<p>I'm in the same dilemma as many others, prestigious school vs. cheap school. CMU costs $33K for my family. My parents can afford about $25k, and the rest would be my responsibility through loans and work-study. Maryland costs about $6K after a few scholarships (partial BK, MD distinguished scholar, and National Merit). The additional cost of Carnegie Mellon is not a huge burden to my family, but I'm skeptical as to whether paying an additional $100k for an amazing computer science program over a good one is a wise move. Even though I would only end up with $20-30K of loans after undergrad, I don't want to feel guilty about making my parents paying so much money. </p>
<p>Either school's social environment is fine with me; I'm only concerned about the program strength. I visited Carnegie Mellon last week, and I was floored by the quality of professors, variety of research areas, and top-notch facilities and career services. I can't find any post-grad surveys for Maryland, and there seems to be much less of an emphasis on internship and undergrad research opportunities. But their ACM-ICPC team got 20th place in the world, so the program obviously has some brilliant students and professors. I've also heard good things about job placement from Maryland, I just can't find any concrete data online.</p>
<p>I know some people here have had very good experiences at Maryland. I'd appreciate any information about the quality of CS professors, opportunities for internships and undergraduate research, and overall CS student body. I know the program is ranked highly, but I'm trying to get as much information as possible before making the biggest decision of my life. I want a challenging program that will prepare me for a good career-- would I be sacrificing this at all by going to Maryland?</p>
<p>Only a week left to decide...Thank you very much for any input!</p>