<p>I'm completely torn between the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Washington in Seattle. I've been accepted to both, and I got $10000/year from Pitt and $8000/year from udub, and I'm in honors at Pitt (still waiting to hear back from Seattle). </p>
<p>I prefer Udub's campus and the feel of it, and its also higher ranked for computer science (my intended major), but I haven't been accepted into CSE at udub and unless they notify me in the next two weeks, id have to reapply while I'm a student, and its a very competitive major.</p>
<p>My parents are concerned about the distance for Seattle, since we're from Chicago, but they have admitted to me that whichever one I choose I'll be able to come home a few times a year, which tells me that the distance would be more psychological for them.</p>
<p>PLEASE NOTE: cost is not a factor. The aid I've received from both has made it very manageable for my family, and as an only child I realize that I'm fortune in that I don't have to worry about finances for it.</p>
<p>Disclaimer: I am a UW grad. One thing to think about as a computer science student is the number of software companies based in Seattle, such as Microsoft, Amazon, etc. Many more opportunities for internships. Also, being from Chicago, Seattle winters will almost seem tropical in comparison (maybe one day of snow a year).</p>
<p>Your odds of getting into CS are 1 in 3. Look at your stats and compare them to the CSE 's “profile of entering class”. Are you at that level? What about the average UDub freshman, are you well above the top 25%?
Because that’s what you would need to even have a shot at being in the top third of applicants to the most competitive major on campus.</p>
<p>If you get into CS at UW, and your parents are down with it, certainly UW is a stronger program with better opportunities for internships and jobs than UPitt. But Pitt is no slouch in CS or internships and job opps. It’s in another great city with a lot going on. You could do much worse than Pitt and Pittsburgh. Lots of national corps are making Pittsburgh their corporate headquarters and much of the city is quite pretty. Major college and professional sports teams abound. It’s a real good fallback for you.</p>
<p>In regards to Pittsburgh, I really do like the school and the city- what’s holding me back is that seattle is my DREAM city, and I know that it has more opportunities than Pittsburgh (although I can get internships at both).
For the CS major, I think I’m close to where they want me to be. I’m going in with a 32 ACT and a 3.97 GPA, with APCS and a college course in C++ programming. I’m really hoping for direct admission, but if I have a chance I’m ready to keep applying while I’m there.</p>
<p>You do sound a good candidate, if you keep working as hard as in high school. You’ll need to be in the top 30% of your class, roughly speaking, and at UWA you’ll be surrounding by high achievers so it’ll be quite a challenge but based on your HS record it seems to have at least the potential, drive, and work ethics to succeed in that endeavor (go to office hours to check on anything that is not crystal clear to you, join study groups, go to the Writing Center to get papers checked…)
Think of the worst case scenario: you don’t get into CS.
What alternative would you have? Would you have “good” choices? Could you get into CSE for instance? Or another form of electrical engineering? Or computational math? Look into those aspects. Have a Plan B.</p>