The dust has settled from college admissions, and I’ve narrowed down my options to UChicago and The University of IL at Urbana-Champaign. I plan on studying Computer Science, so on first glance, this might seem like a straightforward choice, but now I’m not so sure. To be clear, if I decided to attend UChicago, I would be planning on getting a graduate degree in CS, preferably from an institution with a stronger presence in the industry (e.g. MIT, Stanford, …)
I received a financial aid package that would bring down the cost of UChicago to around 8k more per year than UIUC, which makes the cost differential noticeable, but not necessarily a dealbreaker. I really, really enjoy the environment at UChicago, and I feel like I would definitely fit in there. I’m definitely the type of student that they’re targeting their marketing at, at least. However, I know that UIUC will make me far more employable more quickly. One need only look at the average starting salary and the laundry list of internships held by the average CS graduate from UIUC to see that they definitely have more of a direct foothold in the workforce.
That said, I’ve heard that UChicago’s making a very strong effort to shore up their CS department, and based on the information I’ve gathered, students also land internships at big-name tech companies. Also, I’ve heard that it is possible to major in one of the hard sciences at UChicago and then pursue a graduate degree in CS elsewhere.
So, would it be wiser of me to attend UChicago or UIUC? And if I attend UChicago, would it be better to major in a hard science as an undergraduate?