Hey everyone,
I’m having a hard time deciding between these two schools, primarily because of money. When I visited both schools, I liked W&M and loved CMU. Ignoring financial considerations, I would enroll at CMU.
I’m interested in math, CS, economics and data science. Since I was invited into QSSS (Quantitative Social Science Scholars) at Carnegie, I’ll have access to these departments and am required to conduct research.
Academics are also good (perhaps not as strong as CMU) at William and Mary, although I heard that their CS/machine learning/data science department are fairly new. I’m a Monroe Scholar, which gives me some course registration advantages and a $3000 research stipend.
I also think that CMU is a better social fit, but I liked William and Mary too. The weather at CMU is worse, but that’s not the biggest issue. The biggest consideration is FA. My family (stupidly) did not submit the FAFSA, so I may have to be full pay at both for at least the first year. CMU is ~$72k and W&M is ~$37k yearly. The good news is my parents called the FA offices for both schools and they told us to submit our FAFSA for a potential package (I will update once I receive a notification).
In terms of future plans, I may go to grad school. From what I’ve heard, grad school for STEM is usually free or you get paid to teach. I also semi value liberal arts education, which I think both schools can offer.
Do you think the benefits of a CMU education justifies the cost of one? Why?
The good thing is you have two good choices and you’ll probably do fine with either one. But this is a tough one. Overall, at an undergraduate level, these schools are really at about the same level from an academic perspective. That said, CMU is very widely recognized as one of the top schools for CS. It also appears to be your favored school.
On the flip side, a $35K (over $140K over four years) price difference is huge. That’s pretty much enough money to send another child to college, 4 cars, house downpayment, etc. That is why I was asking if you expect this gap to close with financial aid. If the difference goes to debt, it would be difficult for me to recommend.
When do you need to respond? I hope you get your responses from the FA offices before then so you can have that information available.