<p>Hi!
Recently I have run into some very tough decisions regarding college decisions and could use help. I got accepted into the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, but instead of getting into computer science (my first choice) I got into mechanical engineering (put as my second choice), both being in the school of engineering. I also got into University of Wisconsin - Madison college of letters and sciences, all students go into general sciences for first year but I will declare myself as a computer science major after freshman year. I really want to major in cs since I like it in my ap cs class and I know there's such a high demand for it, and it pays very well also. I was wondering if I should go to UIUC and try to switch into cs (a little risky) or go with the safe uw Madison cs option?
UIUC is ranked #5 for cs, whereas uw Madison is #11. So both are great schools for that major and will land me a good job probably, but idk if UIUC being slightly a slightly higher rank would really be worth risking the transfer. I know I would be able to reach the bench mark gpa to switch but the admissions councilor said theres limited space but some people will still be able to transfer in. I'm torn here!
P.s. I liked Madison's campus better </p>
<p>I would go with University of Wisconsin - Madison. With those rankings, the differences between the two schools are minimal. I would research more closely the employment rates of each schools, and the employers students go on to work for in the CS field. Is there a way to dual major at University of Illinois?</p>
<p>Employment rates and salaries aren’t a product of where you go to school but of industry standards and region. </p>
<p>Worry instead about what they will cost your family.</p>
<p>Are you in-state for either? If not, which is less expensive?</p>
<p>At UIUC I could major in mechanical and minor in cs but that would be a ton of work, although it may be worth it in the long run. They also have top of the line companies recruiting such as google, Microsoft, Intel, hp, yahoo, adobe etc… Uw Madison has good companies too, google, dell, epic, Microsoft, GE etc…
Overall each school has a high employment rate out of college, Madison’s being slightly higher but not by much. I do love how Madison has awesome research programs, being like third in the country, and they have great internships. I live in Illinois so with the school of engineering Tuition and fees would be about 32 grand, wheres uw Madison would be 36 grand (I got a $5,000 scholarship per year), so the price difference isn’t huge</p>
<p>That 36,000 for uw Madison is after the scholarship, it would normally be about 41,000. I didnt get money from u of i :(</p>
<p>your parents are aware of the costs and have said the 36K is do-able? I ask because I could use that 16K difference on the next child’s education, or 4 summers in Florence.</p>
<p>Well it would be a 4,000 dollar difference because in state after all fees UIUC engineering school is about 32,000. So the 4,000 dollar difference doesn’t play a big role since at that point they just want me to choose on academic reasons and which school I like more</p>
<p>it will be bad karma if you don’t care for these parents as they age, you know?</p>
<p>I hear ya, they would have to take out a deferred loan for uw Madison that I would pay back later. So i would have to pay the difference back eventually, 16 grand outa my pocket /:</p>
<p>Do you have other, less expensive choices?</p>
<p>Not really. I mean I want to go to a top university for computer science but besides uw Madison and u of i most of them are Ivy Leagues or more expensive out of state schools. I feel like it would be better for getting a job by getting a cs degree at a top 15 school or so rather than an average cheaper school, but I don’t know much about how getting jobs after college or how easy it will be</p>
<p>it’s really not where you go but what you do, especially in a field like this one and where the choices are between two such strong CS programs. you’re going to be fine either way. </p>
<p>What are your in-state public choices?</p>
<p>Makes sense. Thanks for the help!</p>
<p>OP says he is an IL resident. The CoA for an IL resident in engineering at UIUC is $35,000, while it’s $41,000 at UW-Madison like he says, so with the scholarship the difference is only about $1,000 per year (or $4,000 over 4 years).</p>
<p>Given that you liked Madison better AND that you are already in the major, or have better chances of getting into the major, that you actually want to be in - I say go to UW-Madison. That is, if your family can afford to pay $36,000 per year. You can only borrow $5,500 your first year, and work study will provide an extra ~$3,000 IIRC towards expenses, so where are you getting the other $30,000 OP?</p>
<p>Well my brother went to UIUC for engineering and they managed to pay for that with very little financial aid. I’m not exactly sure how the plan on paying for me, I’m assuming some deferred loans and hopefully some financial aid but I’m also applying for more scholarships. What’s IIRC? and why can we only borrow 5500 my first year?</p>
<p>In state public choices would be Illinois state, southern Illinois, and northern Illinois, other than UIUC. But none of those college’s cs programs are as prestigious as university of Wisconsin-Madison’s or UIUC unfortunately /:</p>
<p>CS is not a particularly school-prestige-conscious field for industry software jobs, although there is some recruiting advantage for your first job to being at either a local school or a well known non-local school. Lower cost but still quite reputable schools for CS include Minnesota, Stony Brook, and NCSU. Relatively unknown-out-side-the-region San Jose State is a big feeder into nearby Silicon Valley computer companies.</p>
<p>You need to have The Talk. You have a right as a member of your family to know if your parents intend to contribute to your education and how much. So fire up those net price calculators and sit your parents down. It is better to know now what you can afford than to spend 100 bucks applying to a school you cannot afford. IIRC is “if I recall correctly.” Feds set the limit on what you can borrow each year.</p>
<p>The loan limit is calculated in function of repayment expectations. You shouldn’t borrow more than the federal limit overall.
Your parents need to make calculations and give you a hard number.
It’s unlikely they’ll be allowed to take on loans for you if they took on loans for your brother (I’m assuming you mean Parent PLUS?)</p>