Hi everyone! I have to make the decision between paying for Columbia full price or going to University of Michigan on in state tuition for my undergrad. I plan on studying computer science. I will most likely want to go to grad school. If I go to Columbia, my entire undergrad is payed for but I’d have to pay for part of my grad school myself. If I go to Umich, my undergrad and grad is paid for and I’d have money left over. I prefer Columbia but I’m not sure it’s worth the additional $180,000. Which would you choose in my situation?
100% unequivocally totally not even close to worth it!!
Univ of Mich all day everyday and I wouldn’t lose 1 wink of sleep, in fact, I would sleep soundly knowing I made a AWESOME DECISION!!
Michigan. No brainer.
If you’re 100% set on going into CS, definitely UofM. But, if you’re open to exploring other avenues, I would probably consider Columbia.
That is like asking:
Do you want the Shelby Mustang for $20K, or the Camaro for $60K?
The only thing you get at Columbia over Michigan is NYC. Half of Long Island goes to school at Michigan anyway so you can have a bit of that too.
Even the Columbia graduate parents we know send their kids to Michigan.
Go to umich. it’s on par with many of the top universities (uc berkeley, etc) so academically you’ll be more than fine there. unless you REALLLLLY want Columbia because you love the school, but even then, it’s not worth the money (especially for undergrad). umich is one of the top schools for engineering and CS, people would kill to go there for in-state tuition. Go there.
What kind of grad school are you looking at?
If you’re paying sticker price, then UofM would make more sense if you’re considering the technical skills you’ll learn as a CS major. Also, do you want to stay in Michigan long-term? If so, Mich places more of their graduates instate than Columbia would.
Columbia, however, will give you better OCR opportunities in San Fran/NYC and an, arguably, stronger lifelong network. Also, agreed with @fivesages that Columbia gives you alternate paths if your career plans change–consulting, banking, etc.
How do you have decisions already?
Columbia and Michigan are peer institutions. Similar calibre professors, similar classroom experience and resources, virtually identical opportunities, equally potent alumni network etc… If cost of attendance is the same, I would say go for fit, but if one is cheaper than the other, then the cheaper option makes better sense, unless money is no object, in which case I would again recommend fit.
Just as an aside, last year, out of roughly 480 CS Michigan undergraduate students who graduated, more than 150 joined companies the four most desirable IT firms: Apple, Google, Microsoft and Amazon.
Columbia and Michigan are not peer universities. Michigan and UVA and other top publics are.
Michigan will be easier than Columbia, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. It depends on you.
Still would choose UMich over Columbia for price and your particular major.
Michigan for undergrad, Columbia for grad (if you’re still into it…).
Michigan.
For some students, Columbia may be worth some price premium. Not $180K, though.
In CS, you don’t get as much of a boost in salary coming out with an MS versus BS that you might in other disciplines. Unless you really want to go for a PhD, going full time to grad school for an MS doesn’t really pay unless you are an International looking for visa status. Many companies will hire you with your BS and subsidize you going part time for an MS while you work. So the school comparison (for this major) should be done on the basis of the undergrad degree.
In this case, cost-wise Michigan is the clear winner. When it comes to fit, the schools have very different vibes to them and being in NYC might have extra appeal.
CU123, I agree that to ultra competitive high school students and parents, Columbia and Michigan are not peers. But that does not mean that Columbia and Michigan are not peers. As far as academe and the corporate world are concerned, Columbia and Michigan are indeed peers. Just because Michigan is public and Columbia is private does not mean the two universities cannot be peer institutions. They operate very similar academic programs, have roughly equal resources, funding and budgets when adjusted for size, and run similar research complexes. Columbia would not have hired Michigan’s president if the two universities were not peers.
Really ? And that too for CS? UMich all the way! Use the money for a top tier MBA education (around $220k in today’s dollars) if that is the path you would like to follow.
“Columbia and Michigan are not peer universities.”
You’re right. In both undergrad and grad computer science, Michigan is ranked HIGHER than Columbia - and major corporate recruiters are well aware of that fact.
Since the OP’s interest is computer science, and Michigan is ranked higher and would cost tens of thousands of dollars LESS to attend - Michigan is the absolute no-brainer best choice.
Columbia and UMich are two great schools with great reputations. But they are very different schools that will provide you a very different college experience. UMich draws 100k for a football game; Columbia 1k. Very apples to oranges.
UMich at in-state prices is an outstanding cost/value proposition, especially for engineering. But your parents are willing/able to pay for either. So the cost is the same to you. That’s a very fortunate spot to be in.
Life is short. Go where your heart tells you to go. If Columbia is the experience you really really want, then go to Columbia.
Don’t get overly hung up about rankings. Columbia comp sci is quite good (ranked about the same as UMich at the grad school level). Neither UMich or Columbia is at the MIT level for comp sci. You can bloom if planted in either place.
You haven’t told us enough about what you mean by “grad school” so we have no way of evaluating whether there’s value in conserving cash for that. Grad school typically costs little. Professional school (totally different ballgame) is very expensive. If you are talking about non-professional grad school, conserving the college fund by going to UMich most likely means that the money would get used for something other than your post-grad education – like a college fund for your siblings or your kids or a house down payment.
If you are talking about getting an MBA when you say “grad school”, then I’d say save the money and go to a place like Columbia for B school.
Coastal bias is rearing it’s ugly head here. It will take forever to convince some people that there can be anything valuable in flyover country. Decades ago basketball legend Red Auerbach used to say that “Some people think anything west of the Hudson is camping out.” Seems nothing has changed.