In our experience, students who intended to major in CS and who were accepted to CMU vs. UMD w/BK for CS almost uniformly took UMD w/the merit $. We know several who then went to major SV employers and/or top CS PhD programs. These were students coming out of one of the top STEM HS programs in the country.
There is a very healthy recruiting network at UMD for CS majors who want Google, FB, etc.
My older son considered applying to CMU/SCS, but ultimately decided he wanted theoretical CS, which took him to a different list of schools. He spent a year and a half in HS working with a CS prof at UMD. He had nothing but positive things to say about the prof and his experience.
UMD is very generous with AP/IB/placement credit. Many BK recipients graduate with multiple majors and/or graduate courses within four years.
I’ve posted this elsewhere lately, but I sometimes wish we’d pushed the BK opportunity a bit harder. S still would have wound up where he is today.
I’m still very unable to decide. As much as I love UMD, majority of people I talked to in CS there have told me that their program is very overcrowded. I was really hoping for a smaller classroom experience so that I can ask questions, get recommendations, and get personalized help at office hours.
As for music, UMD accepts 60 people in it’s school of music and Carnegie Mellon accepts 35. Carnegie Mellon also has a BCSA program that students can transfer into. I’m actually supposed to be talking to the music advisor soon. I think once we talk a bit (hopefully tomorrow), I’ll have made my decision.
Also, CountingDown that’s completely true with a lot of my friends! I understand that money plays a large role though because my friends who got partial B/K decided on Carnegie.
“My parents don’t care where I go” and you said there are college funds for you.
They expected you to go to college and use these funds. You fulfilled your end of the bargain. Go to the best college for your major and don’t look back. CMU in computer science is the gold standard, right up there with MIT & Stanford.
Remember there is a reason a college like UMD, ranked #45 in computer science, is throwing money at you because they have a hard time attracting the top students, like you!
Just my opinion but it sounds like your grandparents are funding your parents extravagant lifestyle and probably some (or most) of your college savings plan. It does not seem like you going to college at CMU will be a financial hardship on anyone and you will get a world-class education.
Good luck, I wish you the best.
Why do posters keep quoting an obscure and subjective niche” type ranking? Do they work for the school or something?
The strongest technical ranking is csrankings.org. for undergrad programs. Cmu is one and umd is 10. Usnwr has them 5 and 16 at the grad level.
Why not be balanced?
It’s not umd vs cmu — it’s umd for free vs cmu and then it changes.
Family needs and value of these funds in the future are highly dependent.
There are also other kids to educate etc. and the high schooler may not have all the facts straight on the economics. It hasnt been perfectly clear.
OP is going to CMU most likely but for future readers, there are some who think some of the advice on this thread is terrible. There’s nothing wrong with the cs program at umd cp it’s an elite option.
It’s silly to denigrate the same cs school Sergey Brin said changed his life. Totally overlooking her bk scolly and cs honors program. Brin ended up at Stanford for his PhD before founding google.
CMU is an elite program and will be a wonderful opportunity. Umd cp and it’s cs program is really strong too. If you can go for free and in the honors program. Most students would be hard pressed to say no to that as well.
OP good luck and much success.
^^ Times Higher Education ranks CMU #6 in the world for CS. #44 for UMD. For OP, your family has the funds and are leaving it up to you. Take them up on their offer, no reason to feel guilty at all. You should be very proud of yourself and your accomplishments.
@socaldad2002 that’s a world ranking that started publishing in 2004. Take out all of the Asian and European entries and rerank for us. Have you studied the methodology ?
Much of their five areas of indication have large percentages based on a subjective reputations score. They also use regression analysis which separates these at very fine levels of separation. It’s also a published research heavy methodology. It’s just another ranking.
Why do you ignore others and use this one exclusively. Why not mention it’s a global ranking and not USA? This student is making a life altering decision. It’s would be considered poor scholarship to use one source and not offer competing methodologies as a means of comparison.
Go to CMU, in my opinion. Your EFC does seem high given your income, but if you’re certain your parents have the money and that it’s in your 529 or other dedicated accounts where your parents can’t spend it, it’s affordable for your family. If loans were involved, it’d be different, but it’s not. I don’t know why people are being so harsh about it; there’s plenty of even richer people here on CC who can/will pay the entire 72k, so I’m not sure why it’s suddenly an issue or something unheard of.
At this stage in the game, your parents wouldn’t offer if they aren’t willing to pay. I know the guilt is real, but try to let it go – if you want to contribute to your education, you could pay some of it by working and/or taking the standard federal loan. Education is worth the investment, unlike some of the other things you say your parents spend money on. Every family views money differently, so it’s all relative. (And OP: as someone with a sibling, I agree with you; I think it’s strange your parents send your brother to private school and not you, and you’d only feel resentment if you sacrificed your educational choice for him.)
So tldr: normally I wouldn’t advocate turning down a full ride, but if your family is affluent enough to do so, feel free.
Good luck and have fun in college!
@privatebanker Every ranking I can find has CMU ranked higher than UMD in CS, and much higher on many of the rankings whether nationally or globally. We will just have to agree to disagree…
No. That’s not accurate. You were very specific. Everyone knows CMU is ranked higher than UMD CP. in all of these lists.
But what you said was UMD is ranked number 45 and “for a reason”. What reason is that exactly ?
It’s disingenuous and misleading to the OP. It’s not it’s USA rankings and they are not absolutes. They are merely opinions.
If they were the same price I would say CMU too. If they were only 50 or 75 percent more. Sure. 240,000 percent more is negligent for us all as adults with some world view and experience to not look at with balance.
The OP asks a question “am I stupid to turn down the free ride?”
Many posters say no. But understand what you are turning down. In this case it’s not southern hubunk state. It’s the elite program at umd cp and saving you or your family $200,000.
And CMU is more elite. Even if marginally so.
How does that translate to being “harsh”. No one proactively is getting involved, the OP asked a question.
The answer was probably a forgone conclusion in this case and the OP wanted validation.
My input quite frankly, is aimed for someone cruising the threads for information or parents struggling with a hard decision.
“Harsh”. Hah. Wait to they get a tough prof or boss.
I have the sense that OP’s strongest passion is music, not CS. If that’s true, CMU SCS wouldn’t be a good fit, even without considering the financial aspect. CMU CS, by all measures, is a better program, but that’s only meaningful to devoted CS enthusiasts. To stay competitive within the program (it’s never fun to be in the bottom quartile of any program), OP has to devote significant amount of time, leaving very little for her music interests. So why waste money on a program you wouldn’t be able to take advantage of?
To say the difference between CMU and UM in CS is minuscule is simply incorrect -it is substantial. CSRankings.org has been mentioned, so lets take a look there. CMU is #1 and UM is #11 (with all area selected). But, look at some of the internals of the ranking:
Faculty: CMU 149, UM 65.
Publications in Machine Learning: CMU 454, UM 67
Publications in Robotics: CMU 335, 78
Publications in Computer vision: CMU 299, 155
All these metrics have direct impact on the classes available and the undergraduate research opportunities available (two of the most important things students should consider from the academic perspective).
So, to me there are only two questions:
- Money. If money is not an issue, and by that I mean it has been saved or earmarked for college, then CMU is the better CS choice by far( IMO). I feel uncomfortable preaching to others about how they should spend their college savings.
- Passion, I'm not sure the where the OP's passions are. If it's music then maybe UMD.
Here we go. Where’s the popcorn? 
This thread is laughable. I guess the new “ivy or bust” conversation is a bunch of blind assurances that you MUST attend a specific CS school to get a good job in the field. Prestige hounding isn’t just for ivies any more! Which is baloney. The OP can do just as well at UMD - she’s pretty clearly got the smarts and drive to succeed from almost anywhere. I work in tech, and there is no magic education bullet. It isn’t like she’s talking about a disreputable program. Or like her parents are swimming in money.
“OP is going to CMU most likely but for future readers, there are some who think some of the advice on this thread is terrible. There’s nothing wrong with the cs program at umd cp it’s an elite option.”
It’s not terrible, but I think it is misleading to think the two are similar wrt faculty, fellow students, research, opportunities. A female CS from CMU can do a lot, really a lot more than UMD, wrt things like gender gap, being a mentor in high tech, esp if she comes to silicon valley. Someone mentioned earlier, I’ll say it again, if the OP was deciding between Stanford and UMD, most posters would say, how can you turn down Stanford. Same with CMU CS, if the finances work, you take it, unless it’s for Stanford or MIT.
“It’s silly to denigrate the same cs school Sergey Brin said changed his life. Totally overlooking her bk scolly and cs honors program. Brin ended up at Stanford for his PhD before founding google.”
No one is denigrating UMD, but it’s not CMU by any stretch. If you attend CMU, you don’t need Stanford, you’re already at that level. Why didn’t Brin do his Phd at UMD if it was so great?
That’s not how it works. And everyone knows that.
It is terrible advice to spend 200k for a mythical 10 spots in a list of top schools. And just because some super fans of college “a” or college “b” say it’s a no brainer doesn’t make it true. It’s an opinion. That’s all.
And if anyone has ever seen the long term ramifications of bad financial decision making up close and personal. It’s heartbreaking. And people here are awfully quick to spend other people’s money.
Even hbs grads can find disillusionment when the myth they were sold doesn’t materialize as promised. The golden ticket mentality promised is really setting up kids for a big let down. And years of big payments.
I prefer a balanced view. Like it’s been said CMU is according to many is the best program out there.
But saying that isn’t enough for super fans. So how about this.
CMU is so great that no amount of money would be too much to replace its singular brand of cs excellence. it crushes all other schools and guarantees it’s grads a lifetime of computer science fame and riches. Surrounded by the lesser lights of state school who are only there to help fix your email or install new software.
Is that enough?
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The magic words - Closing thread.