Preface:
I have been accepted to UIUC and UCI for undergraduate Computer Science major.
I live in California, so UCI costs me about $13,000 per year all inclusive, while UIUC will cost me $28,000 ($40,000 out-of-state tuition + $13,000 room/board - $25,000 scholarship) per year all inclusive.
As you can see, UIUC will cost me close to $15,000 more per year.
Issues:
I am mainly trying to decide if I should go to UCI so save $15,000/year. I can afford the extra money, the question is if I should.
My main concern is that I donât to save pennies now and risk losing pounds in the future â that is, I want to go to a college that will help in the long run, even if that means losing/sacrificing a little in the short run.
What do you guys think? Is UIUC worth $15,000 more per year?
Things to consider:
I understand that UIUC is ranked much higher than UCI, but how much more value does UIUCâs ranking add?
Does UCIâs close proximity to Bay Area provide a noticeable advantage over UIUC when it comes to internships/full time jobs?
I donât know much about the atmosphere, competitiveness, and/or student life at either college. If possible, could you describe what the colleges are like?
Also, through other blog posts, I have learnt much about the weather and the rural vs city life differences between the two colleges. So, please focus your answers on comparing the quality of education, internship opportunities, types of companies that recruit from the college etc.
UCIâs tuition costs $15K/year. What about housing and transportation unless you plan on living at home with your family and commuting? Figure on around $30-35K/year for UCI if you plan to live on or near campus.
UCI is no where near the âbay areaâ which is the San Francisco area. UCI is in Southern California, in between Los Angeles and San Diego. I suggest you get a map. UCI resides in Orange County which does have some tech companies nearby. For Jobs and Internships, look at the UCI Website Career Center.
I cannot give an opinion of UIUC but both schools are great options as long as you do not have to go into debt to attend either one of them.
I tried looking into the UCIâs career center webpage but didnât find much information. It doesnât list any tech companies that come to UCI and while there is a link to see companies coming to their upcoming Career fair, I canât view that list since I am not a UCI student.
Do you happen to have a link to the page you referred to?
To answer your questions:
If I go to UCI, I will be living with my family and hence, I donât have to pay anything for room/board. As a result, I didnât include those expenses in my question.
Regarding the $15k per year difference ($60k total), where would it come from?
If it would come from debt, or make it difficult for your parents to fund their retirement or your younger siblingsâ college (if you have any younger siblings), then the extra $15k per year would be a problem. But if it were pocket change to you and your parents, then it matters much less.
If your parents can cover the 15K difference, then yes, UIUC for 15K more than UCI is a super good deal. You should be able to make half of that after sophomore year in a summer internship.
UIUC CS (you were admitted to CS, right?) acceptance rate is well below 10% and their program is known as one of the best in the country.
UIUC does seem to be âworthâ the extra cost if it is a campus you would want to live on. It is not worth it if it is a campus you would not want to live on for four years. The costs appear to be identical, only UCI gives you the âoptionâ of living at home. Do you really want to live at home for the next four years or will you spend some of that time paying rent at a place near campus.
First of all, UCI is a very good college for CS. You will have no trouble at all finding internships or jobs. But UIUC is a couple of levels higher than UCI, for CS. Top companies are often willing to pay $5K to $15K premium for a fresh graduate from a top school. So it is possible that your starting salary will be higher with a degree from UIUC.
It is unlikely that computing employers will pay more for school name. Differences in pay levels more likely have to do with the type of job[1] and the region of the employer.
[1]Stronger CS students may get the more technically demanding, desirable, and better paid jobs. To the extent that a given school has more stronger CS students, that may influence the pay level found by that schoolâs graduates.
If you have multiple job offers, and if you know how to negotiate, then this is when school name becomes relevant. One top company that I know of does pay more for someone from a better school. This is for fresh graduates only. Once you have work experience the school name diminishes in importance.
Iâve been retired for a few years, but the last time I worked at a company that paid more for CS grads from top-name colleges was in the '80s.
Employers looking for CS grads learned that where you went to school didnât necessarily correlate with your contribution as an employee. Your pay out of college will be based on your job classification/title. If you do really well in your interviews and any tests, you may be able to negotiate a higher salary, but it will be based on your skills, not your school.
to be fair thatâs not entirely true.
When we hire for quant devs we often use school as a filter,
i.e. weâd only look at T1-T1.5 schools,
unless the candidate had worked for T1-T1.5 competitors (or high techs)
which would imply that they passed the whatever filters it took to get that job
Agree. Certain companies only recruit at certain schools. Iâve also seen start-up companies weed out seasoned applicants based on schools. Youâll have more options.
If you can afford a top school without debt I would go. UIUC fits that description.
Iâm curious where else you applied. If youâre accepted to UIUC I would imagine you have other options.
Yes, for real. The typical question from applicants wouldnât be UCI v. uiuc, it would be UCB v. uiuc, or
MIT full price v. uiucâŠwhich is why we all assume you were admitted to other top universities for CS.
(Do check youâve been admitted for CS at UIUC, not undeclared/exploratory!)
It sounds like UIUC gave you an in-state tuition waiver scholarship, which puts the cost at roughly the same as UCI minus room and board. So if your parents can cover that portion, the decision really comes down to preference.
When it comes to prestige and rankings, those are really just misconceptions. Employers recruit locally and regionally for entry level jobs, because itâs cost-effective. Entry level salaries are a function of the local market that the job is located in. Employers are not going to pay a higher salary for prestige when they can offer the job to an experienced professional they donât have to train. Experience is everything in the tech world. After about 3 years experience, employers donât even ask where you went to school.
So, basically, it doesnât matter at all which school you choose. Both are great CS programs, and either one will land you a decent job out of college. Do whatever makes you happy
