My daughter was accepted to both U Pitt and UMD for computer science (actually College of Letters and Science but transferring shouldn’t be an issue). Both are OOS. I understand that UMD ranks higher but she’s torn nonetheless. She may like the vibe and smaller size more at Pitt, but we really need to tour both again as we’ve only been to each school one time. I feel that the career opportunities post UMD will be better but of course it’s hard to know for sure. Any opinions?
They are not close. You are supposed to pick UMD. Everyone says every school is the same. This is not true. Among other things, an important factor that people neglect is peer quality. Stronger students go to stronger schools. And you want to be around them.
By the way, transferring may be an issue. Make sure.
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Definitely check on transfer options. We didn’t visit Pitt, but my son LOVED UMD. The brand new CS building is stunning, everything was set up in a very collaborative way- including classrooms and work areas. The campus is huge, but they have so many clubs and organizations- it’s incredibly diverse. If you didn’t get a chance to wander around the CS building, definitely spend some time there, talk to professors and that may help her make a decision. Congrats to your daughter- honestly, she can’t go wrong with either one!
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Congratulations on the acceptances. I agree with @neela1 that these two are not in the same league. UMD has a well-known, “top 20” CS program. Several tech leaders are alums, notably Sergey Brin (Google) and Brendan Iribe (Oculus VR/Meta). The latter funded the beautiful CS building @cacmom mentioned.
On the flip side - the courses are very demanding and the program is intense. So a lot depends on the student. How advanced are they, how much they’re willing to push themselves, etc. It’s also not co-op oriented, which seems to be in vogue among some high schoolers.
Location-wise: UMD is in the DC/NoVa region, so lots of tech employers (translates to plenty of internship opportunities). At UPitt you’ll be competing with CMU students. Something to consider.
Good luck.
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Thank you. When I mentioned transferring I only meant transferring from College of Letters and Science to college of Math/Computer Science. She’d only be required to get 2.7 in the Gateway courses which shouldn’t be a problem. Even the students in the computer science program are required to get 2.0 in order to continue in the school.
But comparing the Pitt Computer Science stats to UMD stats…I didn’t not that much of a difference? U Pitt classes are definitely smaller and the freshman class was only 230 last year. But that can be considered a positive or negative.
Good point. That is a question i would also have about Boston area schools vs MIT and Harvard.
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Curious – what stats are you comparing? The stats worth comparing, and hard to get, are the following:
- median new grad pay
- 75the percentile new grad pay
- class sizes of 100, 200, 300 and 400 level classes
- class sizes of tutorial classes
- % of the class denied access to particular popular classes in the major like AI etc
- % of class that manages to get internships etc after 1st, 2nd and 3rd years
- % of applicants to grad school that get into a top 10 grad school
- % of 2nd/3rd year students that engage in research
we can go on …
All this data is hard to find 
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Check out the following thread from the UMD Forum
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So many on here say the school doesn’t matter for CS. I’m not an expert.
I know my nephew has a Poli Sci degree from Arizona and at 30 is a programmer making in the 2s at a big firm in NY. He had to pass 5 tests to get in - this was last year a very well known company. His first CS job.
I would say Pitt is a great name. It’s much smaller than UMD and more urban although UMD has DC access. Pitt is a hotbed of activity.
I would say - choose the right fit, financially, day to day - ie you have to be there four years, day after ay.
I’m sure UMD is better on paper - but you also have to live there.
Many a student chooses the lower ranked school. Rank matters I suppose but there is more to life.
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And as I say, it depends on one’s career goal and what kind of learning experience is desirable 
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I think the idea of re-visiting both schools makes a ton of sense. I know people who have been happy and successful at both schools.
CS students can do well coming out of many colleges. I understand UMD has a bigger reputation in CS but IMO if she really prefers the size/vibe at Pitt I’d send her there (assuming they are equally affordable). Students tend to do their best when they are comfortable and happy.
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Thanks so much. I’ll report back once we’ve attended admitted students’ days and have done more research. The feedback on this thread has given us a lot to think about. So helpful.
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Reporting back - our student chose Pitt. Talked with graduates from both schools and in the end smaller class sizes, access to CMU and the city vibe tipped the scales. Thanks again for everyone’s input - it was a tough call and am sure either would have worked out.
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Congratulations!!! Those are just a few of many reasons why my son chose Pitt CS as well! H2P!
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