I’m an international student and I got into Virginia tech, Umass Amherst and Stony Brook University. I’m a computer science major and I need help deciding which one is the best pick for me, keeping in mind internship opportunities, job offers after graduation, prestige of the school, the general vibe and of course the reputation of the computer science program. Cost isn’t really too much of a factor since all 3 lie in the 35 K to 40K range but being offered a $12K chancellors scholarship by Umass Amherst, my parents want me to attend Umass. I’m personally leaning towards Virginia tech because I have relatives in Virginia and I like the school generally. I would really appreciate a detailed response. Thanks
I’ve heard the Umass amherst computer science program is very good. As a parent who will be paying for college I I think you should consider your parent’s wishes carefully. 12k x 4 = 48K. That’s a decent amount of money. CS graduates are in demand period. I don’t think where you earned your degree makes much difference. Amherst is a college town, close to a number of very goods schools. I’m also pretty sure a coach service runs there from Boston. Flights to nearest airports are a consideration. VT is impossible to get to easily. StonyBrook is a trainride from NYC? You really need to think logistically if you are either OOS or international.
@SQBrit thanks. The reason I’m mostly hesitating to attend umass is because it’s considered more of a party school and Virginia tech is generally considered to be a good engineering school so I feel that could affect job opportunities after graduating. Logistics is definitely a factor since I’ll probably be travelling to va and nc every now and then
@tokyodrifter2895 - UMass used to be a party school you mean?! Well, Umass is working very hard to get past that image and for the most part successfully. It is much more selective = restrictive now - for example the average accepted GPA from my son’s HS is 4.23. I think you are putting too much emphasis on prestige - somewhat of an unknown quantity / factor that is not worth 48K. I think that cost and accessibility should be your biggest factors. Start looking into flights/trains/ travel times and the cost of all the above. You say you think you will travel to VA and NC every now and again. Start looking into how easy it will be to travel to those locations. I’m thinking that your best bet is to be more centrally located (like SBU) that offers direct flights from JFK (JFK flies to everywhere!) See if you can get more award $$ from SBU so that it is more favorable option for parents.
@SQBrit Aah I see. So it’s gotten much better. And don’t you think prestige should be a factor given that I will most probably start working after my bachelor’s degree and will most probably not go to grad school. I do believe SBU or VA tech are favorable location wise but as far as aid goes, both schools don’t offer any to international students. Can I ask where you are sending your child for college? And do you know anyone whose graduated out of the colleges that I’ve listed?
Well, DS did apply to VT and UMass Amherst and should have applied to SBU. He was accepted to VT - still waiting to hear from UMass. We live in MA. I think you should post your question to the UMass Amherst /SBU message boards also. I’m sure a lot of people will be glad to answer your questions about the Comp. Science program. I would ask also about your job prospects after graduation. People love to share their knowledge. Good luck!
@SQBrit oh that’s great. Is he a computer science major too and good luck with the decision. I hope everything turns out great. Thanks I’ll be sure to do that. Well, I’m aiming for google, microsoft or amazon or one of the big companies. I know it seems like a big shot but I like to dream high.
I hope you are exaggerating here a little. Tech is quite easy to get to.
@DecideSomeHow If you’re not from VA and don’t have your own car, it is pretty close to impossible. I used to live in VA and took the ability to drive to Tech for granted. I live in Boston now and I’ve visited Tech a few times using all types of travel methods and each trip was super difficult and exhausting.
Flights to Roanoke are very, very overpriced compared to major airports, even if you look a year in advance. It’s usually cheaper to get a flight into Richmond, Charlotte, or even one of the DC airports and figure a way from there, but it’s a huge pain.
@DecideSomeHow thanks for sharing your experience with me. This just scares me because I was thinking of taking the bus from Amherst to Charlotte if I went to umass. I won’t have a car freshman year so I’ll have to stick to public transport. Oh and did you go to Virginia tech?
Yes, I did graduate from Tech. But it was many years ago. I lived in central Virginia for many years as well. If you are looking as a bus for getting to other cities then you should take a look at bus schedules on something like greyhound. The travel times will be huge. Driving from Charlotte to Amherst would take about 14 hours, and a bus would be longer.
@DecideSomeHow how long ago was it? Could you share your experience with me?.can I also ask if you’re doing well in the job market salary wise? Wow 14 hours is a long time. That means that I’ll probably only be able to visit during breaks. Is there a train too and is that any faster?
@tokyodrifter2895 - I graduated a while ago - '92, but have been going through the college search process with my kids for the past few years. So I hang out here and try to help.
Job market wise, I am doing just fine. I am not sure how much of that has to do with Tech, but I’d bet having a degree from a good engineering program is the real key.
I am not sure what country you are from but I will guess Japan based on your username. Trains in the US are not very good for travel, other than a few areas of the country, such as between Washington DC and Boston. I would suggest going to amtrak.com and greyhound.com and see what your travel times would be between the places you think you may want to travel.
Computer Science is a high demand major. If you do well in your studies, obtain internships, participate in activities in college or do side projects you should have nice employment opportunities upon graduation from any of the three universities. If you stay busy with college activities you really aren’t going to have time for a significant number of weekend trips to go to other cities. Your weekend time might be spent in college clubs or traveling to Hack-a-thons at other universities.
As financiallylost mentioned, VT is not a great place for ease of transportation around the country. There are buses that travel every weekend to Northern Virginia. You can get into Washington DC by subway. There is also a train that goes from Roanoke (closest city to VT) to Washington DC Union Station. You can then fly out of Washington National Airport; take another train; or take a bus to NYC. But all of these transportation options take time. Estimate from VT to Northern VA is 4 1/2 - 5 hours. Bus from Northern Va to New York is another 4 1/2 hours. There is a bus from VT to Roanoke airport but the flight connections aren’t great and the ticket prices from Roanoke are high. Still, in my opinion you won’t be traveling much except on breaks.
I’ve heard good things about SBU and UMass from posters on the other boards but I don’t have any specific information about those universities. I have two sons in computer science currently at VT. There are some pros and cons with the VT curriculum. The issues may be similar to those that they would have experienced at SBU or UMass so it’s not an indictment on VT in particular. How would you rate your current CS aptitude? Are you a beginner interested in learning CS? Or, are you already very proficient in programming? Do you like Math?
^ God bless you, @ChrisTKD . “You can then fly out of Washington National Airport.”
You can always tell who is actually from this area (and knows the name of the airport), and who is just a recent transplant using the Congressionally-imposed moniker.
@DecideSomeHow that’s a long time ago. Do you think the tech degree has benefited you and does tech have a good program that will attract employers? Aah thanks for the info. Naa I’m from Pakistan. Tokyo drifter because I love cars and I’m pretty good at drifting
@ChrisTKD thank you for such a detailed response. I agree on the not getting enough time to travel part. Thanks for explaining the logistics part to me. It’s gonna be really helpful knowing all this. Could you weigh in on these pros and cons and share your sons’ experience with VT as a cs major. I’m a beginner and I love math
I think you are over analyzing the career potential for each of the schools you are considering. Realistically, they are all so close it does not matter. I am not that familiar with UMass or Stony Brook, but they are both accredited. If I were you, I would focus more of the location or living conditions or price of each.
@DecideSomeHow I guess you’re right. Thanks man. God bless you. Still can’t make a descision though. Lol
I asked about your interest in Math because the VT CS degree is math heavy in comparison to some other universities. I’m not sure how many math classes would be required at UMass or Stony Brook. But at VT you only need one more math course (or a CS class that is cross listed as a Math course) to earn a Math minor.
The VT CS course curriculum is designed for those who start out with only a beginners understanding of CS and programming. My sons were advanced and have been frustrated at times with the pace and depth of instruction. Upper level projects can be very time consuming but they don’t find them challenging. Some of the more advanced students complain that the junior/senior level courses may cover a topic but not go to the depth that they feel is appropriate. Keep in mind though that these are the type of students who have been learning on their own for years while working on their own projects. So, they already have a knowledge of the topics to be covered in the course.