I’m a high school senior and I’m having a hard time to decide whether to go for UT or UTD. I have full ride for UTD so after I graduate from UTD, I won’t be indebted. However, for UT, although they covered some, I’d still have to pay for dorm and etc, so after I graduate, I’d be indebted around $50k (max). I wanted to go into Computer Science and more specifically Game Development. I don’t care about school spirit, but I still want the college experience where I have a roommate. If I go to UTD, commute is the best option but I don’t want to live at home anymore. I want to move out and experience the world. However, I don’t know which college UT or UTD have a better program for Computer Science - Game Development. Please share your experiences and advice, thank you in advance!
If my son had the full ride option, it would not be a no-brainer. UTD is a great school. We were so impressed that is was a very close second to UT-Austin. Because of the middle-income scenario, and being one of those who did the right thing and saved for College Education, our Award is very low at both schools. My son wants to go into Finance. UTD has a great relationship with the Fortune 500 companies around Dallas. They also have a very good Study Abroad program. $50,000 in debt is a lot of debt to start off on. I believe you will still get the college spirit at UTD. Very nice, modern campus.
You may end up with less debt than the $50K you are estimating if you take into account you will most likely have opportunities to have paid summer internships as a comp sci major. My older son was an electrical and computer engineering major at UT Austin and he was able to get internships for 10 to 12 weeks and a typical hourly wage is $20-25/hour on up. My son had internships in the summer before his junior and senior years. My second son ended up choosing UT Austin Business Honors with a very small financial aid offer over UT D comp sci with a substantial academic award.