<p>I got into University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill and also at USC. I am getting a full ride from UNC plus a laptop and at USC I am getting 56k out of which 8k is loans.. what will be my best option for a computer science degree because at USC i will be paying around 14,000$ which includes 8k loan.</p>
<p>Are you a transfer student? If so, how many years will you be attending a university before graduation? Where do you intend to work after graduation? Is this CS or CS/Games?</p>
<p>Have you visited both universities?</p>
<p>USC’s CS major is ranked #20 in the nation by U.S. News-Undergraduate. I was unable to find any ranking for this major at UNC, only for the graduate program.</p>
<p>Faculty student ratio at UNC is 1/14, at USC 1/9.</p>
<p>Yes, I am a transfer student… I will be attending either colleges for 2-2.5 years probably 2.5 due to minimum requirements for my program. I will be attending it for computer science not gaming on anything. I haven’t visited any of those universities. In fact, I haven’t even been to those states yet.</p>
<p>I am also not sure what you mean by faculty student ratio</p>
<p>UNC is a very beautiful campus, USC is a beautiful campus, but in a very urban area that is not so pretty. The atmospheres at the two schools couldn’t be more different. East coast, west coast. You should visit them. From your statements I am thinking you are getting financial aid not merit scholarship to cover your costs at UNC and most costs at USC.</p>
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UNC is unranked because it lacks computer engineering, which (unlike CS) has an undergraduate ranking. Both UNC and USC are ranked #20 for computer science.</p>
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Some of the faculty-student ratios used by USNWR seem a little off. Since it is noticeably larger than UNC, I suspect USC is including research faculty and/or excluding graduate students. I unfortunately can’t confirm that since it conceals its Common Data Set. </p>
<p>According to IPEDs, USC has 38,010 students and 3457 instructional faculty, so a ratio of 11:1. UNC has 29,137 students and 3646 instructional faculty, so a ratio of 8:1.</p>
<p>One can dig a little by looking at the tenure-track faculty numbers from the USC and UNC websites. USC has 1556 TT faculty, and UNC has 1948. From the same sources, USC has 40,000 students, and UNC has 29,278. The ratios of students to TT faculty are therefore 26:1 at USC and 15:1 at UNC. </p>
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Academics are a wash. Cost is in UNC’s favor. How do you feel about city life versus a college town?</p>
<p>Personally, I would love to live in L.A rather than North Carolina. One thing I am very concerned about is the fact that if I go to USC, I have to do the placement tests for math and chemistry. While at UNC, I don’t have to do any placement tests. Do I have to do placements tests at USC, if i already finished all my math courses and if i do bad on any of the placement tests. Where does that put me academic wise?</p>
<p>Just make sure you check out the other posts on here about the undergrad CS dept. at USC. Talk to as many CURRENT students as you possibly can. The undergrad CS dept. is going through a lot of changes (thank goodness!) with the undergrad curriculum getting a complete overhaul. A lot of CS majors switched to other engineering majors this year out of frustration and uncertainty. Check ratemyprofessors before enrolling in a class in CS with a particular prof. I’m sure the dept. will be great in a few years, but you might not have the time to wait and see…</p>
<p>DS is a CS major and passed on UNC. If you want to talk to him, PM me. We live in NC.</p>
<p>I would say USC. You’ll be offered more internships and job positions while in college, which in the long run is better.</p>
<p>Even though USC is my first priority… I don’t think I will be able to attend it due to high cost. Although, I did write a financial aid appeal letter and now I am waiting for their reply. Also, is UNC a good school for computer science. I guess it’s not better than USC but is it good enough to get a good job?</p>
<p>I’ve been working in software for 30 years. For a vanilla CS degree, it won’t matter where you go. You’ll certainly be able to get a job with a degree from either USC or UNC.</p>
<p>The main reasons to go to USC would be if you wanted to do something entertainment-related, like games or broadcast/movie applications; or if you wanted to stay on the west coast after graduation.</p>
<p>UNC is in the Research Triangle, so there are going to be a ton of CS based internships available to you. Even though this area of the country is boring as i dont know what, Carolina’s cheap price for a good education would weigh heavily if i was in your shoes.</p>
<p>Priority number one: cost
number two: atmosphere</p>
<p>If it were me, I would choose the cheaper option if the other option is much more expensive. I would not be attending USC right now if I did not win any scholarships to cover the rest and would be at some UC instead because ultimately, I liked the atmosphere at all of the campuses I visited. If you work hard, you are going to succeed no matter where you are, so USC’s expensive education is not worth it. It is a private university after all…</p>
<p>Any other advise someone can give me? After a lot of thinking I am thinking about going to UNC</p>