SB Full tuition ride whereas Buffalo half and Binghamton few K in CS/CE. Also RPI/NYU/Northeastern etc. after grant/scholarships between 30-40K/yr as compared to SB/Buffalo/Bing between 10-20K after Scholarship. Finally Out of state top 10-15 CS/CE schools Urbana Champagne/Purdue/Texas/Michigan/San Diego etc. between 45-55k/yr.
Are these top 10 OOS schools worth 50K or private schools worth 35K compared to SB at 10-15K?
How about SB versus Bing versus Buffalo in CS/CE. Financially SB is cheapest with Buffalo 5K more and Binghamton about 7-8K more- Perhaps all 3 can be considered in 8K range if CS/CE programs are comparable.
I would go with Stony Brook. They have the strongest CS department of all the in state schools mentioned and it is the cheapest. Buffalo isn’t really a bad option either especially if you want to go to a school with more of a residential population. Binghamton is OK but I don’t think it’s really worth the extra money over stony brook and buffalo unless there is something at bing that you cannot get elsewere. I would advise against taking you huge loans no matter what.
Compared to those majoring in, say the humanities or social sciences, I’d be less fearful of loans for those planning careers in computer science and engineering. The income differential can be 50K a year between the humanities and engineering. Spending a total (4 year) of 40-50K more to go to a top notch program may be well worth it. You should look at outcomes carefully. SUNYs are not known for their strong engineering and CS programs. I’d look at the options carefully and try to compare them on things like job placement, internship opportunities, overall Entrepreneurship climate, support for start-up collaborations, etc.
Total 4 year costs…
$40,000 - SUNY Stony Brook (assuming this one is cheapest with your scholarship)
$80,000 - SUNY - Buffalo or Binghamton
$120,000 - $160,000 - RPI/NYU/Northeastern
$180,000 - $220,000 - UIUC/Purdue/Texas/UMich/UCSD
You will spend AT LEAST $40,000 more and possibly $180,000 more if you choose something other than Stony Brook.
SUNY haters will chime in and try to spend YOUR money. Don’t listen.
Stony Brook is your best option, Buffalo or Binghamton second best.
Thanks- SB is the cheapest with full ride and about 10K/yr or about 40K expense. CS/CE majors weather at SB or RPI/NYU average about 70-80K salary after BS. However, I am not sure about quality of education- is there a huge variation or very similar- is it worth 100K differential.
Finally top 10 OOS schools- UT Austin ranks 8 in CS/CE (UIUC/Michigan/Georgia Tech etc. all rank in top 10)- is it worth paying OOS tuition about 50K/yr or 200K- No aid from UTA and very minimal grant from other schools as these are all other state top schools.
Perhaps if you want to do PhD at top school (MIT, IVY), BS from UTA or UIUC may be more valuable (but with additional 150-175k loans) than SB or other state schools.
Bottom line, is it worth spending 100-120K more at RPI/NYU/NEU and similar schools or 150K more at Austin/UIUC/Michigan and similar top schools? SB at total 40K sounds very attractive but I dont want to loose because of quality. Not sure how much school prestige and name will matter in long run or with employers- Austin is surely more prestigious compared to RPI or SB- but is it worth 150K more?
Stony Brook can be as prestigious as you make it. You can apply to the honors program, you can certainly find research especially with their affiliation with Brookhaven National Lab.
I would say that campus life is lacking at Stony Brook compared to the others on your list. If campus life is important, then spending the extra money might be worth it.
In my opinion, you should put whatever you save toward grad school. With the money you save you can buy all the grad school prestige you want.
Full ride is for tuition and fees+ some extra- net pocket cost is about 10K at SB. I was told most graduate schools offer stipend with tuition waivers- so basically graduate in CS/CE is free with 20-30K stipend (otherwise student would go and make 70-100K at Microsoft or FB or wall street). If true, then undergraduate school is the only place to pay unless you go for MBA or Law/Medicine. If this is true, than UG at Austin may be more prestigious to get into MIT than SB- Not sure true or not.
I am just struggling if Austin is worth 150K more or RPI/NYU 100K more than SB. For NYU, it is Brooklyn Engineering School (CS/CE combined degree)- but there is no campus- few engineering buildings. SB CS/CE seems better and more prestigious compared to Binghamton although Bing is more selective.
Bing and Buffalo would have more of a campus life, especially on weekends. Don’t you get the NY STEM scholarship (full tuition) at all of them?
What can your parents afford to pay and what are they willing to pay?
NY STEM has a contract to work for 5 yrs or becomes loan. Bing is not as strong in CS/CE compared to SB, Parents are ready to pay for NYU/RPI/Northeastern (35K) or Texas/Urbana Champagne (50K) but is it really worth it for 4 years when SB can get me very similar degree in 5-10K. Bufallo is out. Both Bing and SB are 2 hr drive and so is RPI/NYU
@MYOS1634 NY STEM requires that you are top 10% of your high school class.
Top 5% with ACT 35. One day left to decide. Think going for NYU or Austin and feel bad perhaps for wasting parents hard earned money when SB gave me full tuition/fee ride- Who knows change in mind can occur
I’d go with SB and save the money.
But if you want to go else and parents can afford, I’d chose RPI over NYU. UT-Austin is also great but even more expensive than RPI which has a great CS program and nerdy/hacker culture, and closer to home (unless you want to be further away, in which cause Austin is a great town and has much more of the “big college” experience if that’s what you want).