Have got into U Mas Amherst (CHC + $ 16000 scholarship), WPI ($20000 scholarship), University of Minnesota twin cities (honors program), Which one should i choose for undergrad in Computer science. I am an international student.
Rather than the amount of scholarship, can you list
- net cost
- your parents’ budget
(Net cost = (tuition, fees, room, board) - (scholarships, grants) )
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I agree that net cost is a better measure rather than the size of the scholarship.
All three schools are quite good for CS. I have worked with many computer science graduates from U.Mass Amherst and they are in general very good. The best of them are world class. If the net cost is the same at all three schools I would lean towards U.Mass Amherst, but mostly only because I am familiar with the graduates from U.Mass.
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Cost will be approx $ 37K for UMass Amherst/ $ 56K for University of Minnesota twin cities/ $ 55K for Worcester Polytechnic. Am awaiting the results for some other Universities as well. But what would be my best bet off these three options.
UMass Amherst is the lowest price and the highest rated CS school of those three, so an easy choice. Is $37K per year plus travel, health insurance, incidentals, affordable for your family?
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yes, my parents have saved up for college education
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If you are admitted to UMass Amherst, be sure to check whether you are admitted directly to the CS major. Otherwise, the procedure to join the CS major is described at
Minnesota admits to the division; entering the CS major requires a secondary admission process.
http://www.advising.cse.umn.edu/cgi-bin/courses/noauth/apply-major-statistics
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First of all, just on the cost alone you should go to UMass Amherst. Their comp sci dept is well-respected. The honors college campus is brand new, right in the middle of campus (and near a great gym), and is GORGEOUS. The food at UMass Amherst is the best in the country, year after year. When I have gone to visit my kid there, I always go to the dining hall with her. It’s like a good, healthy cruise ship buffet. The campus is beautiful - looks like a mid-western land grant campus (which it is, only in Massachusetts). My kid said that it’s hard to transfer into the Comp Sci major, but do-able. You just have to do well in the intro Comp Sci classes in order to be admitted. And if you were admitted directly into Comp Sci and the honors college, plus the maximum out of state scholarship, you must be very highly qualified. Another plus for UMass Amherst is the 5 college consortium, which would allow you to take classes at Amherst college, Smith, Mt Holyoke, and Hampshire. Drawback is that you are nowhere near a major city - over 2 hrs to Boston. However, Amherst village and Northampton are both cute, but little. On the other hand, it’s really safe, beautiful, peaceful. There is good outdoor recreation nearby. And they have some housing that allows you to stay in your dorm over the break, so if you don’t have family in the US and don’t want to travel home, you can stay. In my opinion, I wouldn’t even bother trying to leverage an equivalent price out of WPI or Minnesota. Let’s see what else you get, but out of these three, and at these prices, it’s UMass Amherst hands down. By the way, Minnesota is brutally cold, much colder than Amherst, Mass.
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Thank you all for taking the time out to reply to me. Of these three options, Umass Amherst did seem like the best option to me also considering the cost of attendance. Even then wanted a feedback from people who know better.
Will keep you posted about any other admittance that I get and seek advice.
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UMass is the best for CS and with the lower cost and CHC it’s the easy choice. Its a very hard combination to get (cs, chc, international with high merit scholarship) so you must have been a stellar applicant. Congratulations!
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