I have been accepted into both these schools for CS major as an undergrad. I am unable to decide which one is better. I am an international student so there is no question of in-state tuition and cost of attendance is not a problem. I was wondering is someone could throw some light on which place would be better in terms of opportunities for co-op, internships, research and other stuff. I have recieved 14K scholarship at UMass. I also have to consider campus safety and how accomodating it can be for an international student going into a new culture and lifestyle. Any alums or current students please help me make my decision .
A few things:
- Amherst is one of the safest towns in the country.
- Ranking wise the two programs are comparable (Amherst is 25th vs Minnesota is 29th)
- Both are big campuses. As such, there is no question that you will find opportunities within the campus like doing research (provided you are competent, of course).
- There is very little within Amherst itself from what I’ve seen. Boston however, is two hours away, so that may be a plus.
Hey I am an International Student who got into umass with that scholarship too , I have applied to mn too but I may not get into minnesota. I was deffered in the first round… Just came to say that MN is very very cold . I heard its extreme and less safe compared to amherst . Boston is close to amherst , and UMN is in Twin cities which is somewhat a tech hub … not much … From what see ppl say SAVE THE MONEY and go for the cheaper option. If you are doing Grad , do it from a higher ranked uni , then UGRAD wont matter much. I will 90% attend umass too.
We (or the company I recently retired from) hire a lot of computer science majors from UMass Amherst. The fact that we keep hiring more speaks to how we feel about the many good employees we have already hired from there. The vast majority of these (well over 90%) are international students.
I don’t know much about CS at U.Minnesota. However, I agree with a comment above that both Amherst and Minnesota are both relatively safe from crime – quite a bit safer for example than Boston would be.
Sadly I am not helping you choose, but I think that either would be quite good.
Thanks guys for your opinions. It helps me a lot. From what I gather a degree from UMass is more valued and its weather is better but UMN has more outside campus opportunities. It kinda helps me.
@DadTwoGirls which company were you at? Are the starting packages good for UMass graduates?
Umass is worth the money if you dont recive any money from other schools def go to umass. You will thank your future self.
@Indiandude0 Okay new question - UMass or UW Madison CS??
Money not an issue.
The ranks are comparable 11 vs 20 but UW madison is more research oriented and Umass is more software devlopemet “job” oriented and employers know umass for that . Both are amazing schools. Finding internships at umass is easier tho , boston has more stuff than chicago. But in the end it all comes down to you . Did you recieve any merit at UW madison ? @charizard1234
Nope, UW is not known for giving merit scholarship to international student.