<p>UMD vs UMich for Computer Science (Through LSA) </p>
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<p>University of MD-CollegePark VS University of Michigan-AnnArbor for Computer Science </p>
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<p>What do you think between UMD and UMich for undergraduate Comp Sci? Both are ranked 13th in the world, UMD slightly higher on some polls. Instate at Maryland I could graduate without loans. Michigan gave me $15K in money and $6K in loans (loans will likely go up as senior and junior years at Michigan run $2K higher than freshman and sophomore years) and Mich is still about $7K more that UMD annually. MD has more internships than they can fill- Google recruiter there on freshman welcome day; I hope that is the same at Michigan. For Michigan, I am in LSA-Computer Science, not Engineering- same program exactly, both ABET accredited, but this gives me a greater option to take humanities courses, like foreign language, but will LSA find me the internships I want in Comp Sci? Or since classes in Comp Sci are taken through Mich Engineering, will they step in? Anyone in Mich LSA Comp Sci know? At UMD I am in Computer Science directly. I do want to go to Michigan over Maryland, just not sure about all this. Seeking advice quickly! Thanks.</p>
<p>Maryland without a doubt. You have equal freedom at MD to take humanities classes. Humanities classes (such as history, English, foreign language) are NOT restricted to humanities majors. They are open to all MD students.</p>
<p>1.1 Anne Arbor may be > College Park, but Washington, DC >>>>>>> Anne Arbor. 1.2 besides the fact that I think the cultural, recreational, etc. opportunities in DC are much greater, there are a lot of jobs and internships in the DC area for CS, in the business world, engineering world, and in the government. No doubt there is good recruiting at Michigan, too, but it doesn’t have the benefit of being near Baltimore, DC, and all of the urban hubs in the metro area (such as Bethesda, Silver spring, etc.). I can tell you, you are right about there being more internships than they can fill. CS is hugely desirable in this area.</p>
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<li><p>The weather is better in Maryland.</p></li>
<li><p>28K in loans is substantial. Not that bad since you are a comp sci major and if you do well, you are likely to get a decent job. So, it’s not like an English major taking out 28K in loans. It’s definitely doable. At the same time, not having loans still opens up doors for you. 28K is not chump change. It is a car fit for a movie star, years of rent, it is a solid downpayment on a house. Being undburdened by any debt (+hopefully with extra savings), you will have a lot of options in terms of what city you can afford to relocate to, what neighborhood you can live in, etc.</p></li>
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<p>In conclusion: If you are feeling Michigan for some reason, well, it’s not like it is 100K more. At the same time, Maryland seems to offer everything you need and more, and the two are both large state schools. Doesn’t make sense to me to pay the extra for Michigan; but then again I am biased…if they were priced equally I would probably choose MD…I think DC is a fabulous city and many of the outlying areas are also really exciting places to live and work. But you can’t go /too/ wrong here…good choices both.</p>