I am having an exceptionally difficult time choosing between the two universities and could really use some solid advice.
Please and thank you!
I am planning to major in computer science, and while I know that the University of Washington is ranked higher and overall a better cs school than Purdue, I am an Indiana resident and Purdue is significantly less. Additionally, I have never really branched out of the state before and going to the University of Washington is extremely intimidating. Seattle is a great location and it’s most likely where I will live during my career, but I’m just very conflicted due to financial reasons and distance. I’m torn and any first hand descriptions of your experiences could really help.
Thanks again!
If you’re absolutely set on getting a CS degree, unless you get accepted directly into the UW CS program as a freshman, go to Purdue. Rankings aren’t a big deal for CS.
I used to work at Boeing in Seattle, and we had lots of programmers who had math degrees from UW. We even had an excellent programmer who had a fisheries degree from UW. The point being you don’t have to have a CS degree to become a programmer.
Save your money and go to Purdue. Purdue is one of the best science and engineering schools in the nation, and it is not worth an extra $120K to go to UW.
As an out of state candidate, direct admission to CS is a reach for everyone. If it’s going to be a financial strain, it’s not worth coming if you don’t have a reserved spot in your major.
Going out of State when you have a good in State option isn’t usually very wise. The cost of attending OOS is more than just the tuition and board. Think also about travel cost back and forth, then also getting your stuff to school. You can’t just jump in your car and drive to Washington from Indiana. At least not in an easy drive. That means flying.
Back in my day I did go OOS for school but I went to a State school and the cost wasn’t that much different than my in State options. For me going away was the best thing as far as personal growth and experience so there are some advantages. However, I was in college in the late 80’s early 90’s so the cost of school is a lot different now.
Unless you get direct admission to CS and a large enough scholarship at Washington, it does not seem to be worth going there when you have a good lower cost in-state option in Purdue.
^Co-signed on all of the above! Go to Purdue, where it sounds like you actually want to go and what makes financial sense for your family. I live in Seattle and work at a tech company here - all the companies here hire people from all over the place. You don’t have to go to UW to get a tech job in Seattle (or anywhere else).
I heard that getting cs at UW seattle is really hard. Unless you get a direct major it is not worth going to UW seattle if you are not an exceptional student(I don’t know about you). I can’t speak much about purdue but I heard it is a good school for cs.