Look, it’s pretty clear if you want the “best of the best of the best, sir!” next to each other than you want to be at MIT, Caltech, CMU, Stanford, HMC …
Michigan is a fantastic school, but it is on the large side (like Purdue) and in CS it may not be worth paying OOS premium over Purdue.
But good luck … if you end up going to Big Red - have fun - I loved every minute of it (as masochistic as it may sound)!!!
I might not be the best of the best of the best, but being near them has to give me some of their knowledge via osmosis… right?
I agree with the Michigan thing. It’s a cool school and has a lot I like, but it’s huge and OOS it’s just unaffordable. I’d like to attend, but it’s just not feasible for me.
Cornell is such a cool school! I got to tour right before COVID hit, and I absolutely loved it. I do hear it’s insanely difficult, but the way I see it is the more difficult a school is, the more I’ll learn and retain.
Michigan supposedly offers some financial aid for out-of-state students from low-enough income families (using both parents’ finances and requiring both of their cooperation if they are divorced or separated).
You can try Net Price Calculator which is linked from Planning Tools & Calculators | Financial Aid | University of Michigan .
Sadly I don’t think I’ll qualify for that! My dad makes around $50k, and I’m not sure of my mom’s income, so I think we make just too much for that. I ran the NPC and it estimates I’ll get like $38k in aid, which is a substantial amount, but I’d still have $29k left over to pay.
I think if you get into one of the top privates, you’ll get a good deal of help, or stick with Purdue … it’s a luxury to have such a great school in-state…
Also It’s been a while, but I found Cornell (I too was a CS major) to be a lot of work, it was not insanely difficult. Just the right amount of work… you also learn to find classes where you can cruise a little (like Econ classes). I think it’s true of any college you’ll be in - take as many project courses as possible - you’ll learn the most … and forge the best relationships with teammates!
I agree! I’m very lucky to have Purdue as my in-state school.
Cornell is a dream for me. Not sure if I want to go there, CMU, or MIT more. We’ll find out, if I get into any of them. I’m trying not to fall in love with a college too hard and face the inevitable disappointment of rejection!
Curious if you looked at Olin. I have a crush on that school, but I don’t know anyone there.
Project-based learning, chock full of geeks. Great financial aid. Great job placement. I have heard that if you like Harvey Mudd that Olin has a similar vibe.
I’ve never looked at Olin! I do like how close it is to other colleges, but has its own tight-knit community. I’ll definitely check it out, since I do like Harvey Mudd’s vibe.
It’s interesting … when I was in school, we had project courses that were VERY useful.
Built a CISC processor, built a Kernel … that was awesome and VERY educational.
Then I did M.Eng. and we had a “sponsored” final project (essentially a real assignment from real life) and I found it to be completely useless.
I feel, education-wise, targeted, simplified, projects are fantastic … “real world” much less so … just my 5c.
Curious where Olin’s projects fit (and HMC’s clinics)
I don’t pretend to know the first thing about engineering schools, but it does look like Olin is a darling of the tech companies. As is Mudd. That must mean something about the skill set of graduates.
I am enamored with the idea of engineers redesigning engineering education (very meta). It sounds like there is still traditional education happening alongside the projects. I agree that projects for the sake of saying you are doing project based learning isn’t good enough. But their results and ability to draw talent is compelling. They are doing something right.
The issue to me is how teeny tiny Mudd and esp Olin are. You gotta love what you are doing and be confident you will find your peeps there.
Also, it’s really great to have totally undergrad-focused institutions that are small and flexible.