need help with college selection

[Anonymous]

My DD is at UIUC and loves it. CS offers $10,000 merit aid to the top scores who have also produced projects (apps) that have a proven sales record. So yeah, the competition for those scholarships is intense. UIUC freezes tuition for the duration of the degree. Fabulous internship opportunities at the great job fairs and research experience at NCSA. Best of all, females make up HALF of the class.

[Anonymous]

^ Forgot to add, Illinois may have had budget problems for years but the school has not. If you haven’t visited, I encourage you to give it a look in person but be prepared to truly fall in love.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UIUC, Michigan, UMD and Georgia Tech are all top 20 for Comp Science
I would try to choose between these as long as the finances make sense.
Does your kid have any preferences wrt campus culture etc

Agree, all other things being equal these 4 should be your top 4. But if Ohio State comes in least expensive and cost is a big factor, it’s fine for CS too. But the 4 programs you listed are really top tier.

There is CS that prepares you for cutting edge work and then there is regular CS that is more about application programming and first job readiness. If she can cut it at UIUC CS, you won't have to worry about grad school expenses. She'll be making a ton of money post undergraduate as a female from a top CS program. (I have a DS in the midst of considering full time job offers.) But it's a really tough, work intensive path so you need to judge the risk of weed out. She will also need to be excellent at math for the rigorous programs in terms of theoritical vs applied.

[Anonymous]

Georgia tech

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:D accepted to computer science/engineering: UMich, Georgia tech, UMD, UIUC, Ohio state, Purdue, Penn state, Rutgers.
in state accepted to UVA (in state tuition seems relatively quite expensive )

so far only scholarship is from Ohio state university (~16k/year)

Purdue, UIUC and Georgia tech have not offered any scholarships.

UMich seems extremely expensive compared to other colleges.

Do not qualify for need based aid.

D wants to attend out of state college.

Can you all please advice how to navigate college selection process.

Also if possible please share any information about each of these colleges course rigor, internships opportunities, dorms, food etc.

I'm confused - did you meant to say "relatively inexpensive"? Our D had similar choices for aerospace engineering at Purdue, GT, etc. The delta then between UVA and GT, for example was almost 40K. We were very happy (financially) when DS picked UVA over the others. In-state. Granted, in-state fees have jumped in the last few years but still UVA is a much better deal than the other OOS and private options (especially when DD decides she doesn't want aerospace engineering and switches to the humanities in the second year).

[Anonymous]

I would go with OSU if that is the cheapest. OSU has a great alumni network and alums living everywhere so your child can pick where they want to work when they graduate.

[Anonymous]

Have you visited these schools? GT is in an area of Atlanta that I’d be very hesitant to send my kid to.

[Anonymous]

If to choose betweeen GTech campus and College Park campus - I would vote GTech 100%.
I am GTech alumni, and when I first visited UMD CP I was shocked. I was walking alone multiple times in the middle of the night (after working in computer cluster for hours with the team) on GTech campus to parked car on the other side of campus. I have never felt unsafe. I doubt that would be safe in College Park.
Sorry, different people, different perspectives...

[Anonymous]

Find it hard to believe that VT wasn't considered here (for engineering). That said, for full pay there are only a few schools for engineering I'd pay for OOS and they aren't on your list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Find it hard to believe that VT wasn't considered here (for engineering). That said, for full pay there are only a few schools for engineering I'd pay for OOS and they aren't on your list.

Yup. Seriously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t have a lot of other data points but UIUC is a computer science powerhouse. It’s a top 5 program (Carnegie Mellon, MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, and then UIUC).

Have you visited there? You must, before considering it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If to choose betweeen GTech campus and College Park campus - I would vote GTech 100%.
I am GTech alumni, and when I first visited UMD CP I was shocked. I was walking alone multiple times in the middle of the night (after working in computer cluster for hours with the team) on GTech campus to parked car on the other side of campus. I have never felt unsafe. I doubt that would be safe in College Park.
Sorry, different people, different perspectives...

College park is very different now than when we were in college.

[Anonymous]

This is OP.

heard of more results and scholarships.

Here is the cost of each college

UMD: cost of attendance ~39000/yr ( 12,500/yr scholarship)
VTech: in state tuition
UIUC: no scholarships
Purdue: no scholarships
Ohio state: cost of attendance ~31612 (16k/yr scholarship)
Rutgers: 22k/yr (28k/yr scholarship)
UVA: in state
GaTech: no scholarships
UMich: no scholarships


with these college choices, which would be the best option and why?
UMich is the only college that is way too expensive and probably not a top choice due to that.

also which college should be mentioned as top choice for national merit?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD is at UIUC and loves it. CS offers $10,000 merit aid to the top scores who have also produced projects (apps) that have a proven sales record. So yeah, the competition for those scholarships is intense. UIUC freezes tuition for the duration of the degree. Fabulous internship opportunities at the great job fairs and research experience at NCSA. Best of all, females make up HALF of the class.

Thank you for your input on UIUC.
Did UIUC need FAFSA for giving that merit aid?
was UIUC OOS for you? is it worth the travel costs and OOS tuition?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is OP.

heard of more results and scholarships.

Here is the cost of each college

UMD: cost of attendance ~39000/yr ( 12,500/yr scholarship)
VTech: in state tuition
UIUC: no scholarships
Purdue: no scholarships
Ohio state: cost of attendance ~31612 (16k/yr scholarship)
Rutgers: 22k/yr (28k/yr scholarship)
UVA: in state
GaTech: no scholarships
UMich: no scholarships


with these college choices, which would be the best option and why?
UMich is the only college that is way too expensive and probably not a top choice due to that.

also which college should be mentioned as top choice for national merit?

If money is not an object, you can't go wrong with any of those choices. It's a question of where your DC thinks is the best fit. If money is an object, I'd say it's question of whether you think OSU is worth $5k or UVA is worth (maybe) $8-10K a year more than VA Tech.