Has anyone had to decide between Lehigh and University of Maryland? My son was accepted to Lehigh’s Computer Science and Business program as well as computer science at UMD. Would love your thoughts. Thanks!
Are the costs the same? They are different schools, with one being a larger public school in a city and the other being more suburban and smaller.
Did he get into both? If he got into Lehigh it would have to have been binding ED in which case the decision is made as long as Lehigh is financially feasible. If he doesn’t have acceptances into both then it is purely a hypothetical question so I’d wait until acceptances and finances are in hand and you know both schools are realistic options before asking the question.
But here are questions I’d ask:
What are the costs – are them both comfortably affordable?
Which environment (location, school size etc.) does he prefer?
Is the combined program with business at Lehigh important to him?
Costs are not the same. UMD is $40,000 Lehigh $65,000. Higher cost for Lehigh is tough so trying to figure out if it’s worth the e yes money and sacrifices.
And he likes the combined program at Lehigh but UMD has a technology entrepreneur program that is enticing as well. Along with a brand new CS building that is designed to “bring Silicon Valley to College Park”
He did get in to both but our financial situation has changed so we are speaking to financial aid about it. It would be very tough to make Lehigh work. My son is leaning towards Lehigh but I think it’s because Lehigh is listed higher than UMD in rankings (even though we told him to take this with a grain of salt). UMD is building a fantastic new CS center but Lehigh has prestige (or so he thinks). Neither my husband nor I attended either of these schools so we’re not sure which way he should go. Appreciate the insight.
If you can afford Lehigh (without hardship, overburdening loans etc.) he is bound to go by the ED agreement, if you can’t afford Lehigh then UMD is a great alternative.
In CS reputation this is the opposite. UMD-CP is very well known in the CS research world. How well that translates to the undergraduate experience is hard to say, but I don’t see Lehigh as the better school for CS, that’s for sure. The combined program at Lehigh is nice though. As others mentioned, the ED agreement is the first step in figuring all this out, but I think either would be a fine choice, so Lehigh doesn’t seem at all worth 100K more to me.
The Lehigh CSB degree is ABET-accredited for CS, and AACSB-accredited for business. It’s very rare to get both of these qualifications in a four-year program, and it’s a very employable combination. On the other hand, you could probably earn dual CS and business degrees over five years at UMCP. If UMCP is $40,000 per year for five years – or even six years – this would still be less than four years at Lehigh at $65,000 per year.
Thank you. All of these comments are very helpful. These are two very different schools but he says he thinks he would like either one. Does anyone have experience at either program? This is such a hard decision and he is our first child to go to college so a biit overwhelming!
Your other thread is about private loans. How much do have to borrow for these schools? Did your son apply to any financial safeties?