University of Wisconsin Madison vs UMass Amherst for CS

I have narrowed my choices to UW Madison and UMass Amherst for Computer Science. I got into the college of letters and science at UW Madison (Madison doesn’t do direct to major it gives general to everyone) and got into exploratory track in the College of Information and Computer Science at UMass Amherst (basically didn’t get into CS).
I got a 14K per year scholarship at UMass Amherst which brings the cost of attendance for UMass to 40K per year.
And the cost of attendance for UW Madison is 54K a year.
So is it worth to go to Madison and pay 14,000 dollars every year?
Although my parents can afford to pay for UW Madison but if it is not worth the extra 14 grand then I don’t wanna spend their hard earned money for just a slight advantage.
Please while making your decision give emphasis to these factors as well ranking, social life, job and internship opportunities, etc.
thank you in advance

I can’t comment on your chances of getting into the computer science program at either school since I don’t know what this entails nor how you stats compare with others who would be trying to do the same thing.

However, I have worked with a large number of graduates from U.Mass Amherst’s computer science program. I have also worked with several graduates in computer science from U.Wisconsin. I have seen many very good graduates from both programs. Both schools have excellent computer science programs, and have graduates who do very well in their careers after graduation.

Congratulations with having two great choices. I don’t think that you can go wrong either way, particularly if you will be able to graduate with good grades and without debt.

Basically, your choice is between lower cost (Massachusetts) versus less difficult path to entering the CS major (Wisconsin). Do you have any other choices (e.g. in-state public universities)?

The following describe what you need to do to enter the CS major at each school:

https://www.cics.umass.edu/ugrad-education/major-change-cs
https://www.cs.wisc.edu/undergraduate/ba-bs-in-compsci/

@ucbalumnus I have gotten into UCSB (CS), UT Dallas (CS), UWash Seatle (pre-science), Penn State 2+2 (CS).

Is UCSB or UTD significantly less expensive than Massachusetts or Wisconsin?

@ucbalumnus sadly no UCSB is much more expensive compared to others while UT Dallas costs similar to UW Madison