I’m a Pennsylvania Resident so my in-state options for CS would be Pitt and Penn State. I was considering applying to several OOS Public Schools with strong CS programs, including Berkeley, Michigan, Georgia Tech, and UIUC. I am lucky to have my parents pay for college, but are these schools’ CS programs worth the difference in tuition? Should I focus on applying to private schools for a shot at merit scholarships instead?
This is a public university. Which means large classes and other “fun” red tape. Are you and your parents okay with going to a public university and paying $60K per year to be at a public university?
The answer to this is…it depends. I typically don’t recommend applying to OOS state schools because they are usually very expensive and offer little or no merit aid. They tend to be big and impersonal. That said, my son goes to an OOS state school, Cal Poly. It’s not your typical state school on many fronts. It’s medium sized. All teaching is done by professors. Classes are small. Their curriculum is pretty unique in that every class has a lab. For the privilege, you don’t have to pay an arm and a leg. His full expenses are $34k per year which includes the biggest merit scholarship they give, $2k. Usually though you are better off looking for privates that offer good merit if you have the stats to get it. Otherwise, stay in state.
What is wrong with public universities? OP has listed some of the best schools in the country, all of which are public. It’s absolutely silly to disparage a school simply because it’s a state school.
It depends on how much the extra cost matters to you and your family.
PA does have relatively expensive in-state public universities with poor in-state financial aid, so the in-state public universities are less financially attractive than those in many other states for the other states’ residents. However, most of the best known public universities are still more expensive for non-residents than PA public universities are for PA residents.
Nothing is wrong with the state-publics. Not disparaging our public uni’s in California as I, and a large part of my family, are the products of the publics. I was including that information since the OP was asking if it was worth the cost for him. I reiterated not only the costs, but also the fact that these are large schools that aren’t going to feel like the small expensive privates. Parents may not want to pay if they are not small school/personal attention.
If the OP and parents have a projected image of how the strong OOS publics should look, then they need to be prepared for the fact that the costs may not align with the expected size, and living conditions/expenses.