<p>Okay so long story short I intend on majoring in computer science and I was accepted into University of Michigan, University of Maryland, and Penn State. Obviously Michigan and Maryland are academically superior in terms of computer science to Penn State, however all of my close friends are planning to attend penn state. For reference Penn state is about 23 for computer science, Michigan is about 7th, and University of Maryland is about 10th</p>
<p>this is a Michigan decision hands down</p>
<p>Go for better academics. You can see your friends on holidays and visit them. College is a time for trying new things and making new friends.</p>
<p>mmmgirl is exactly right. If there is a meaningful difference in academics, cost isn’t an issue, and you generally like the schools the same, go to the best school academically. Making great new friends is incredibly easy in college.</p>
<p>I agree with others, definitely Michigan for academics!! +1 You will also get to experience and be part of the Greatest Rivalry in all sports for the rest of your life when playing against tOSU! :)</p>
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<p>That isn’t “obvious” at all. What is your basis for this statement? The US News rankings? Even if US News does an unassailable job of capturing the set of features most important to excellence in this field, it’s not obvious that the features they’re comparing are the ones that ought to be most important to YOU. They might be … but then, 7-10-23 doesn’t look like a very big spread, not when you consider that (a) there are about 3000+ colleges & universities in America, and (b) the CS curriculum is fairly well standardized from school to school.</p>
<p>The 2013 IEEE “Strawman Draft” curricula guidelines identify 18 Knowledge Areas, such as algorithms, programming languages, and operating systems (<a href=“http://ai.stanford.edu/users/sahami/CS2013//strawman-draft/cs2013-strawman.pdf[/url]”>AI Affiliates Program – Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory). It is highly unlikely that in every one of these 18 areas, Michigan > Maryland > Penn State (or that any quality differences are equally great in all areas). The effort you put into your courses, projects, and internships is likely to matter much more to your success than any differences captured by such a narrow spread in the rankings.</p>
<p>What are your out-of-pocket costs to attend each of these schools? Is that a factor? </p>
<p>Have you visited each of them? Spent nights in the dorms? Attended classes?
Have you reviewed the course listings for each college, especially the upper-level courses, to see how well they cover areas you find interesting?</p>
<p>Since they are all good, I would factor in the differences in cost!</p>
<p>College is a time to make new friends! While you should definitely factor in other factors such as cost, distance etc. I think it makes sense to go to a higher ranked school and expand your horizons socially.</p>
<p>If both are financially viable, go with the better academics. Remember, people change between high school and college, and the person you were friends with in June will probably not be the same person you were friends with come May. </p>
<p>Also you’ll make new friends in college. You’re literally living with tens of thousands of people your age, engaged in a similar pursuit. Just join a club or two, and you’ll meet people with similar interests.</p>
<p>Agree that if the costs are not a big deal, go to Michigan. You will find friends there – I did! 
And I am kind of an introvert. Some people from my high school went to Michigan when I went, but honestly I did not hang around with them a ton. One lived down the hall from me, so I saw him quite a bit. But the rest were spread all over a large campus, so pretty quickly it was easier to do things with people from my dorm and the activities I joined. Since Penn State is also really large, it would probably be similar for you. So I say don’t pick based on where your friends are going. Try something new where the academics are more challenging.</p>
<p>Yes, mmmgirl, “College is a time for trying new things.” It is not impossible to try new things if one chooses a more local option rather than going away. </p>
<p>If costs are equal or not a concern, go where you want to go, is what I say. You will make new friends wherever you go, and you are unlikely to keep the exact same group of friends you go in with, even if you do choose to go the more comfortable route. Choosing a school based on having an instant set of friends is not the worst reason in the world to go to a school, if you ask me, particularly if you feel that will make it easier for you to adjust. You know that better than anyone else. </p>
<p>Those of you who think there is a meaningful difference in the academics of these three schools, can you please say upon what you base your assumptions? Gone to all three of the schools? Visited all three? Studied the credentials of the profs at all three? Analyzed the achievement of graduates of all three? Done anything other than look at what U.S. News says? I understood that recruiters love the heck out of Penn State. Not that that’s the only reason to go there or a reason to choose it over the other schools (I expect recruiters love Michigan and Maryland as well), but there’s certainly ample reason to believe that a computer science graduate of Penn State will have reasonable job prospects. If you take a big picture view, as tk21769 suggests, it would be hard not to conclude that the educational opportunities at these three schools are more or less equivalent.</p>
<p>Go to the best school with better academics.</p>
<p>I’m from NJ, went to Vandy (in Nashville) and we had NO one from my high school going. I made a ton of friends here, and love it.</p>
<p>Agree with TK and Absweetmarie. The ‘best’ school for OP is based on what OP wants and needs, where OP lives and where OP hopes to end up after finishing school. </p>
<p>OP, you might want to ask what the difference are between the three schools’ computer science programs to get useful information. </p>
<p>And friends will happen no matter where you go assuming you don’t spend all your non-class time locked in your dorm room or in the library/lab.</p>
<p>Unless you choose to live with your friends from home, or end up in a lot of classes with friends from home, or deliberately socialize with those friends from home, once you get to college the only times you see them could very well be when you are car-pooling home for a break. Penn State has a sizable student body. If you don’t want to see these people, it won’t be hard at all.</p>
<p>Unless the only way to lock-in a housing option is to accept one of these offers right now, you have until May 1 to commit. Wait until you have all of the aid packages on the table, and have paid a visit to each campus. Then decide.</p>
<p>As everyone said, don’t think about your friends when you choose. </p>
<p>It’s a common saying that your best friends in HS become your enemies in college. From the anecdotal evidence, I think it’s true.</p>
<p>That is not “a common saying,” BuBBLES FoR SALE. Why are you peddling your opinion as received wisdom? It might happen for some people. It doesn’t happen for others. </p>
<p>To the OP:</p>
<p>If you want to go to a school where your friends are going, and it offers educational opportunities that square with your ambitions and interests: Go! If you want to go away: Go! If you like Maryland better than Michigan: Go! This is an important decision, but you have no bad choices.</p>
<p>I have a study to back up my claims.</p>
<p>[Best</a> friends forever?: High schoo… preview & related info | Mendeley](<a href=“http://www.mendeley.com/research/best-friends-forever-high-school-best-friendships-transition-college/]Best”>Best friends forever?: High schoo... preview & related info | Mendeley)</p>
<p>As the study mentions</p>
<p>“This study examined the changes that occur in high school best friendships during the first year of college. Results revealed that during the first year in college high school best friendships declined in satisfaction, commitment, rewards, and investments. During this period there was also an increase in costs and alternatives to best friend relationships. Proximity did not influence the friendships; however, level of communication did moderate friendship deterioration. Furthermore, individuals who continued their best friendship reported engaging in more maintenance behaviors of positivity, supportiveness, self-disclosure, and interaction than individuals who reported a change in the relationship to close or casual friendship.”</p>
<p>The key phase is “proximity did not influence the friendships”.</p>
<p>It does mention that “interaction” increases strength of friendship. However, the overall conclusion suggests that best friends in high school don’t last. The close, do-everything-with-her friends in general, falls in importance.</p>
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<p>Well, that’s a shocker! (Not.) Friendships change during college? Of courses they do. Distance doesn’t matter? I get that, too. None of this is tantamount to “your best friends in HS become your enemies in college.” I imagine most people do not come out of college with the same set of friends they had going in. I imagine this is especially the case for people who go to colleges with undergraduate enrollments in the tens of thousands. That doesn’t mean it’s a BAD idea to choose a GOOD school that is closer to home where you start with a core group of friends if that’s important to you. I would imagine you’d have to work rather hard to cocoon yourself within your high school clique at a school like Penn State. If the OP said he or she were considering a school ONLY because his or her friends were going, I’d be more concerned.</p>
<p>Regain your composure.</p>
<p>This was my original statement. </p>
<p>“It’s a common saying that your best friends in HS become your enemies in college. From the anecdotal evidence, I think it’s true.”</p>
<p>Both statements are qualified.</p>
<p>I have not lost my composure. I took exception to your assertion that “your best friends in HS become your enemies in college” is a common saying. It’s not.</p>