My son has admissions to Comp Sc at College of Engg, UMich (Ann Arbor) and to Data Science, College of Science at Purdue - the latter offered jointly by Dept of CS and Statistics. While Michigan appears better on many aspects, Purdue will cost us about $70k less over the 4 years - as both are out of state for us.
My question - is the CS degree from Michigan worth the $70K over the Data Sc degree from Purdue?
Thanks in advance.
In my opinion, which is biased as a Purdue parent, I would say absolutely not is it worth paying $70K more for Michigan, especially for your son’s intended major. If loans and hardships would be involved, even more so.
Purdue for STEM fields has amazing outcomes for students.
Both are great options. Both majors lead to job offers with excellent pay.
Consider Purdue for Data Science with a minor in CS if allowed. Use the savings for a one year specialty masters degree if desired.
No wrong answer unless one option is truly unaffordable.
How does his interest compare in plain CS versus the mix of CS and statistics that is Purdue’s data science major?
Data Science does not equal Computer Science at Purdue. Investigate each program before you make a decision.
Good point ucbalumnus. We programs have a lot of overlap. When we compared the differences, he seems to be able to relate more to the DS courses than the CS ones.
I disagree with some of the replies stating that data science and computer science are equivalent in job search. It is true that both career have better prospects than other majors, computer science, in my opinion, definitely have a wider scope and is more competitive to get in. In addition, just look up the median salary for statistics/data science and computer science graduates and it should paint a distinction. On top of all of this. UMich’s CS program also pretty top, so of course going to UMich will grant you more opportunities than data science from Purdue.
Now, while it is clear that UMich CS has better job prospects, is it worth the extra 70k of burden? That, I do not know. I really don’t think anyone could give you a definitive answer. This is because your major and your school is just 1 variable that is factored in when you do your job search. So whether going to a better school with a better major will earn you back the extra 70k of cost? I don’t know. That is a personal decision that you and yourself have to make.
Lastly, what interests you? Because CS and Data science, although there are some minor overlaps, have a pretty different curriculum. What exactly interests you? If you love analyzing data, then data science is the path for you. If you love developing software, then CS is the path for you.
There are plenty of jobs in both CS and data science. If your son seems more drawn to data science, then there’s nothing wrong with going to Purdue.