Hi guys,
I got into UVA to the colleges of engineering and applied sciences. I also got into Purdue for Computer Science with a $5K annual scholarship and I have been waitlisted for their Honors College. I’ve been told that UVAs engineering program, while strong, does not rank in the top 15-20 in the country. However, as a school, I think the UVA environment and community is absolutely amazing and I am a really good fit. On the other hand, Purdue helps save $$$$ for grad school and does rank in the top 15. How do I go about making a decision? Do you have any advice?
Attend an admitted student event at each university. You will learn much more about the academic programs, facilities and social life.
@Charliesch Unfortunately I don’t stay in the States, so it’ll be difficult to attend an admitted student event at each university. Do you have any other suggestions?
What are the CS communities like at both the schools? It would be nice to know from some current or past students.
I don’t have any first hand knowledge of engineering programs. Just keep in mind that sometimes rankings of engineering programs have more to do with graduate programs and research than with the quality of undergraduate teaching.
I believe thecourseforum.com is still available to persons with a UVa email address. You can read reviews by students of courses and professors on that site. Unfortunately, I don’t think you can get access now, unless you know someone who will loan you their login information.
@Charliesch My Purdue scholarship changed to $10,500 today. In terms of value, which school would be better?
"However, as a school, I think the UVA environment and community is absolutely amazing and I am a really good fit. "
In that case, you should go to UVA.
Also, you really, really need to visit these schools before you decide. Lots of kids, including mine, have flown over to see schools first hand. What you should do is come over for UVA’s admitted students day and then fly up to Indiana and see Purdue. If you can’t see Purdue on the Admitted Students Day, just contact them in advance and say that you want to meet with the CS Dept.
You should do the calculations of total costs over 4 years, and then ask the question:" Is university A worth X thousand dollars more for a bachelors degree in computer science than university B.??"
I know nothing about the computer science programs.
Student Reviews of UVa Computer Science Courses
The first number is overall rating for the course and the second number is the student’s rating of difficulty, on a scale of 0 to 5
.CS 1010
Introduction to Information Technology
RATING
3.85
DIFFICULTY
2.04
CS 1110
Introduction to Programming
RATING- 4.2 DIFFICULTY - 3.1
CS 1111
Introduction to Programming
RATING - 3.64
DIFFICULTY - 2.36
CS 1112
Introduction to Programming
RATING - 4.04
DIFFICULTY - 2.2
CS 1113
Introduction to Programming
RATING - 3.63
DIFFICULTY - 2.22
CS 2102
Discrete Mathematics
RATING - 2.73
DIFFICULTY - 3.68
CS 2110
Software Development Methods
RATING - 3.4
DIFFICULTY - 2.65
CS 2150
Program and Data Representation
RATING - 4.11
DIFFICULTY - 4.25
CS 2190
Computer Science Seminar
RATING - 3.67
DIFFICULTY - 1.0
@charliesch This is really helpful. Do you have similar data for Purdue CS courses?
This is from UVa’s own student run course ratings system. I don’t know what Purdue uses, but many students at many colleges use ratemyprofessors.com
Congrats on your acceptances to UVA and Purdue! I am not an engineering student and so can’t speak well to that. However, I am a student employee of the career center and can attest that our engineering students tend to do very well in the professional world. It’s hardly a second-rate school.
I’d also like to say that while visiting schools is certainly helpful and highly valuable, you shouldn’t feel bad about not being able to do so. I wasn’t able to visit UVA before I decided to attend (my first time on Grounds was orientation!) and I was just fine. Do your research by reading everything about the schools you can get your hands on and talking with current students, and you be able to make an informed choice. Visiting simply isn’t affordable or feasible for many people and that’s OK.
Good luck!
I know it is imperfect, but you can also get a feel for the physical setting of a university and its surroundings by using Google Street view. In some parts of the country, it even takes you inside some buildings.