<p>UCLA </p>
<p>pros: close to home, cheaper (wouldn't have to pay a thing myself), regents scholar
cons: not as good as CMU for CS, big class sizes</p>
<p>CMU</p>
<p>pros: ranked highly for CS, excellent recruitment, small class sizes
cons: expensive (would take out at least $100k in loans), far from home</p>
<p>Thoughts?</p>
<p><a href=“would%20take%20out%20at%20least%20$100k%20in%20loans”>quote</a>
[/quote]
</p>
<p>UCLA is the winner, then.</p>
<p>Dude I have the exact same dilemma as you! My only two choices are CMU and UCLA so I’m pretty much screwed.</p>
<p>@RacinReaver, you don’t think it’s worth it? A lot of people say that you can pay off the loans fairly quickly.</p>
<p>^ I’d go with CMU since you got into CS. Many people in SCS easily earn 10k+ each summer through internships. In addition, you’ll probably make more after-graduation in SCS than in UCLA (SCS starting salaries are around 90k+ on avg). That 100k in loans seems like a lot, but its not <em>that</em> much once you account for the higher earning potential of SCS.</p>
<p>I agree with RacinReaver. If you have a good scholarship to UCLA (and none for CMU), you should go there. It has a great CS program too, and CS students in general are in high enough demand that I don’t think you would gain that much earnings-wise from going to CMU instead.</p>
<p>Small class sizes are nice but they aren’t worth $100k.</p>
<p>UCLA. Really not even a discussion. You do not want to graduate with $100,000+ in loans- it will follow you and hold you back, whether it be grad school or getting a job and a place to live. You’re good enough for the SCS at CMU and you will shine at UCLA.</p>
<p>If you have $100k in loans, they won’t be subsidized, low interest rate ones. They’ll be pretty high and start accruing interest once you take them out. You won’t be able to defer then when you’re in grad school, and the monthly payment will be around $1100k a month. Your stipend as a grad student will probably be in the $2300k range. Take out a few hundred dollars for taxes, a few hundred more (at least) for rent, and you’re broke.</p>
<p>If you’re exceptional enough to get into CMU’s CS program, go somewhere you’ll be debt free and excel there. Be the student professors seek out and the same opportunities will come your way.</p>
<p>And, seriously, UCLA is far from a bad school.</p>
<p>UCLA is 12 in the world for Comp Sci and 7 in the U.S. now apparently. It’s not a bad choice and certainly not a bad choice if it’s much cheaper than CMU. [World’s</a> Best Universities in Computer Science; Top Computer Science Schools | US News](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/worlds-best-universities-rankings/best-universities-computer-science]World’s”>http://www.usnews.com/education/worlds-best-universities-rankings/best-universities-computer-science)</p>