Hi guys,
I have recently been admitted to both the RIT and UIUC colleges for applied mathematics and I’m having trouble deciding between the two. I know want to go work for a tech company down the line, so I am very thrilled by the chance to go to RIT given their vast connections and their co-op program. UIUC is also very well connected and is much more prestigious in rankings. I want to double major in computer science and that would be very hard at UIUC given the prestige; whereas, the RIT advisors made it clear to me that even though it is hard to do this, it is doable and they’ll work with me to accomplish this the best that they can (with the credits I have from HS I could probably still graduate in four years). I am confident RIT will prepare me for a great career but I want the chance to go to a good grad school for Data Science (my dream school being GA Tech).
How hard would that be to achieve this? I hear that RIT doesn’t prepare students well for grad schools. If not Georgia Tech, what are some other grad schools that an RIT student can aim for?
RIT gave me a lot of money and I’m confident that with coops I can graduate with minimal debt compared to a lot of debt in UIUC. But to be fair, I hear UIUC allows their students to apply for scholarships after freshman year, as well as move out of on-campus living after freshman year to reduce the cost of attendance significantly. I visited both campuses and enjoyed both environments, but UIUC was something else (in a good way!) What are your guys opinions of what I should do. I truly value your input. Thanks!
Double-majoring in or transferring in to CS at UIUC is almost impossible. Just assume that you won’t be able to do so if you go there. RIT would be fine preparation for a master’s (there really aren’t PhDs in data science). And there is the money difference. So to me, RIT is the obvious choice.
Do you think I’d be able to be well prepared for grad school though with a RIT education
For a master’s, yes.
RIT also offers a BS/MS program for many majors which can save quite a bit of $$. Not sure about applied math but it would be worth asking.