Deciding to Attend U-M Without Physical Visit Opportunities?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Michigan
1

Hey everybody,

I’ve recently been accepted into UIUC Math+CS, Michigan CS-LSA, and GaTech CS in their College of Computing and am torn between which school to attend. Some things that are important in my decision:

  • Cost is a non-factor in my decision as all cost similarly.
  • Weather/location is also something I don't care about.
  • I understand that outcomes in terms of jobs/internships/etc. are roughly the same, and that ranking-wise they are all pretty much equal.
  • However, there may be a slight difference in the schools when it comes to non-CS subjects. I'm also looking to study mathematics and statistics, so the departmental strength of these fields are also very important to me. I don't want a school that lacks in these fields, although I don't think any of the above lag behind that considerably.
  • I have an interest in either pursuing academia/research in math/CS or quant finance, so the relative opportunities for those two fields is an important factor. However, the differences between the schools will be pretty marginal as well (I think?). Location can possibly play a role since UIUC and Michigan may attract Chicago trading firms, but I'm not sure if this is that significant.

I’m stoked to have received offers from three elite-tier CS/Engineering schools, but I have to make a decision! Based on what I’ve thought about above, I feel like the best choice university to attend will be the one based on soft factors like culture, community, etc. (unless I’m wrong on this conclusion). However, because the current pandemic has left all physical campus visits to be cancelled, it’s been hard to judge each school based on these factors. So, what are some of your relevant experiences when it comes to these universities that may help with my decision? I understand there’s bias by posting to this subreddit, but if you were in my shoes, which school would you choose?

2

Michigan in a heart beat. Don’t know UIUC. Been to Ph.D dissertations in Michigan and GT, Michigan has higher standards. But none would go wrong. Good luck.

3

So you only have good choices. All these schools will land similar opportunities. So it comes down to what kind of college experience you want. My son’s at Michigan for engineering and I help on the Michigan threads so you know my biases. He was down to Michigan, Illinois, Purdue and GT. We loved GT but they wait listed him and he already had the acceptances.

He ruled out Purdue.
We are instate to Illinois and I don’t think he loved the idea of staying instate. He also went to the top high school in our state that year and wanted that same type of community for the entire campus not just engineering per se. So it was the overall culture that was a deciding factor for him.

In his list of pro/cons it also came down to Illinois vs Northwestern in football or Michigan vs Ohio State. Even with Michigan not performing well that is just no contest! ?.

He also didn’t like the Illinois campus over all.

So… Do some virtual tours for Michigan. I assume you saw the other schools live. I liked GT campus as well but very few schools have the type of atmosphere that Michigan can give you. It basically has it all from great campus to downtown to anything you want at your finger tips. Arts, Culture, Theater, music is all right there.

Again, you have a great list but the three campuses are different.