My daughter got into UMich Arbor LSA and USC Viterbi school of Engineering and intends to pursue a CS major. We are super confused between the two now… Both are OOS as she is from India, hence cost is a non-factor.
UMich:
Pros:
Consistenly top 10 rated CS program. Higher reputation and branding
Ann Arbor super safe beautiful college town
Strong alum network
Cons:
Public school with large class sizes
Miserable weather for 6 months
USC:
Pros:
Good CS program, West coast location with proximity to tech companies
Private school with beautiful campus and smaller classes
Great CA weather
Cons:
Bad neighborhood. Safety concerns?
Less known than UMich. Will the alum network be strong?
Not sure how the two schools compare in job placements…
Any insights pls on which school she should pick??
That seems reasonably accurate. If you were in the US, the usual response would be to visit each one, and see which one felt best. Otherwise, you mostly have what you listed. Re: alumni networks, I imagine the USC alumni network will be plenty strong in California, especially southern CA, but not perhaps as broad outside of that.
Just because Michigan is public does not mean classes will automatically be larger. While Michigan is in a significantly cheaper area, and approximately the same size (45,000 students vs 43,000 students), its endowment and budget at roughly twice that of USC. Michigan’s endowment, which currently stands at $11 billion, is larger than Cornell or Columbia’s. Statistically, classes at Michigan and USC are roughly the same size (roughly the same percentage of classes with fewer than 20 students and over 50 students).
That being said, CS is a very popular major at Michigan, so classes in your daughter’s major will be large.
In terms of professional placement, Michigan does very well in Silicon Valley (Amazon, Apple, Google and Microsoft hire 150+ graduates annually), but there will be stiff competition for those jobs. However, many CS majors at Michigan take jobs with major Consulting and Financial Services firms.
@rjkofnovi Agreed!
The intro level classes are the larger sized ones, but higher up classes can get to 30-40 students per class size. Ultimately, it is up to your daughter, good luck.
@rjkofnovi - Is Engineering considered a better option than LSA? Apart from CS core courses, she is more interested in courses such as Economics rather than Physics & Chem. Hence, she chose to apply to LSA to get more well rounded core courses including language and writing skills… Is there any impact to job opportunities or perceptions around LSA
Actually MomFromIndia, it does not matter whether your daughter graduates from LSA or the CoE. The resources and career opportunities will be the same. If she intends on taking courses in Econ, or even minoring in Business from Ross, staying in LSA makes better sense. I know a young man (Indian as it happens to be) who will be graduating in May from Michigan with a double major in CS and Business. He has already secured a job offer from BCG in Chicago.
both great schools. biggest differences are weather, college town, and culture. Ann Arbor is the perfect college/university town. L.A. is a big unforgiving city and USC happens to be situated in a less than desirable part of L.A. (Unlike UCLA or Pepperdine).
Both schools do a great job with job placement into industry. I interned at Facebook this past summer (will be working there fulltime starting in the fall) and Michigan and USC both had good representation among interns. I would say that the main differences are in the campuses.
I think, the OP has listed the pros and cons quite well. Michigan is undoubtedly better known with a very strong alumni network. Placements for CS graduates are very good. If I were in this position, I would have opted for Michigan without batting an eyelid.
My S is in LSA for CS. If you have specific questions i can ask him for you.
Weather…let’s be real here. It is going to be a climate change/shock. But she may enjoy seeing the winter season. It is what i would call “brutally cold/wind/snow” for about 2 months, but not every single day. Another 2 months are just winter. They actually get spring/summer/fall, so she may enjoy that.
I grew up not far from there, and it is not 6 months of frozen tundra. We now love be in NYC area, it is a bit worse than winter there. I spent 3 years in Syracuse, so it could be worse!!!
UMich kids are very friendly and non-elitist. (I know nothing about USC). And the town of Ann Arbor is really wonderful. It would be a true US “college experience” for her.
Flights: Detroit Airport is a quick Uber ride away and is a major international airport.
@HRSMom - which year is your son in? Can you pls check with him if he is able to register for any classes he wants OR is there a wait list as the classes are already full? This is a concern that is swaying us towards USC as they are promising that the class sizes are small and one can register for any class they wish for and not delay graduation. Have to decide by tomorrow and leaning towards USC due to the class size factor. Appreciate your help
@MomFromIndia He just finished his second year. He has never been unable to get a class he wanted in CS. There are some classes he could not take in the semester he wanted to, but not CS classes.
MomFromIndia, your son cannot go wrong. Michigan’s CS department is ranked a tiny bit better than USC’s (#11 vs #20), but placement in major tech companies on the West Coast is roughly equal. If your son prefers USC, then he should go there. That being said, I am not sure CS classes are going to be appreciably smaller at USC than they are at Michigan. CS is a very popular major that is even being impacted at elite liberal arts colleges such as Pomona.
While this is not scientific, below are some numbers from linkedIn that you may find comforting, regardless of where your son opts to go to university:
Thank you so much as both replies are indeed comforting!
How difficult is the foreign language requirement at LSA? My D did Spanish IB ab initio, a beginner Spanish class for two years. Are the Spanish classes at umich very rigorous and difficult?
Also, can anybody help me with IB credits at LSA? From the website, it seems like her physics HL and economics HL can get her up to 17 credits towards the social sciences and natural sciences LSA distribution requirements which is significant… looking for someone to confirm that…
Thanks a lot…
HL Physics and HL Economics, assuming your D receives scores of 5 or better, should get her 18 credits (8 for Econ and 10 for Physics).
Foreign languages at Michigan are indeed rigorous, but is your D fluent in another language? Assuming that she is fluent in another language, she can place out of the requirement, although she will not receive credits for it.