In state vs Out of state.

College Search & Selection
1

I’m in a huge predicament, but first I want to ask a question, is out of state tuition worth it for top schools if the top schools in your state are not “great” for your major (computer science)? Or is it better to stay in state and go to my state school, regardless of how accredited it is?

Here’s my situation.
I was attending a community college in New Jersey, did a little over two semesters, have perfect grades, in a few honor societies. I say all that to say that if I was to somehow finish CC in that state I would be able to get into Rutgers and save a lot of money, my school also has an affiliation with Colombia, that could’ve been a route too; however, due to some personal issues – I had to move away from New Jersey, and am currently in P.A. Didn’t know how long I would be here, so I made a big mistake, waited a year to see if I could make it back up, but that’s not happening (a mistake since I should’ve been done already).

This is where I’m stuck at, I could transfer here, and finish, but there’s no schools in this state I want to go to (well Carnegie Mellon, but that’s not realistic at all).
I have a lot of family in Florida, and a lot more that are planning on moving down there, I could finish in Florida (probably the cheapest option), but that’s where the title comes in – everything I’ve read about computer science in Florida has not been good. If I finish here, I’m transferring out, and if I move to Florida, it’d be better to transfer out if I get accepted to a school like UMD right?

So, here’s what I’m thinking:
Should I just not worry where I finish my CC, and just finish it where I’m at? I wanted to finish it in a state where I see myself staying, that way I can save myself a lot in tuition and cause a lot of the classes transfer within state (e.g. the community college in Jersey had 100% of all classes I took transfer, when I look at other credit evaluation tools from bigger schools like GATECH, UMD, they transfer until a certain point, they don’t transfer all the computer science classes, and if one school accepts one, the other big school doesn’t accept it, which makes me want to transfer without taking more of my major classes, that way I don’t have to retake classes) but considering the schools I want to go to are all scattered it’s hard to do (UMD, UNC, GATECH, Purdue, Rutgers).

Any advice on what my best options would be?

2

How old are you, and what state do your parents live in? For the purposes of getting in state rates on tuition at public colleges, if you’re age 24 or under, it’s more about where your parents live than where you live. I mention this because if your parents still live in NJ and you’re under age 25, you are likely still a resident of NJ for tuition purposes at Rutgers and the community colleges there. You could move back to NJ and finish out cc there, then transfer to Rutgers.

3

I’m 25. My dad lives in NJ, but has plans to move down south. At the moment I’m still a resident of NJ, but that’s somewhat the issue, since it’s hard for me to go back to Jersey to live on my own. My job has no transfers up there. I was thinking of just driving from where I’m at, but that would require 4 hours on the road every day. Thinking of what would happen if it snows heavy, doesn’t seem like the best option.

For those in computer science, are the schools in Florida really that bad in comparison with other top schools? What I like about Florida is my job offers a transfer which pays higher (Atlanta as well), but apart from that, there’s nothing else that I like school wise.

2 questions that are really hard to answer.

Would paying OOS tuition for a top school be a really bad idea? Is it not worth it? Is graduating from a school like UNC -UMD that much better than graduating from UCD, UF? Better job opportunities? Better networking opportunities?

For those transferring from a CC, is it better to complete your associate even if some courses won’t transfer?
Or can I look at the courses that do transfer, do those, and transfer without doing all the major ones that don’t?

4

You are not being clear.

Why can’t you live on your own in NJ and attend Rutgers?

5

How long have you been in PA? Since you are over 24 your parent’s residence is irrelevant.

6

If you graduated from high school NJ after enough years of attendance, you may qualify for in-state tuition there even if you would otherwise not due to parents moving away or some such: https://admissions.rutgers.edu/sites/default/files/media/Documents/NonResidentTuitionExemption.pdf

If so, completing lower level course work and transferring to Rutgers or other NJ public university may be one of your more financially attractive options, compared to paying out-of-state tuition at a public university in some other state, especially if your NJ CC courses transfer better to NJ public universities than they would to other universities.

7

@ClassicRockerDad
My apologies for not being clear.
I don’t think I can afford it, pay the monthly expenses by myself. Jersey is pretty expensive. Before it was nice, since I lived with my dad in a decent sized place and we helped each other. My dad is no longer in that location, he’s in a smaller place and getting ready to move out within the next few months.

Unless you mean to room with the university and transfer now to Rutgers without my associates. Then that could work, a lot more tuition, and I feel I’m way too old for roommates, or campus housing, but depending on my options that might be a sacrifice I might have to make.

8

@“Erin’s Dad” Close to a year.

9

Lots of people in their 20s live with roommates (whether or not they are students), and lots of people attend college at ages older than 24, so do not worry about your age.

In terms of cost, you need to compare the higher living expenses at the NJ publics versus the additional out-of-state tuition at the publics in other states where you can live with relatives. Obviously, for the out-of-state publics not near your relatives, you would need to pay additional out-of-state tuition and higher living expenses.

10

@ucbalumnus
Appreciate that. It something I think of a lot, my age in regards to everyone else in school right now.When I graduate, and start working at a job in my major, I’ll most likely be 28-29, but it probably happened for the best this way. If I had gone the traditional route, I’m sure I would have slept through school. Probably graduated without caring about my grades at all. Now I’m hungry, more focused and try to get the highest grades possible.

You bring up a good point about comparing the out of state tuition, with the states in which I’ll live with a relative.

I’d have to run the numbers, but I think Florida would be the cheapest, affordable cost of living, and tuition is not that expensive compared to other schools. But no good schools, and most of the jobs offered from what I read are defense jobs.

Rutgers is my state school, a lot cheaper compared to out of state schools, expensive cost of living outside the school. What I like about Rutgers is that it’s a decent school, and nice campus life, and close to NYC. Therefore a decent amount of job opportunities.

GATECH, UMD, UNC, are schools that the OOS will kill me a bit, but it comes back to my original question, though extremely hard, is it worth it to go OOS if a school like GATECH accepted me? Or is the amount I save by going to schools like Rutgers, UCF make up for it? Gradating with a lot less debt. Or are the job and network opportunities at these top schools so good that it’s worth it?

How would you do it? State School Vs OOS?

11

I don’t know what you’ve been reading about Computer Science programs in Florida but you can do just as well (if not better) with a CS degree from UF or UCF as you can do from any of the other schools you mention. I’d suggest you do more research because if money is an issue you would be foolish to spend extra money on a degree from any of the schools you listed. Recruiters from national companies come to UF just as often as they come to those other places and companies will not pay you more money for the same job, just because your degree is from UMD or anyplace else.

12

Regarding older non-traditional students, here is the story of a non-traditional student who started at community college, transferred to a state university, graduated at age 31, and went on to PhD study:

http://www.dailycal.org/2011/05/25/benavidez/
https://gsas.harvard.edu/news/stories/aaron-benavidez-2018-derek-c-bok-award-citation

13

@Joblue
When I read things like this.
It didnt let me link but this post on reddit, which you can find by googling “the computer science department here is a joke”
It talks about how people are graduating with out knowing how to code, or how the top recruiting companies no longer go there to recruit. I don’t know how true stuff like that i, but it pushes me away hearing that from a lot of different posts.

@ucbalumnus
Thank you, those articles were inspiring.
Right now after thinking about this all day, I think Rutgers is my goal. Probably finish the rest of my electives this semester online at Bergen while trying the 4 hour commute once a week. Take 14 credits, will put me ataround 48.

14

UF and computer science…

My daughter’s BF is in Redmond today doing a final round of interviews with Microsoft (Good Luck!). She has several friends that now work at Intel, Amazon, etc.

Forget reddit post by unhappy campers. Use LinkedIn. Create an account (you’ll need it), and then search for the University of Florida. Select the alumni tab, and then see for yourself where UF (or UCF) alumni live and work.

Here is a list of the top 10 employers of UF alumni.

  1. University of Florida 2 UF Health 3 Amazon
  2. Intel Corporation
  3. Microsoft
  4. EY
  5. IBM
  6. PwC
  7. Deloitte 10.Google

If you select “Computer Sciences” as what they studied, here are the top 10 locations where alumni live:

  1. Gainesville, Florida Area
  2. San Francisco Bay Area
  3. Greater Seattle Area
  4. Miami/Fort Lauderdale Area
  5. Orlando, Florida Area
  6. Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida Area
  7. Greater Atlanta Area
  8. Greater New York City Area
  9. Jacksonville, Florida Area 10 Washington D.C. Metro Area

UF also publishes it’s Graduation Survey results.Lots of info is available, by major, including average starting salaries, employment destinations, post graduate plans and student experiences (internships, etc.).

https://career.ufl.edu/student-outcomes/

UF isn’t Carnegie Mellon when it comes to CS, but it’s perfectly fine as an affordable public university.

At UCF, CS is a strength. It’s not as nationally recruited as UF, but it is as well recruited. Use LinkedIn and you’ll find graduates at Microsoft, Google, etc.

With a bit of searching you can find info on which companies attend the job fairs at UF and UCF. Determine for yourself which companies recruit at these schools.

Good Luck!

15

For computer science, going out of state is going to be more of a liability than an asset. A bachelors degree at UMD is just as employable as a degree from NJ. The only difference is the amount of debt you want to have. As a computer professional myself, after about 3-4 years, employers don’t even ask about education. Plus, you’re going to lose most of your hard earned credits going out of state, and that’s going to cost you tens of thousands of dollars going to college all over again. A deal-breaker in my opinion. I think you’re far better off finishing your degree in-state. Once you’re out, FL, has a strong economy for tech jobs.