My son wants to major in Computer Science- He applied to UMass Dartmouth, UMass Lowell, and UMass Amherst-
UMass Dartmouth: Offered him 50% scholarship (renewable, for four years)…
UMass Lowell: Offered him a seat at Honors College and a Full Free Rdie (Chancellor’s Scholarship)
UMass Amherst: Accepted him however they did not offer any scholarships.
We live 15 minutes away from UMass Lowell, although I fee it would be very beneficial for our son to live on Campus -and in particular at UMass Amherst.
Our son is seeking advice on whether he should attend UMass Lowell (Honors College & Full ride) or go to UMass Amherst.
We would truly appreciate feedback and advice from people with direct knowledge or previous experience with the Computer Science program at UMass Lowell & UMass Amherst.
How did he get accepted to UMass Amherst already? The email they sent last week said they would start releasing EA results on Monday.
If this is real and not just speculating, I would definitely not choose Dartmouth. Amherst is better than Lowell but it’s hard to give up that full ride. I’m surprised that someone would get a full ride at Lowell and not get into CHC at UMass.
@privatebanker he will be studying Computer Science. The CS courses he is currently taking at high school are doing Java, which my understanding is what they teach at UMass Amherst vs. “C” language taught at UML.
@me29034 - yes, we made a reasonable assumption based on his SAT (1,430) and GPA (3.9) that he will be accepted at UMA. And, we wanted to make a somewhat worst case scenario where he does not get any financial incentives from UMA.
BTW, he also applied to Northeastern University which is his top choice! but at a net cost of $69,000 and knowing that we will not qualify for financial aid… We are of the opinion that he should earn a bachelor’s from UMA or UML, and save the money for Grad school.
Just curious…how soon after your son received his acceptance email from UMass Lowell did he get the official admission packet? My daughter got her acceptance on 12/7 but hasn’t received official packet with potential scholarship info.
ULowell or UAmherst would be my choice. I’m assuming you are a MA resident? If you can swing it without a huge burden I’d let him go to UMAmherst, their CS department is very, very good and you stated you’d be full pay anywhere? I’ll assume again that the full tuition at UMAmherst, if he gets into the CS department might be doable for your family? But, you are assuming he will get into the CS department there, correct? You might want to wait the decision out before too much stressing.
FWIW, my D is graduating CS/Math double from a different school and has been told by many people that a Masters degree is not necessary. She decided to forego and start employment and once she determines the exact field she wants to work in may or may not then go to school on the company she is employed with at the time. If he decides to go for his PhD, graduating from UMassAmherst will be a definate plus over Dartmouth or Lowell (I believe?) Just food for thought.
@Nohafj it’s a bit funny how they dole out the scholarship money. We didn’t apply to UMass Amherst because of the size, but they are known to be very stingy with merit and ironically for in-state students. My S19 is not interested in CS (my major in college) but civil engineering and applied to Lowell and Dartmouth. We live comparably close to Dartmouth and he received full tuition and fees but received half tuition and fees to Lowell so it seems like they may try to entice some students to stay local. Honors College at both and he has a 34 on his ACT.
I also believe that a master’s degree is not an immediate necessity.
Hi, I googled the UMass Lowell Chancellors scholarship as my son was just awarded it, and found this discussion from last year. The OP said that their son got awarded a seat at honors college and a full ride with the chancellors scholarship. My son received an email 2 days ago saying he would receive full tuition annually at honors college, but didn’t mention a full ride . He hasn’t received the package yet. Anyone know if it’s full tuition only or a full ride?