As suggested in the UMD thread, creating a separate thread for this question. From GA Texh thread,
We are MD resident. DS got accepted at UMDHonors with Letters and Sciences (L&S) and GIT CS. ACT 34, UWGPA - 3.96. 11 APs. With UMD L&S having a clear path to go to CS, he will be able to go to UMD CS with Honors college. Finance is not an issue. So, we have a tough choice ahead.
Question - anyone in similar situation? If so, is there a way to connect and talk about the decision making rubric to use?
Asian Male
USA Citizen
Maryland
Legacy with UMD-CP
My company hires graduates from both schools so I am familiar with both.
Program: Both have strong CS programs. GT is rated a bit higher, if that matters.
Career opportunities: Both schools provide good career opportunities, but I’d give the edge to GT.
Dorms: the honors dorms at UMD are much nicer than GT dorms.
Location: UMD is suburban, located in a college town. GT is in midtown Atlanta so more urban (but does have a nice, contained campus)
Crime: much higher in Atlanta than College Park, but the GT campus itself is reasonably safe.
Beyond this, it comes to personal preference and fit. Does distance from home matter?
You said cost isn’t a concern but of course UMD will be cheaper.
As parents, we want to see our son close to us, so UMD is preferred from our vantage point, but we don’t want to our emotions influencing his decision, so we are not making distance as a decision making factor.
Take a look at CS courses and curricula at both schools, since the offerings (particularly upper level electives) may vary, so one school may have more of interest to the student than the other.
Take a look at non-CS offerings and the general education requirements to see if the student prefers either school over the other in those areas.
This is simple and excellent advice. What are the gen ed requirements, are they classes he would be interested in. Is a foreign language required at either one? Will AP credits be accepted. Will the honors classes at UMD be more enjoyable than gen ed classes at GT.
To take that one step further, I’d let him pick, but so he has some skin in the game, tell him you’ll give him half of the savings if he chooses the lower cost option. That money, invested over time, has significant value for both of you.
We did that with our son, and he didn’t choose the cheaper option. It made the decision process interesting for him though. He didn’t make his final choice until 2 days before the deadline.
It may not be formalized but looking at their website, they have it. My school is always sending out co-op stuff - my son chose not to. And others I know at other flagships - it’s similar.
It may not be Northeastern or Drexel in concept -but kids from everywhere can co-op I’m pretty sure.
But understand your point - you are saying GT has it formalized. That’s fair.