My son was admitted to both for CS programs. Both are OOS, and costs are about the same. What would you choose in terms of education, research/intern opportunities?
Any suggestions are highly appreciated. Thanks!
UMD has a stronger CS program. For the same cost, I’d recommend UMD.
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Did you get need aid at UVA? otherwise costs aren’t the same.
Two different schools/vibes. Both strong but UMD stronger in CS but if he changes the UVA name great in other areas.
Campuses and areas are so different though that hopefully one would ‘speak to him’ more.
Good luck.
Congratulations to your child on his acceptances. Both are great options and you cannot go wrong with any of these.
I live in Northern VA Area. Have a PhD in CS and actively work with professors of both universities among others. I also do a lot of recruiting and have interviewed hundreds (not an exaggeration) of students from both universities in the past ten years. I know that UMD has higher ranking than UVA. However, over the past few years, I have developed a bias for UVA undergrad students and their resumes. They just seem more polished and well rounded. It could be the sampling bias but not sure why UVA sample would be significantly different from UMD given their relative location to NOVA.
UMD’s CS PhD program is much stronger though. I understand this is anecdotal and indirect experience, but hope it helps and provides another perspective.
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@KT12325 - Thank you for your insight. Same situation here with my DS22. We were leaning towards UMD CS but visited UVA for the first time yesterday and are now not sure.
From a recruitment standpoint, are there companies that would prefer to go only to UMD or UVA and not the other?
I do not believe that any company would go to UVA and not UMD or vice versa, unless the companies are on or near campus and may be looking for interns etc.
Also, I have to add, I have met really bright CS students from both UMD and UVA, so despite my comments above, there is no bad choice here.
Most DC area companies would recruit at both. I’ve always viewed them pretty much equal for recruiting for software engineers