Hey everybody,
I’m currently going to community college in Minneapolis and I’m trying to decide which school to transfer to. I’ve been wait listed from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities twice(although I think the fact I went to hs in India and then took a year off from school during the times that I applied might have something to do with it) so I’m a bit paranoid I won’t get in when I apply for transfer this time but I’m fairly positive I’ll get into the Duluth campus- its acceptance rate is much higher.
I will have taken about 80 credits in my two years of community college(summers included) and my grades are about 50/50 A’s and B’s except for a History class which I got a C in. I was able to do an internship as a programmer at a startup during my freshman year and I’m part of an honor society- phi theta kappa(i don’t know if this even matters).
However, I’m wondering if in terms of job opportunities there is a difference between the two campuses? Is there a much higher chance that I will be making more money graduating with a fairly good GPA from the Twin Cities campus compared to the Duluth campus.
My plan if I don’t get into the Twin Cities campus is to double major in CS and either EE or Physics (all of which I’m highly interested in), try to keep a high GPA and try to transfer to a better school for my Masters.
Any insight or advice(I’m feeling a bit down and worried about my future)? Does anyone have any suggestions for any other good universities that would be in the range of where I could get into?
Thank you in advance guys!
I think a lot of Duluth campus students still end up working for the same firms in the Twin Cities. Remember that you have the whole Wisconsin public university system open to you as well with reciprocity.
^ this
Apply to UMN-TC and Wisconsin Madison.
UMN Morris is very good for CS. Look into the various U Wisconsin campuses.
Apply to several Universities then compare offers (especially financially) as well as opportunities once you have acceptances in hand.
You can have plenty of success regardless of which university you wind up getting your degree from. Keep in mind that when you apply for a job after graduation, you should have a lot more on your resume than your university and degree. It is those other things that will make a difference for you more than whether you were in Duluth or Twin Cities.
What can you have on your resume aside from your degree and grades? Internships, research with professors, leadership roles in clubs, volunteer work, computer-related certifications and skills (acquired on your own outside of classes), foreign language skills and cultural knowledge, communication skills (how you write and interact and give presentations), sports/fitness activities (indicating a healthy, energetic, competitive person which can be traits valued), honors and awards (which could include winning competitions), etc. You can also have a professional online image when they search your name online – this could be with a professional LinkedIn profile with plenty of connections, an online portfolio of your programming skills (on GitHub, e.g.), a personal website, a blog about physics, etc.
As you can see, you can be evaluated based on many things when you apply for jobs, and where you got your degree is just one small piece of the puzzle.