I was dead-set on UT Austin due to the value of the degree and prestige of the overall computer science program. But…
I feel like I will be missing out on a lot of job opportunities by the location alone, not to mention the lack of prestige of the computer science program. But I’m being swayed by the money.
My family is fortunate in that they are able to pay for my COA at UT Austin, totaling around 100k. Alabama, as many of y’all know, is a smoking deal for high stat students. The COA will be around 40k.
My parents have made a deal would save them money and get me money. They offered to split the difference of savings and actually pay me cash upon graduation about 35-40k (not exactly half, but I’m not complaining!).
The thing is, I don’t know if a missed job opportunity by not being in Austin or not have the name brand and Alumni network of UT would cost me more in the long run…
I think UT Austin may have more to offer at career fairs, but I don’t think having a degree from UA will hold you back.
Granted you may have to work a little harder if you have specific places you want to work, but the students we have known personally have done exceedingly well there. Three friends from Louisiana, all on full tuition scholarship with very different career goals. Fast forward 4 years. One is going to Harvard law in the Fall, the second has full scholarship + stipend to Tulane’s MD/PhD program, and my DS is going to put his MSF/BS Math to work as an Analyst at an investment bank. A good friend of his is a CS and he’s going to work at Google (where he interned last summer). Coincidentally, a friend from home went to UT Austin, also received his MSF, but has yet to find a job. (That’s not on the school, it’s just that he has very specific career goals and hasn’t been able to find position.) Point is, IMHO, it’s more about what you make of your time at school. If you are determined to work hard, earn the GPA and work to get experience, you will have good options at graduation.
You can contact the department and ask where their grads received offers or just use Google or Indeed and put company and college and see where alums are working. In terms of prestige, I’m not sure that really extends much beyond the first job, and if you get work experience before graduation that generally is the first consideration ahead of the university name on your diploma. I’m sure if you did some digging on Glassdoor and those types of sites you could get some feedback from an employer’s prospective. As far as the alumni network is concerned, I’m not sure how much that is a factor to be honest. But I know in my son’s case, the professors and advisors would often forward emails from alums about openings within their companies for internships/permanent placements. Likewise, social media plays a much larger role in recruitment these days and I think that helps to make more opportunities available.
The money is definitely an incentive, but the fact that you can really use your scholarship to the full extent is a tremendous perk. (Getting an override to take additional classes is quite common, esp for high stat students) Being able to take graduate classes under scholarship is an AMAZING benefit! And if you want to earn a dual major or MS degree through University Scholars you can make yourself even more attractive to potential employers. Plus meeting people from all across the country who are similarly motivated to do well at college is a great environment to encourage you to do your best
Although we didn’t offer our son the difference in tuition, we did let him keep every penny he earned of his income from summer internships. So not only is he graduating debt free, he also starting his life with a sizeable nest egg! Roll Tide.
I’m a little worrisome about grad school/MBA acceptance down the line. I’ve been told, even by a professor at Alabama, that top CS grad schools will look at the prestige of your degree big time. He told me if I wanted to do grad school, UT is the right pick. What are your thoughts on this?
Also, what are your thoughts on the location differences? Austin has a booming tech economy. It only makes logical sense in my mind for all these companies and start ups to recruit from the school a mile away, not 500. Do you think this miss in job opportunities would outweigh the money I’d get?
@Jpgranier, of course you will be able to go to a good grad school from Alabama. Of course you will be able to get a good job from Alabama. After a few years of work employers will not care about your degree or pay you less because you went to Alabama. No first CS job out of UT will pay you $35k more than the average starting salary out of Alabama. These days a CS degree is almost fungible.
If you want to go to UT because you love it and feel at home there, then by all means go to UT. Your family can afford and is willing to pay for UT. But if you love Alabama, there is no need to agonize about what you’re giving up by not going to UT. You have two great options. Pick the one you like the best, not because of prestige or a mythical future job. The money answer: in your personal situation knowing you will start off with $35-40k in cash, there is about zero chance that UT will make you more in the end. If you’re looking for a financial justification to go to UT, in your particular case you will not find it. But that’s ok if you truly do love UT and can afford it. As with other things in life, it’s not necessary to go with the cheapest option if you can afford something more expensive. If you happen to love the cheapest option, then great. Think of a car example: if you can afford a Mercedes but love a Honda Civic, why buy the Mercedes? But if you really love the Mercedes and can truly afford it, just buy it…don’t try to justify it by coming up with improbable reasons why it’s really a better deal than the Civic, just own the decision to buy the car you prefer.
I don’t have a dog in this fight, but grad schools don’t care about where you went to school. They care about how you did there. I have completed graduate degrees at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, and Georgetown Law. I have had classmates from schools as prestigious as Oxford and Cambridge to as humble as Appalachian State and Middle Tennessee State. What mattered in each instance was whether the individual made the most of their university experience, not the name on the sheepskin.
Go wherever you feel is best for you, but know that going to UA for a CS degree will not hold you back. My CS son graduated with his undergrad in CS and Math and his graduate degree in CS in the 3-1/2 years he was at UA. He interned at facebook and on graduation was offered a job there and at Google (he chose google). Its how strong you are as a student, not really where you attended.
@Peruna1998 people always say that it doesn’t matter for grad school, but one of the head CS professors at Alabama said if I want grad school, UT is the right move. He said grad schools really do care about undergrad prestige.
@Jpgranier I am speaking from personal experience and that of people I know. Sure, you can go to the most prestigious university in the world. But, it doesn’t matter if you are an average student (or worse). You might feel differently, but in my opinion get the best, least expensive undergraduate education you can. Then capitalize on it for the expensive graduate education.
Imho, unlike other fields of study, I am not sure how important a graduate degree (or where you get it) is in the CS industry. In CS, performance is what gets you the job (big companies will hire you without an undergraduate degree if you know what they want). Even in my son’s first internship near home, he had to take a test to even get to the actual interview. However, I am not an expert and as the UA professor knows better than me, maybe UT is the right move for you.
Excelling in a more competitive environment sends a stronger signal than excelling in a so-so environment.
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@ClassicRockerDad yes, you could argue that if you excel at MIT, then that might look better than excelling at UT, UIUC, and Iowa State. But, really, flagships are flagships, and grad schools aren’t usually more impressed by one over another. An exception might be UCB EECS.
BTW…CRD…did you hear that my Bama son will be doing his Radiology residency at the #1 program in the nation? Yes! at Harvard Med School’s Mass Gen! My, my, my…how the lowly have risen…
In CS, exceptions may also be UT, UIUC, UWashington and a few others. Getting well known professors to write you great recommendations really carries a lot of weight.
Congrats to both of you and best of luck. That’s where I go for medical care.
@Jpgranier Based on my experience working with CS faculty members (including professor from UCB EECS) more than twenty years ago, I agree with @ClassicRockerDad
obvious the UA Professor also recognizes this…I cannot comment on the $100K or the $40K though, it is a personal decision.
Not the same, but this sort of thing comes up a lot in the premed forums. Does the undergrad name matter for med school acceptance? Does the med school name matter for residency acceptance? If the end game is to be a “just” a successful practicing physician (which is probably 99% of docs), then the answer is no. Top stats from any good school is good enough for most/all med schools. Top stats from any US med school is good enough for most/all residencies. If your goal is academic medicine, then going to a better undergrad can help (i.e. Top 100ish). Getting into academic med usually means going to a top 50 med school (there are about 50 with MSTP programs). Getting into a tippy-top residency means having tippy-top stats, and being from a top 25ish med school can help because of the research opps that the student may have availed himself. Residency directors know that and appreciate that.
Applying the same thinking to the OP. What is his end game? Certainly Bama grads are being hired by some of the big names: Google, etc. Is his plan to go right from undergrad to grad? We’ve seen Bama COE grads go right from undergrad to Stanford, MIT, Berkeley, etc. Or is his goal to work a bit and then pursue a grad degree?
I think the biggest plus of UT is the location, assuming rankings don’t matter for where you get a job. I feel like there will be more opportunities for local start up companies, and if I were to stay in Texas, a degree from UT is basically the pinnacle of education.
Grad school, which is in the back of my mind, would be more obtainable, especially with the opportunitiy of a 5 year masters at a top 10 CS university. And, there is a pretty good cyber security program which is not available at Alabama.
Alabama is a great pick for many, especially if your don’t have a phenomenal in state university, but I recently decided on UT Austin for various reasons!
