Help! GT vs. USC vs. NYU vs. UMD vs. UVA (and some more) for CS

Hi, I hope you all are having a great day. After taking a lot of Ls from Ivies and other elite schools, it is finally time to make a decision. I have a lot of options to choose from, and frankly I do not know which of the schools to pick. Any help would be greatly appreciated here. Here are the schools I have got into and their estimated cost (excluding unsubsidized loans).

GT CS - $40k (but goes up 3k after first year)
USC CS - $32k (NM Presidential, not official yet, and doesn’t include plane tickets, other hidden costs, etc.)
NYU Courant Joint CS + Math - $40k (again OOS need to account for travel, health insurance, etc)
UMD CS - $32k (Presidential Scholarship, once again OOS, goes up 3k after taking 60 credits)
UVA SEAS CS - 36k (in-state)
VT CS - 26k (in-state)
W&M CS - 37k (in-state)

While I do want to go to the best program possible, cost is going to be a pretty major factor for my family. I do understand that CS is a pretty level playing field and that honestly knowledge and experience outweighs the name brand of the school one chooses to attend. I hope to go to Silicon Valley or maybe Wall Street after so location matters to me. I also prefer warm weather and big cities.

Right now, I have basically eliminated William & Mary. While, it is a decent school overall, I just think it’s much more geared towards the humanities/liberal arts than STEM. I don’t think their CS program really can even compete with the other schools, and it is still pretty expensive.

Virginia Tech is in a different situation. It’s very affordable for me, lots of my friends are going there, and they have a decent CS program. However, outside of that, I don’t really like VT. Their national reputation is a bit lagging (gives me the vibe of a technical school), and frankly, I don’t really like Blacksburg. It’s kinda in the middle of nowhere, and outside of engineering, I don’t think the kids at VT are that smart (when compared to these other schools, I’m not trying to be rude).

UVA is definitely the flagship public school in VA. I have a lot of friends going there, and it’s close to home. However, I am really not that impressed with the CS program at UVA. I get the impression that UVA is geared towards the humanities, and that their CS program is a bit behind. I think more CS majors at UVA tend to go to DC consulting firms then Silicon Valley. While UVA has a pretty decent national reputation, I get the feel that it is on it’s way down. My parents think it’s a preppy party school, and UVA SEAS is not even that cheap.

UMD was very generous to me and gave me the Presidential Scholarship. I know that UMD has a great CS program (esp. for cybersecurity) and that DC is a great job market, but I’m not sure how good UMD CS is outside of DC. I think the CS curriculum (at least the one I saw on the website) wasn’t that impressive, and I get the feel that UMD doesn’t really care about undergrads too much. The school feels a little big, and going OOS comes with extra expenses to consider.

NYU has a pretty solid program in the Courant Institute. It’s location is ideal, and I’m also majoring in math, which I really enjoy. I feel like NYU has a lot of connections to Wall Street and I would have no trouble finding a good job after graduation. I feel like NYU is a rising school, but I’m unsure of its reputation outside of NYC in places like Silicon Valley. Plus, the program feels a bit too theoretical, and it’s really expensive. NYC is expensive and a bit too cold for my taste too, and I don’t think NYU really has a campus. I’ve heard some dubious things about the quality of teaching at NYU, and of course going OOS comes with the usual extra travel, health insurance, and other expenses.

USC has honestly been pretty generous to me throughout the admissions process, and to be honest, I really like the school. I am fortunate to get the National Merit Presidential Scholarship, and the aid package is pretty good. The kids at USC are pretty smart, and the students and faculty all seem really friendly and approachable. LA weather is great and being on the West Coast puts me close to the tech industry at Silicon Valley. The Trojan network is really strong and the CS program seems to be pretty good. USC is also on the rise, and they are investing a lot of resources into improving the school (look at the new University Village). Unfortunately, there are lots of downsides too. I feel like there are a lot of hidden costs to USC, like orientation, health insurance, etc. Plus the meal plan and housing that they included in the package are the cheapest, so the actual expenses may be more. The biggest deter for me is the cost of plane tickets, which is simply ridiculous, and I would be looking at not going home on Thanksgiving and spring break if I go there. My parents also think USC is a big party school. Which I think is a bit ridiculous, as I think the University of Spoiled Children reputation is a thing of the past. But still any school with a 75k sticker price is pretty tough for me, as I’m not sure I can pay for it if they reduce my grant in future years.

Finally, Georgia Tech has a great CS program. It’s T10 (USNWR snobs FTW) and Atlanta is a great city with a lot of opportunities. Although they seem to be a bit of a technical school, I like that they are trying to rebrand themselves as a center for startups and innovation. I love the weather there, and it’s a school on the rise. I’m not totally sure, but I think that Silicon Valley hires quite a bit from GT. Downside is that GT is the most expensive of the schools. I’m getting very little FA as an OOS student, and I really don’t think that I can pay for it without taking additional loans. I’m pretty sure that I can get a great job when I graduate, but I don’t want to be swimming up in debt either, and I’m not sure going to GT will justify the additional costs, as some of the other CS programs are great. Finally, I heard from many people (including current students) that GT is a weed-out school, and I’m not sure that I’m really a big fan of the cutthroatness of the program. I’m really worried that I’ll be behind, as I don’t know that much CS outside of AP CS.

Let me know what you think. Sorry for the long ramble, and thank you so much!

I think there are about ten schools or so that are investing heavily and trying to push the envelope in CS. Of your list, GT is the one that is in that category. The others, while strong, aren’t at that level. GT is also the most expensive as you list it, but I would think that the city and travel expenses of USC and NYU would put them at a similar level.

You seem to capture the pros and cons and essence of most of the schools pretty well. I do not agree, though, that UVA and W&M are not good at STEM at an undergraduate level. They are pretty well rounded for undergraduate education.

If the scholarship money and any need-based aid in these packages stays the same for all four years, which of them do your parents consider to be affordable? All? Some? Just VT? None?

Re-work the figures including your own best estimate for transportation, health insurance, and any other costs that vary by institution. Run the results here: http://www.finaid.org/calculators/awardletteradvanced.phtml Then talk the numbers through with your family. You should aim to get out of college with no debt other than the standard federal loans.

Maryland has an alum who went to a top 4 CS graduate program and then helped found a computer company that became large and well known (neither near DC).

But I agree with reply #2 that you need to figure out which options are affordable to you and your family.

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GIT is a technical institute.

UMD, VPISU, UVA, USC, NYU are universities.

GIT is 80% stem
UMD 42%
VPISU 35%
UVA 22%
USC 20%
NYU 6%

For engineering
GT, UMD/USC/UVA, VPI, NYU

For business
NYU, UVA, USC/GT, MD

Size
GT, UVA 21
VPI 33
MD 38
USC 44
NYU 50

If you’re doing CS, it’s best to go for the scholarship. You’re studying something very employable, so there’s no real benefit spending more money for prestige. The best thing is to find a good school where you can come out with as little debt as possible. That’s going to be your biggest advantage, especially if your first job ends up in a state with a higher cost of living.

you need to look at the contenders and the programs still and figure out which is the best fit. GA tech has their CS program divided by Threads. are you interested in that way of learning. ? Same with USC and NYU. I believe USC was top ranked for CS with Gaming. As far as where you get a job afterwards, its not going to make a difference where you go as companies recruit from all over . Based on that list, because of NMF USC becomes a good deal and you can get coast to coast tickets at a decent rate if you are not traveling during peak time. But that is just my opinion.