<p>Hi all fellow Marylanders (and beyond)! My son wants to pursue an undergraduate degree in computer science. Among other schools, he got accepted to UMCP honors school (entrepreneurship program) that is in-state for us and UNC - Chapel Hill that would be OOS. UMCP costs around (less than) 25K and my son got a Dean's Scholarship there (4500 yearly for two years - not much but still something) which brings the cost down to 20K. As for UNC Chapel Hill, their financial aid package is not ready yet but based on our super-unrealistically-high EFC we probably will have to pay a full sticker price of 45K for out of state. So the question is, where should he go? I have read quite a bit online but still cannot decide whether even to consider UNC. Can anyone help? Keep in mind that money is very important for us but our son's happiness and well being is even more important (sounds artificial, perhaps, but it's true anyway).</p>
<p>While UNC is an amazing school overall, I don’t see them as even being the best school in North Carolina for computer science whereas Maryland is a very good school for computer science, as well as engineering and business. </p>
<p>In the same boat as your son. Accepted UMD CP honors (and the entrepreneurship program!) and UNC Chapel Hill OOS (and Excel@Carolina, which is money for research and possibly admittance to honors carolina). </p>
<p>For computer science, this seems like a bit of a no-brainer. UMD sends dozens of kids to the Valley every year, and has one of the best comp sci programs in the nation. Also, location of undergrad (and even the possession of an undergrad degree) is almost irrelevant to some comp sci employers (Google being the major one). At UMD, he’ll definitely learn the skills he needs to succeed for a cheaper price than UNC CH OOS.</p>
<p>Plus, in the entrepreneurship program, I’ll look forward to working with him! Ask him if he wants to join our facebook group and start talking to some of us! 
(It’s the University of Maryland EIP Class of 2018 group!) I made a few friends through the page, and now I’m looking more favorably at UMD as opposed to my other options (UVA OOS as an Echols Scholar/UNC CH as mentioned above). </p>