Hi,
I have been accepted to my state school with a full ride (covering tuition, books, board, etc), as well as Berkeley (EECS), Cornell (CS), and Carnegie Mellon (Info Systems). For the other three schools, I would have to pay full tuition. My state school is about as good as the University of Michigan at Computer Science (I do not want to say its name for confidentiality reasons). However, it’s not very good at subjects other than engineering (and is consequentially ranked pretty low overall).
Where do you suggest I go (considering weather, class sizes, success after graduation)? Money isn’t an issue. I have been trying to decide between Berkeley and Cornell, but I’m worried about Berkeley’s huge class sizes and Cornell’s isolation/cold weather. For Carnegie, I had only applied to the Information Science major, so I would probably have to double major in Computer Science (and work very hard). My state school is actually in a pretty good location but I am not sure I would want to go there (lack of prestige, too many people I know, etc).
I do want to attend graduate school (either Masters or MBA).
Thanks for the suggestions!
“I have been accepted to my state school with a full ride (covering tuition, books, board, etc)…For the other three schools, I would have to pay full tuition.”
What about the books, room and board, etc. at UCB, CU, and CMU? How are those going to be covered?
Sorry, money is always an issue. Especially if you are thinking about grad school other than a PhD program that would be fully funded. Run the numbers. Include the taxes you would need to pay on the part of the scholarship at your state U that covers room and board. Talk the differences over with your family. Think long and hard about what that 50k to 60k each year for four years would add up to, and what else all of you could spend it on.
http://www.finaid.org/calculators/awardletteradvanced.phtml
Go to the state school, especially if you are thinking about grad school. Don’t worry about the prestige. Save your money and get good grades.
You may not be allowed to double major in CS if you didn’t get in to CS at CMU, so I wouldn’t consider that a strong option unless you know you are allowed to.
If you want a career in software, your state school (I’m guessing either UMD or UW-Madison) will likely offer just as much opportunity as Cal or Cornell (at worst, only a tiny bit less).
However (and especially if you switch majors), Cornell would likely offer more opportunities outside of software development compared to the rest (a bit more than Cal & CMU; probably significantly more than your state school) which may be helpful if you’re considering getting an MBA.
As for money not being an issue, to me, a full-ride vs. full-pay is a big difference, but if your parents are multi-millionaires, then money may not be an issue.
CMU is the wrong major if you really want CS.
Unless your family is made of money, taking the full ride to Rutgers/UMass/NCSU/UIUC/UW/etc. that has a good CS department makes sense. Berkeley is near Silicon Valley, but the money saved at your state school will more than pay for relocation there and living costs during a job search.
Thank you, everyone!! You’ve helped me narrow down my choices to Cornell/Berkeley/state school haha. I will post in those specific pages, and hopefully get more opinions.