<p>I've been accepted to both colleges, and I plan to study Computer Science. I've looked at reviews and rankings, and most lists seem to put University of Illinois slightly higher for Computer Science (US News puts them as 8th in the country, while they put UMD as 14th), and I'm wondering if that actually comes out to any noticeable difference as far as quality of education is concerned. I live in Maryland, so there's a serious cost difference between the two (UMD's tuition with room and board is about $20,000/year in-state, while out-of-state with room and board at Illinois is around $40,000/year). I've also been offered a $5,000/year merit-based scholarship at Maryland, and I'm still waiting to see if I'm getting offered any scholarships from Illinois. I'm still waiting on FAFSA from both. That all being said, would it be worth it to go to Illinois instead of Maryland? In a few years, would any top Computer Science grad school (such as Carnegie Mellon or MIT) look at a University of Illinois student any differently than a UMD student?</p>
<p>Illinois doesn’t give fin aid to OOS or at least not much. UMD is a top public university and so is Urbana-Champaign for cs. They are peer schools so it will be a waste of money to attend the expensive one.</p>