UW - Seattle vs. UC Davis vs. BU?

Hi all,

I got accepted to UCD and BU for CS, and to UW as “pre-sciences”, as most people have to reapply to a specific major once you attend the school and complete certain pre-reqs. I have to decide which of these school I want to attend by tomorrow(ik this is last minute, I wasn’t able to compare them til I visited Davis this weekend). If anyone has any recommendations on what I should do, or any extra info that could possibly help my decision in any way, that would be more than appreciated. Also, note that while I am as of now heading into CS, I really do not know for sure if I will stick with this major or not.

The pros for Davis are that I will get in-state tuition, while at UW and BU tuition will be roughly $17k more. However, I will be able to graduate any of these 3 schools with little to no debt. But there is still grad school to consider(financially I may or may not be able to pay for it w/o debt depending on which of the 3 I go to) but idk if I will be going to grad school or not. The only reason I hesitate with Davis is that I initially have been all about the city vibe, and I know Davis is a college town. I just don’t know if Davis not being urban will make a difference in my overall satisfaction there or not.

Thank you!

Where a school is seems like a big deal before you get there - but once there you may realize you are too busy to enjoy a lot of the “big city” perks. UCD is small town, but is close to Tahoe, Reno and SF in terms of a weekend getaway or concert. Not sure how many kids leave campus on the weekend. But, that money saved could be handy later, however it doesn’t sound like a big factor for you.

Not getting direct admit is big deal at UW, particularly for CS which is the most competitive program there. Your UW gpa needs to be stellar to be considered for CS, there is no guarantee, a great number of students don’t ever get in. If you don’t care if you do CS and love Seattle… but it’s a lot of money to not know what you can do there.

You didn’t say anything about BU - do you like the school or Boston?

@blueskies2day Thanks for replying! I do like the college town part of Davis, especially the cute downtown area. My only concern was whether I would get tired of such a small town when I have planned on going urban throughout this college process.

For CS at UW, I have heard a variety of things about the competitiveness and the program itself. I truly think I have a shot at getting into either CS or a similar program, however I do not want my first year or two at UW to be defined by the stress of doing so. But perhaps a bit of competition is what I need to push myself?

As for BU, I do really like Boston. I loved the city when I visited briefly this past summer. I liked BU itself too, but did not get to tour it as extensively as the other 2 schools due to time constraints. From what I gather, UW and Davis have a bit stronger STEM programs, but I also like that it’s easy to switch majors at BU in the case that I end up not liking CS(same goes for Davis).

I get the desire for urban. Don’t underestimate how competitive Seattle is - gpa needs to be 3.8ish (college gpa) to be competitive and still no guarantee. The admissions person said it is like trying to get into med school - it is brutal. But you sound like you may be up for the challenge, and Seattle is a great urban town and experience. Tbh, no way I would send my CS kid there without direct acceptance, and heck no to paying OOS money with no direct admit. But if you are flexible and ok with doing something else, UW may be a great school and location for you.

Getting in CS at Davis should be applauded - there are thousands not accepted or waitlisted, CS is really tough to get into at Davis. I am not sure I am hearing the passion needed at this late hour to think you could all of a sudden pick Boston, but maybe I’m wrong…seems like it is UW or USD? If you are going that far, you have to really want to go that far.

Given that you are still undecided, and given that you are not even accepted to your preferred major… I say go to Davis. SF/Sacramento is close enough for day trips on the weekend.