<p>I need help deciding between Berkeley and umd for undergraduate computer science. I got into honors at umd and letters and science at Berkeley (I'm not interested in EE) I've visited both, but I live in MD so the price difference is immense. 20k for umd to 48k for Berkeley. Is Berkeley worth the extra 28k?</p>
<p>I am in the exact same situation…mechanical engineering though.</p>
<p>that is tough…what do u want to do with computer science? …and im not very familiar with engineering, does it really matter what school you go to for engineering in regards to job placement.</p>
<p>Berkeley is absolutely not worth 28k x4 = 112k Just exactly where would you propose to find that kind of money?</p>
<p>By and large, as long as an engineering degree is from an ABET accredited institution, that is all that matters. Yes, there are exceptions (think MIT), but even then a cost differential like this one would not be justifiable unless your family were rich enough to pay for it all without breaking their budget or landing anyone with more debt than that allowed by the maximum Stafford Loans.</p>
<p>Berkeley is excellent in CS, but it does not confer a $28k advantage over UMD, which also has a very respectable CS program (generally top 15, sometimes top 20). Unless you really like Berkeley, I’d say go to UMD.</p>
<p>(By the way, I’m finishing in CS now at another school)</p>
<p>Go to UMD and get an excellent CS education for over $100K less. The only magic in CS is “magic numbers”. Berkeley has no special magic that is worth that much more.</p>