<p>I'm deciding between Carnegie Mellon (accepted to CS while waitlisted at engineering) and University of Washington (direct admit to CS).</p>
<p>I'm pretty confident that I'll major in either CS or engineering, but I'm not exactly sure which because I've never taken a CS or engineering course, so I don't have a real sense of what either is like.</p>
<p>The cost of CMU is 60k while UW is 30k. My parents say that they're willing to pay whatever, but I'm not going to throw away their money for nothing.</p>
<p>I realize that CMU is an extremely prestigious school for CS, and CS grads there make hella bank; that could compensate for the pricier tuition. If I go there and discover that I don't like CS, however, that would be a little unfortunate.</p>
<p>Any opinions/insight on the matter? I was thinking I'd try out CMU and try to transfer to another major or to UW if I don't like CS, but I don't know whether that's the best plan.</p>
<p>Those are great great options to have. Congratulations. Not knowing you, I cannot say that one school will serve you better than another. We can get into that if you’ll tell us something about you and where you might better fit in, but barring that I’d say go with the cheaper school because a) UW is almost the equivalent of CMU CS and b) both schools are so good that job prospects are pretty darn good, wouldn’t you say? Why take 120K from your parents, or take on 30K in debt yourself for a reason as thin as this one. Go to UW.</p>
<p>I haven’t had the opportunity to visit either school which is a little problematic. UW is easy to visit because I live nearby, but plane tickets to Pittsburgh are $800 which my parents don’t think is worthwhile for a visit that probably won’t sway my decision all that much. I like the idea of being at Carnegie Mellon because being surrounded by the most hardworking, smartest people I can find is what pushes me to work harder, but I certainly might be able to get that environment at UW too. I feel like CMU is something I shouldn’t pass up, but I agree that that might not be worth the extra $120k. The smaller size of CMU is nice too, and I think it’s good to go somewhere far away and meet new people / have new experiences, but I might just be rationalizing my decision at this point since I’m sure I’d be happy at UW too.</p>
<p>We are in a similar dilemma but between CMU and UNC Chapel Hill/Ga Tech…My only advice is to visit. I don’t see how you could make an informed decision without that.</p>
<p>If your parents can afford to pay $60,000 a year for 4 years for CMU, it seems to me that it might be worth it to spend a tiny fraction of that to help you make this decision. My son went to a sleeping bag week-end at CMU last fall and it was immensely helpful for us.</p>
<p>OTOH, if you’re really not that sure about CS, and you end up changing your mind, I think that you’d really regret paying the $60,000 a year for CMU (unless you end up in their engineering, acting/musical theater, or possibly business programs).</p>
<p>Yeah, that’s a head scratcher. If your parents think 800 is too much to spend, then they likely can’t really spend the 30k a year. You could go to UW with it’s cool Seattle vibe and love it and CMU could leave you cold. Sure it could be a superficial impression but you should go.</p>
<p>UWA CS is TOPNOTCH and if you’re already amitted to the CS major, your only goal should be to get in. Unlucky fellow freshmen who haven’t been preadmitted will be decimated by 2/3 over the next year.
However, I think that if your parents are to spent that much money, they should let you go do an overnight there. Email Admissions, arrange for something, perhaps in the middle of the week or with a Saturday return, so that it won’t be as costly, but really $800 is a drop in the bucket compared to the risk of picking the wrong school for $30,000…</p>
One thing to consider. The challenge you have in visiting, an $800 plane ticket, is the challenge you’re going to have everytime you want or need to come home or others are going to have in visiting you. Even if it’s affordable there is a mental barrier to that kind of distance. I don’t know much about UW except that it is a great option for CS. I have visited CMU and THINK that other than their strength in CS they are going look and feel very different. I understand the reticence to spend the time and money to visit but I personally think in this situation if your parents would allow it, it might be warranted. How are you going feel about the travel? Will you feel isolated? What do you think of the feel of of CMU?
I can tell you that CMU is in a very nice area of Pittsburgh. U of Pittsburgh is just over a bridge so there is a lot more going on than a smaller university would normally support. Good luck in your decision. You really can’t make a bad one.
I have to second the overnight though I truly feel UW is a great option . We visited about a dozen schools for S with CMU being near the top of the list pre-visits. S is pretty flexible but he was very underwhelmed by his visit to CMU and did not even end up applying. This was not an overnight but a day visit so I wouldn’t put a lot of weight on it but just wanted to point out that each university can give off a very different vibe (loved the area the campus is located it in so that wasn’t the problem). For such a huge investment, the visit is definitely worth the cost.
Also, even with competitive admission to other programs, a larger university should have more slots available and if you are a strong student (especially in a relative sense which is likely given your direct to the very competitive CMU CS) then it should not be an issue. Space may be more right with less turnover at CMU so I believe it will be likely be more difficult to switch majors. And don’t ask the admission reps about the ease of changing majors - most will say it isn’t a problem. Contact the heads of the departments to get a more accurate answer.
UW is a great school and if you plan to live on the west coast it is also the one that makes the most sense. 30K a year is a huge difference and your benefit will no be commensurate to the 120k spent.
Top 10 schools are virtually indistinguishable from a job perspective. Go visit CMU and unless you really really love it there and can’t stand UW, save the $120K and go to UW. Like @singermom4, my son visited and didn’t like CMU or Pittsburgh all that much. (which made the decision easy for him).