I’ve been accepted to both Cal Poly and University of Illinois Urbana Champaign for computer science. UIUC cost significantly more and I know they are both high caliber schools, so I’m wondering if I should save money and go to Cal Poly. I’d like to go on to get my masters at an Ivy League, but I want to go to the undergraduate school that will ensure me the most success. I’ve worked really hard through high school to ensure that I would get into a good school and be successful, so choosing the right one is very important to me. Based Only on the caliber of the engineering programs (computer science) and the level of job and salary of job I would get from each school, does anyone have any insight on which school I should attend?
Thank you for your help.
Sorry I should have clarified. No, an MBA.
Since you are looking at job prospects:
CPSLO has a career survey at https://careers.calpoly.edu/search.php .
UIUC has average pay levels at http://ecs.engineering.illinois.edu/outcomes/ .
However, the job market 4-5 years from now may be different from how it is now.
I think how well you do at either school, and what research/internships you do will have more to do with what MBA program you get into than which of the 2 schools you get the degree from.
What’s your parents’ budget (out of pocket, ie., from income and savings, not from loans)?
How much would each be before loans (add tuition, fees, room and board, and then subtract grants and scholarships, no loans)?
If I go to Cal Poly, my parents will pay everything. If I go to Illinois, I would graduate with about 30,000 in debt. Illinois is about 45,000$ per year just tuition and Cal poly is about 25,000$.
Right, so excluding housing, you are comparing $9K (Cal Poly’s annual tuition for an in-state resident with unlimited units) per year with $45K per year? That is an awfully big difference, especially if you are planning on getting an Ivy League MBA. As an out of state at UIUC, make sure you understand whether quoted costs are based on a minimum number of units; often out of state residents are charged per unit and those quotes listed on their web sites are based on a minimum course load. Where do you think you might want to live eventually? Cal Poly is well known in CA and the west, perhaps not so much in the eastern part of the US. Is there a way to research rates of acceptance to the type of graduate program you are interested in from the two prospective schools? I am assuming you are a CA resident…are you sure about the effects living in different weather will have on your decision?