directional. This does not mean that all good CS programs focus only and directly on traditional CS courses. The point I was attempting to make earlier is the relationship of CS to AI and of AI to music and the possible breadth of offerings at CMU at these interfaces.
This was taken directly from the CMU website:
“Carnegie Mellon’s undergraduate major in computer science combines a solid core of computer science courses with the ability to gain substantial depth in another area through a required minor in a second subject. The curriculum also gives you numerous choices for science and humanities courses. Computing is a discipline with strong links to many fields, and our program gives you unparalleled flexibility to pursue these fields.”
Please note that the minor is required, not optional. Check it out. You need to get into greater detail regarding how these programs operate. A great scientist is not mono dimensional. Good research requires breadth of perspective.
Mentioned way up above, but once grandparent 529 money is used, the OP has to report it on the next year’s FA form, and need based aid might go down. So it could cost more than $200K.
If the OPs parents were rolling in money, she didn’t have a younger sib, and her parents retirement was fully funded (tough to do on $116K/year with 2 kids), then I’d say CMU. But to me, the full ride seems like the right choice here.
@deadgirl I assume you have visited both universities . Which one appeals to you? Forgetting the prestige-o-meter for a minutes - where do YOU think you would have the most opportunities to engage in all your interests. As others have already pointed out, the level of intensity of CS at CMU may not give you the opportunity to engage in music at the level you wish. This will be true at any university high on the “prestige-o-meter” scale.
If your EC’s were in music, what is the interest in CS? Do you have EC’s in math/CS at the level that you have in music? I ask because your peers at CMU will have top level EC’s in math/CS like AIME qualifiers and such. The level of interest you have in CS should be the one of the main factors in your selection. Also, if you end up not liking the CS major at CMU, can you transfer to their music school?
UMD B/K is an awesome honor. You will have the opportunity to engage in all your interests there. You will be a bigshot there, and top companies recruit at UMD. I see that B/K pays for room and board , but maybe you can use some of your 529 funds to upgrade to their premium housing on/off campus, or use it for graduate education.
Best of luck with your decision - both are excellent options to have!
Naming billionaires from each school is silly. Billionaires are anomalies and the OP almost certainly will never be a billionaire.
CMU CS students consistently outperform UMD CS students on average, ceteris paribus. I would understand dismissing prestige if OP was choosing between CMU CS and Stanford/MIT/Berkeley CS - but the difference between UMD CS and CMU SCS is pretty big. Once again, the CMU School of Computer Science is seen as equivalent to Stanford: is it not reasonable to choose Stanford over UMD?
I am not saying that CMU CS is the right choice for everyone. This is a classic case of the cheap great school vs. the more expensive elite school. OP did not make a bad choice - there really wasn’t one if his families could afford both schools.
I find it interesting that if the decision was between a full ride or taking on debt of $200k, the almost universal response would be to take the full ride. Why is the thinking different when considering a full ride or paying $200k, just because the funds are available? Ignoring the minor differences in interest (loan interest versus investment opportunity), isn’t $200k $200k?
That is not the universal response among informed CC members. Our community has always encouraged a holistic approach, taking into consideration what a family could afford. $200k is not the same for everyone, and not everyone thinks of a degree as a traditional investment whose ROI should be measured in hard monetary gains postgrad.
Also, it depends on what the individual is interested in. If a student wants to go to a unicorn (such as Palantir or Citadel) or hot tech startup (like Piazza or Color Genomics) or a prop shop/HFT (like Jump Trading or Jane Street), then it could be very important that the student attends the most elite program possible. I have people in my network from a lot of these schools - and the recruiting attention people get is pretty different between schools.
FWIW, CS rankings are misleading - reputation matters more. For example, a CS student at Columbia has easier access to those unicorns than a Maryland CS student, despite Maryland CS being ranked higher. The thing about Carnegie Mellon CS is that its reputation is so damn good that its school is seen as a peer to the Stanfords and MITs.
From our small, anecdotal experience – CMU CS is intense and very challenging to balance with additional interests. We know a CS major there, one of the smartest, “natural intelligence” kids we ever met, off the charts talented in Math. They switched out of CS major because they found there wasn’t time to do anything else and they found their fellow majors to be focused on career and internships, rather than the “learning for its own sake” they were looking for.
For the OP, the benefits of special access and funding at UMD, plus its strength in CS, should make this fairly easy. OP does not seem to love the idea of the “fire hose” approach at CMU CS, so choosing to be a big fish at UMD sounds like an overall fit.
@RandyErika ,I would take the alternative perspective that - if the funds are in a 529 - they are there precisely so that the student can choose the $200k school if that is the one preferred. Especially in a case like this where if a PhD is an option it will almost certainly be fully funded, I would advise the student to follow her heart. The money was not put into a 529 to be a backup to the parents’ retirement funding, or investments, or whatever.
And yes there is a big difference between taking $200k in debt, because there is no debt repayment to come so no future millstone around anyone’s neck.
There may be other reasons for the student to choose UMD, but under the circumstances I don’t think the financial aspect should be one of them.
^that’s the key, here. Grandparents funded a 529 so grandchild could choose any college she got into and liked.
So, the choice should NOT be about using the 529 but rather about fit, as many posters have mentioned: what curriculum does OP like best? which is the better “fit” for her interests?
As already mentioned in this thread, 529 funds do not need to be used solely for current (or future) educational purposes. $200k can go a long way towards bettering one’s life - business startup, home down payment, head start toward retirement, etc. The value of that money shouldn’t be downplayed. If the consensus is that this is simply a factor to consider in any important decision, I certainly agree.
Regarding the music piece of this - IF the music side is part of your hesitation, I think you should research more thoroughly what it is you want musically before you decide. I would suggest reading this piece pinned to the top of the music major forum, which is about all the different ways to study music in college: http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/1948726-double-degree-dilemma-essay-written-by-david-lane.html
I think studying music as well as studying CS will be much more of a challenge than you think, though some pathways will be easier than others, such as a BA, or a music minor, or simply taking private lessons, a few composition classes, and continuing to perform in ensembles. You mention a possible “double major” in music - unless you are talking about a BA program (which is typically a more academic music degree than a performance degree) then you are really talking about a double degree program, because the school of music will have a vastly different set of graduation requirements for a BM (bachelor of music) than the School of Computer Science at CMU, for example. Even a BA in music may be a double degree if it is in a different school at the university than the CS major is housed. Double degrees typically take 5 years, so if you think you potentially might be interested in a double degree, then the financial differences become bigger.
Music majors are very time consuming, and music majors (Bachelor of Music students, anyway) often must carry more than the typical 15 credits just to fit everything in. A lot of class time and rehearsal time and practice time is required. These programs are typically about 3/4 music classes. For a while my son was doing a double music major all within his music school and was going to have to take anywhere from 21-24 credits per semester just to get it all done in 4.5 years. He decided that was just not going to be sustainable for him. The double degree students he knows - the ones trying to do music along with an academic major outside of the school of music – basically have no time to sleep.
So examine the various music options at each school carefully and ask questions. If they have a sample course of study or academic advising sheets online for the various types of music majors, read them to find out what a typical major takes each semester. Also investigate ensemble opportunities carefully. Some ensembles may only be open to BM students, and the ones open to BA or non-music students may or may not be as interesting to you.
I hope that is helpful. Good luck with your decision!