Some things to know beforehand: I am from California, Bay Area, and my family income is 300k+, so money is not too much of a deciding factor, but can be used as a tiebreaker!
I am currently leaning towards UT Austin and Umich.
Here are just some of my own thoughts:
Location: I'm from a pretty liberal area, so I'm not sure how I'll feel in texas. But UT Austin is a lot closer to home and easy to get to. Umich is fairly easy to get to too but farther from home. UIUC is located in the middle of nowhere, 2 hours from the nearest airport, and pretty isolated. Both Austin and Ann Arbor are great towns that offer a different kind of city experience.
Internship opportunities: I'm pretty sure top tech companies go to all three schools and recruit engineering students. Am I wrong?
Prestige: The prestige of the school overall is important to me. Umich is the most prestigious out of all three and has the best sports programs too. UT Austin is highly regarded in Texas. Not sure about UIUC (I think apart from CS, the overall school is not highly ranked)
Computer science ranking: UIUC is the best for computer science specifically, but has less prestige overall as a school.
Alumni Connection: One of the main reasons I am leaning towards umich is because of its strong alumni connection. There are more umich alumi working at Google than either of the other two schools. I feel like going here would give me a boost in future employment recruiting. I've heard that umich alumni employers will literally help you get the job.
I’m mostly deciding between UT Austin and umich. Both are great schools with their own pros and cons. I am aware that Umich will be a lot colder. I visited and it was pretty darn cold but I’d rather have cold/snow than 100 degree and up weather in Texas summers. I’m also a little biased towards umich because it is really popular and highly regarded at my school.
Advice from anyone with experience would be greatly appreciated!
You cannot go wrong with any of those three excellent universities. Your observations are, for the most part, correct.
Here are a few observations:
Austin is a liberal town. So if you are concerned about Texas being conservative, you needn't worry about Austin.
Michigan has a great alumni network, but UT-Austin and UIUC are no slouches in this department either.
Since cost of attendance is almost the same at all three schools, unless you received a scholarship from one or more of those schools, I would go for fit. They are all great options for a CS major looking for a career in the tech industry.
In CS, alumni networking won’t matter as much as other areas. Especially in CS, the maximum an alum could do is refer your resume. None of these schools will close any doors that a network would open really.
I wouldn’t focus on prestige either. In CS, school name means very little, and the differences between the three are pretty much nonexistent when it comes to prestige in CS anyways.
As far as weather goes, you aren’t likely to spend summer in Austin between going home and internships, so I don’t think you’ll likely see 100+ except for maybe in September.
I agree with @Alexandre - focus on fit pending finances.
Thank you guys for your feedback. I completely agree, all three are great schools and I can’t really go wrong with picking any one. I have already visited Michigan, and will be visiting UT Austin soon, so I will decide based on fit!
unfortunately i was not admitted to the Turing Scholars program. Would you happen to know how hard it is to complete the entry-level cs and if many students drop out?
You basically have to average a little above a B- in your computer science courses and not go below a 2.0 your freshman year.
After the first year, they’re “stuck” with you in the sense they can’t kick you out of the program for a low GPA.
There are definitely students who end up not making it, but not the majority by any means. A B- shouldn’t be hard if you apply yourself.
They set the bar at that B- because statistically, students that average less than a B- in UTCS basic courses end up not being able to complete the program passing.
The requirements are fairly mild. Some schools for scholarships require you to keep a 3.5 and others make it competitive admission into the computer science program after you already were accepted as a high school senior.
At Michigan you only need a 2.0 for any engineering major (including CS). Every engineering student enters undeclared, and you choose your major after 1st semester of sophomore year. There is enough slack in the program that you can almost always get the classes you want (though not always at the optimal time) , even if the classes are full you can get an override by the 3rd week. Lots of kids change classes so there tends to be a lot of attrition.
In the past, there was a higher GPA (>3?) requirement for BME at UMich. But I have heard that has been changed last year. Other than that, GPA 2.0 is the minimum to stay in CoE and you can declare any major. Also, declaring major does not need to be after the first semester of sophomore. It can be earlier if you have fulfilled the requirements. My D declared ChemE in the second semester of freshmen year as she has finished almost all basic requirements and need to take major specific course in the following semester. That also made her eligible to apply for additional department scholarships earlier and she started getting that in the first semester of sophomore year.
I guess you have the right to consider prestige, but be aware that none of the schools listed is going to give you an advantage with a hiring manager, unless the manager happens to be an alum of one of the schools.