Paying for Berkeley over UMD for Comp Sci - Worth it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And don't forget Sergei Brin went to UMD!

Sergei who?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If he is a really bright kid, UMD undergrad, and then another school for graduate level.

You really need a master's in comp sci to not be a drone.

No not really - you need a whip-smart idea or get a top 7 mba.

That master's in CS just makes you a get more money and better title as a Dev or Test.

Master's in CS in and of itself is not going to help you think up the next fb, dropbox, whatsapp, tumblr, pintrest, google, snapchat, uber, etc. That is something a drop out to a phd can think of.

The top 7 mba however will allow you to move into product dev/management, corporate development/firm strategy/m&a role that helps you rise in the ranks at a large tech firm.

I would go UMD, kill it, get a job in the valley for a 2-3 years, then if you don't think of a startup idea or have the chance to join a startup that you think will blow up, apply to go to a top b school.

Go to Haas for the MBA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And don't forget Sergei Brin went to UMD!

Sergei who?

Sergey's younger brother.

[Anonymous]

OK DCUMers - Sergei (Sergey) Brin is a cofounder of google!

And you all are commenting on the quality of various computer science programs!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OK DCUMers - Sergei (Sergey) Brin is a cofounder of google!

And you all are commenting on the quality of various computer science programs!

I think it was an subtle slam at you misspelling his name; I think everybody knew who he was.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK DCUMers - Sergei (Sergey) Brin is a cofounder of google!

And you all are commenting on the quality of various computer science programs!

I think it was an subtle slam at you misspelling his name; I think everybody knew who he was.

and larry paige went to Univ of MI (I think, or somewhere in the midwest), but people don't care or remember that part. They only remember both went to Stanford for grad school.

UMD may have a good CS program, but if you want to be in the middle of the hot techs and startups, you need to be in SV. You may be able to get a job interview at Google at UMD, but if you lived in SV, you would also be more readily available to have job interviews at other hot tech companies as well. If you live here, it's obviously much harder to just jump in your car and go from interview to interview. Yes, you can do Skype interviews, but must companies also want to eventually do face-to-face.

Go to Cal if you can. It's more recognizable in the tech industry, esp. in SV obviously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK DCUMers - Sergei (Sergey) Brin is a cofounder of google!

And you all are commenting on the quality of various computer science programs!

I think it was an subtle slam at you misspelling his name; I think everybody knew who he was.

and larry paige went to Univ of MI (I think, or somewhere in the midwest), but people don't care or remember that part. They only remember both went to Stanford for grad school.

UMD may have a good CS program, but if you want to be in the middle of the hot techs and startups, you need to be in SV. You may be able to get a job interview at Google at UMD, but if you lived in SV, you would also be more readily available to have job interviews at other hot tech companies as well. If you live here, it's obviously much harder to just jump in your car and go from interview to interview. Yes, you can do Skype interviews, but must companies also want to eventually do face-to-face.

Go to Cal if you can. It's more recognizable in the tech industry, esp. in SV obviously.

And what most people forget is that Brin went to UMD mostly because his dad was a Math prof there.

[Anonymous]

Just remember this: kids tend to settle near their college. Businesses tend to feel more comfortable with local grads than those of more distant schools. So if you want your kid to live across the country from you, choose Berkeley. If you want them in driving distance from your current house, choose MD.

[Anonymous]

Just remember this: kids tend to settle near their college. Businesses tend to feel more comfortable with local grads than those of more distant schools. So if you want your kid to live across the country from you, choose Berkeley. If you want them in driving distance from your current house, choose MD.

This is kind of silly; people don't just settle near their college, they also settle where the best job market is for their employment--especially driven people. If you are interested in doing policy work or are in certain areas of law, you'll probably relocate to the DC area. If your background is in biotechnology, you probably will relocate to Boston, San Diego, or the Bay area. If you are into computer science and want to work for the most interesting startups or for facebook/google/apple then you will likely relocate to silicon valley. If you are interested in doing finance at the highest level, you will relocate to New York. If you are in certain areas of engineering, the Houston area is where most of the big oil headquarters are. And so on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just remember this: kids tend to settle near their college. Businesses tend to feel more comfortable with local grads than those of more distant schools. So if you want your kid to live across the country from you, choose Berkeley. If you want them in driving distance from your current house, choose MD.

I know plenty of college graduates who accepted jobs in cities quite far away from their colleges. Kids who attend large schools and are recruited by large companies with offices nationwide can end up anywhere in the U.S. If one wants to work in CA, then going to school there would probably give an advantage, but CA is not the only place that CS majors can find jobs, by far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just remember this: kids tend to settle near their college. Businesses tend to feel more comfortable with local grads than those of more distant schools. So if you want your kid to live across the country from you, choose Berkeley. If you want them in driving distance from your current house, choose MD.

I know plenty of college graduates who accepted jobs in cities quite far away from their colleges. Kids who attend large schools and are recruited by large companies with offices nationwide can end up anywhere in the U.S. If one wants to work in CA, then going to school there would probably give an advantage, but CA is not the only place that CS majors can find jobs, by far.

true, there's Bangalore, Argentina, etc.....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would go to UMD. They have a very strong program and lots of work opportunities here.

+1

Kids change their minds a couple times before settling into a major. I wouldn't pay the high tuition even if I could afford it. I don't think it is worth is for an undergrad. UMD is a decent state college.

[Anonymous]

Where did he choose to go?

[Anonymous]

Op. what will your family have to give up to pay for this?