So I’ve been accepted into both NYU’s CAS and UIUC’s LAS (not the engineering school) for CS. Before getting NYU’s decision I assumed it would be much more expensive than UIUC. Oddly enough, I got a generous (for NYU) financial aid package/scholarship, as opposed to UIUC which gave me virtually nothing, and currently NYU is running me around 28,000 a year while IN STATE tuition, fees, and room and board for UIUC add up to 31,000 a year. I know UIUC has the better CS program overall but NYU still has a great program coupled with more opportunities for internships, jobs, etc. I also prefer the lifestyle and culture of NYU and the city rather than living in Urbana-Champaign, because I’ve done the whole Midwest suburb thing already and want to move somewhere else. I am still unsure about the decision and would like more insight/suggestion on which I should choose.
UIUC CS+what? Do you have interest in the +other part?
Personally, I don’t think you can go wrong, though 2 things to keep in mind:
- Loans still have to be repaid if they are a part of fin aid.
- Living in NYC is a lot more expensive than central IL no matter what the COA is (a ton more to do as well and terrific food, though).
CS + anthropology. I have moderate interest in sociocultural anthropology, but I don’t feel like it will significantly help me career-wise and don’t see how I can combine it with computer science. To be honest, the combined CS+X programs at UIUC are interesting as a concept but none of the actual offerings (anthro, linguistics, chem, and astronomy) particularly captivate me, and I’d be fine taking elective classes or minoring in something that does really interest me in NYU rather than a combined major with something that moderately interests me.
also, the costs are just in scholarships and need based grants, not loans.