Look into whether there is a transfer agreement from a nearby community college that would allow you to transfer to UMass Amherst in Comp Sci or Comp Eng. https://www.umass.edu/admissions/undergraduate-admissions/apply/masstransfer/approved-masstransfer-programs
You may have to call the Comp Sci or Comp Eng dep’t at UMass Amherst to find out whether such a pathway exists. If it does, and if you can commute to such, then your cheapest option is getting your Associate’s at community college while living at home, and holding a part time job, then transfer to UMass Amherst for your last two years. You’d have your degree from one of the best public Comp Sci programs in the country, and come out with minimal debt.
Otherwise, I agree, it’s U Maine, hands down, as being your most affordable option. However, it is unrealistic to think that you can earn 20K/yr in order to pay for U Maine, only taking out the direct fed loan. It’s tough to find decent paying part time work near a major U campus in a small town area (Orono) - you’re in competition with many other U students seeking the same. And working may not leave you enough time for studying/projects/assignments. It seems realistic to me that you MIGHT be able to earn 10K over the summer and winter break working many, many hours (prob a full time and a part time) for the entire summer. That, plus the direct loan, still leaves you with over a 10K gap, and as I said, I think you’d have a pretty tough time working a job that earns you $1000/month during the school year.
If you go the community college and transfer route (assuming it exists), you could probably swing the whole degree coming out with only the fed direct loan debt, assuming no fin aid or merit money, and assuming working full time summers and winter break, plus a little bit of part time work during community college.
If you DO get into UMass Amherst off the wait list, that’s gonna be a tougher decision, since there probably is value, overall, to starting right off the bat at UMass Amherst - highly ranked dep’t, plus the social benefits of living on campus with other high achieving students. Then you’ll have to decide whether that is worth borrowing another 50K, approximately, to cover the higher tuition and the cost of living on campus for those first two years (about 33K/yr at UMass Amherst, vs 7K/yr tuition only at a nearby community colleges). And of course there’s the fact that UMass Amherst will probably also cost you about 15K more than U Maine would have, for those last two years.
If it were me, and if the transfer option from community college to UMass Amherst exists, I’d zoom through community college living at home, starting this summer, and go straight through, taking the max academic load I could handle, and be applying to transfer to UMass Amherst for entry fall '24 with junior standing, having done 4 semesters at the community college from June '23 through August '24, or do it at a more leisurely pace, going year round for two years while working a part time job. You can apply for a direct loan for the '22-'23 year to cover your summer semester tuition for summer of '23, as long as you apply in June '23. Assuming you take a full load, you might qualify for the full $5500 for '22-'23, assuming that they include your living expenses.
