My son has been admitted into a few colleges for CS major. We cannot decide among Rutgers University (30k/y), University of Maryland College Park (37k/y), and Santa Clara University (70k/y).
IMO, Rutgers and UMD are comparable.
For SCU:
Pros: great location. Could be easier to find internships in Silicon Valley.
Cons: extra >30k/y, affordable though. Also my son applied CS major in Art & Science, not CSE major in Engineering. I heard CSE major is very good, but not so sure in CS major.
One of my kids is a SCU grad and we loved the school. But we didn’t need to take out any loans to pay the costs. I would consider that. We found the school to be a very welcoming place…and we also liked the community outreach that is woven into many courses there. We also liked their core curriculum. We were just about full pay…and felt the school was worth it for our kid.
Students from all over the country get internships in the Silicon Valley…not just the college students nearby.
UMD and Rutgers are both good schools as well…just different and much larger than SCU.
We live in New jersey but will move to Maryland so my son will pay in-state tuition for Rutgers, and first year OOS and next three years in-state tuition for UMD.
Thanks for the feedback on SCU!
We are also east coasters. We did make our kid go to the accepted student days at SCU. We really wanted the kid to understand the travel thing, and really see the campus again before making a decision. Because it was so far from home.
Not quite. Rutgers has a good CS program, but UMD’s is much stronger. Plus the CS department has strong relationships with many firms in the industry (including mine) and they’re always proactively advocating for their students.
Obviously, two are large publics - and UMD is ranked much higher.
So - earlier today - someone was deciding Rutgers or BU and they thought Rutgers is just known int he tri state area.
Yet on Linkedin, the first few jobs I picked up were Washington and the Silicon Valley.
It’s a known name. If it’s a known name, then UMD is really a known name.
In other words, you’re not limited internship or job wise in where you go to school. I’ve seen this with my son and tonight I found out the schools of his new teammates - they are east and south and they’re all starting in Utah.
With hiring moved online today - it’s just a reality.
If the smaller school works for them with the Jesuit mission, then great.
So - there are few rankings for CS that will incorporate all - but Niche is one. Some don’t love Niche - but it’s got a criteria like others.
They rank UMD 38th in CS, Rutgers 73rd, and SCU unranked out of 877 schools. I don’t know if that means much or not - just what they show.
Here is the UMD career report - start on page 40. They place out West although not to a huge # but that’s likely student choice.
Rutgers seems to lock their report and I don’t see one for SCU. I would call both CS departments and ask for an outcome report if interested.
Given the major, don’t spend extra money - unless - that more expensive environment is better for your student.
Adding this from another thread - you see SCU listed as a feeder to the Silicon Valley adjusted for size - #18 and UMD #25 overall - but not on the adjusted for size list.
Just another piece of info for you. I think suffice it to say all three can get you where you want to go.
How relevant is this Ranking for undergraduate degrees? I compared the course work between UMD and Rutgers and it’s very similar. On top of that you spent 30-40% of time taking general Ed courses.
I think there’s relevance in that - if you see it in enough places, it means something (depending on how the rank is calculated). It’s a validator of sorts.
But I think outcomes are most important - and one might find out all three schools place well. And then it’s a fit decision.
Tons of really smart kids never look at rank - they go to their home school, the school they admired, the cheapest school - whatever the logic - and that’s fine too.
Both my kids are at safeties - the first graduating did fine outcome wise. But he had a major suited for that - and this kid’s major is suited for that.
Here’s a Santa Clara kid describing why he chose it for CS - looks like a gorgeous campus.
I don’t find a lot of grads on linkedin - but that’s why if interested in the school, I’d call and get a career outcomes reports - and you’ll know right away. The other thing to do (for all three if interested in all three) - have admissions set you up with a student ambassador that you can ping and ask questions to from the CS department. I’m sure they’ll have one.
Does such a report exists? I can call Rutgers and find out. Last few days for us to decide as well. Rutgers Honors vs UMD is proving to be very difficult decision