Did you not apply to VT and UVA (I presume you are from Virginia)
Those would have been great options
I am! I didn’t apply to Virginia Tech but wish I had. And I did apply to UVA, but I applied from out of state(I just moved to Virginia a little over a year ago) and got waitlisted, which is a bummer.
Can you try accepting the waitlist and letting them know that you’ll come should they take you?
UVA would be an awesome cost-effective place for you!
If you’re in-state for William and Mary, what happened at U Va? Did you apply there?
Comp Sci graduates are getting hired from anywhere, even from lowly state colleges. And after you get your first job, it doesn’t matter where you went to school, as long as you can do the job. If you want some business classes and Comp Sci at a sensible price, your best bet really would have been your flagship state U, which apparently is U Va. But William and Mary also has Comp Sci and business, and it’s a good school, so no problem there.
Both Dartmouth and Amherst are “name” schools, but because Dartmouth is so much larger, there is a much larger alumni network. But this is really not relevant in what you’re talking about doing. I’m not sure how much a prestigious alumni network will be relevant for what you’re planning on doing after college.
In your situation, for what you want to study, and for what you want to do after college, I’d take William and Mary. You can of course appeal your fin aid awards, and see if Amherst or Dartmouth would offer you more, when you explain your options. It’s worth a try.
I see from your interim post that you’re waitlisted at U Va as an OOS applicant. Call them! Explain what happened. Maybe they’ll just accept you, and with in-state status.
Nvm
I agree - there is NO downside in calling UVA and telling them that you are in-state and you
really want to come (but decide if you want to come first)
I applied to William & Mary from out of state too, but luckily since I’ve been in VA for a year, I’m eligible for in-state financial aid. And that’s a good idea regarding UVA! I’ve seen a few people suggest it, and I like the school enough that I think it’s worth a try.
Dartmouth is a highly polarized, high-stress environment for URMs even when money is not a factor.
I can’t emphasize this enough. Dartmouth as a Black woman who isn’t interested in Greek life is really, really hard. And taking on six-figure debt (not including interest!) for a degree/career where prestige doesn’t matter isn’t a good idea. Dartmouth also has a reputation for reducing financial aid over your four years there (Changes in financial aid awards force some students to leave Dartmouth | The Dartmouth) so you might have to take even more loans.
No college, Amherst or Dartmouth or Stanford or otherwise, is worth that much in debt.
Congratulations on your acceptances! I would not worry too much about taking on debt. As a CS major, you’ll pay it off in no time. Don’t rule out Oberlin. It’s a wonderful, wonderful school. Very supportive and diverse. A friend of mine graduated with a CS degree from Oberlin a few years ago and earned six figures straight out of school at Google. Good luck! You have some wonderful opportunities.
I’d love to see the statistics on the kids who are paying back their debt “in no time”. Yes, a decade is a small fraction of an adult’s working life. But that’s ten years.