<p>It looks like I'll have to choose between these two schools for CS. Here is some of my background info. I'll leave my personal preferences out of this matter for the sake of maintaining objectivity (on my part at least).</p>
<p>UIUC: James Honors for COE. OOS. Tuition will be about 30-32k.</p>
<p>UCSD: No honors. In state. Tuition will be about 7k.</p>
<p>I'm just looking for some additional insight from CCers. </p>
<p>1) What would be your preference disregarding financial aid?
2) What would be your preference taking financial aid into account?
3) Pros and cons of both schools (academics, setting, social scene, etc.)</p>
<p>Thanks guys.</p>
<p>^cool reasoning bro.</p>
<p>1.) Definitely UIUC
2.) This is very relevant to your situation. It depends on how bad you’ll need the financial aid. If money is a very big concern, go to UCSD. If not, UIUC.</p>
<p>As for the pros and cons of each school, I would have to say that UIUC has a much better known CS department. We have very big companies recruit frequently at our school, and it’s quite easy to get on very impressive startups/projects (which is how you will accelerate your coding skills and pad your resume) if you reach out. Money aside, I really cannot think of a con of the CS department down here. It’s quite stellar, and it’s very easy for you to find whatever niche you decide to fall into within CS.</p>
<p>UCSD CS isn’t as well known as UIUC, but I’m sure the quality of education will NOT be sub-par. I think a big pro to UCSD is the weather, which can be a big factor if you know anything about IL weather vs. CA weather LOL. Also, the networking possibilities will probably be just as great, since you are in CA (the “promised land” for a lot of programming nerds such as myself).</p>
<p>So the decision is yours. Visit both schools and see where you feel most comfortable. That’s very important. Just make sure you know that, if you’re coming to Chambana, you’ll be living in Siebel Center. :-)</p>
<p>Cheers. ;-)</p>
<p>bump</p>
<p>Sent from my Liberty using CC App</p>
<p>I’m a freshman in CS from California. You should go to UCSD. Tuition will be way more than 7k, its more 15-16k, but I don’t think the quality of education will be very different between UCSD and UIUC. You also won’t like the weather here (it sucks).</p>
<p>I made this same decision you made last year. UCSD = $33k, UIUC = $46k</p>