UMD vs U Michigan CS major

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Larry (UM) or Sergey (UMD? Classic Google question.

I'm all for Sergey here in the DMV but majors can change and UM is the better overall school.

I attended UMD (not in CS) and exDH went to UM for CS so I am familiar with both schools. I think in terms of location and weather, MD has more to offer being near DC, UM has more prestige but it seems unlikely they'd want to live in Ann Arbor. CS majors can work and live anywhere eventually, I met ex in Silicon Valley.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:let’s be honest - UMD has only become attractive in the last decade for in state students. It for zero prestige on a national level. It is located in an area where the air has that car pollution feel and smell. That said, if your child plans on staying in the DMV - go the cheaper route with UMD.

? T20 for CS. People in the CS industry know UMD. I mean.. one of the Google founders graduated from there.

The Fortnite developer also graduated from there (CEO of Epic Games), maybe relevant for Gen-Z and younger.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For Umich, is it CS Major in COE or LSA? Both takes the similar classes with LSA has 2 year of language requirements and COE has physics, chem, and multi variables and differential eq. 128 credits needed for COE graduation and 120 for LSA. Very tough CS program. EECS280 (first real CS class) has 1450 kids. Long waiting for help in office hour. 25% will drop/fail the class or take Pass/Fail. The next class EECS 281 is another killer class. If your child has lot of programming experience, it will be good in Umich, otherwise it can easily suck in the weeder classes.

It is true, these are tough weeder classes, but kids do get A's in them and move forward through the Major or as a minor.

Not the immediate pp, but I don't think you know what you're talking about. Very few kids getting A's in those classes, and if they do they are spending lots and lots of time and energy to pass. Kids routinely fail UM math classes, and are excited if they get a C+ based on the curve. There is real thing about Michigan Math, which people despise and there was a recent article in the Michigan Daily about how to improve math. FB parents complain about it all the time. Kids are routinely suffering through math, CS, econ classes that are required. The idea that it's easy to get an A is misleading at best, laughable at worst.

Per a Reddit user who got a FOIA males in CS are graduating with GPAs just over 3.0.

I am the poster you are responding to. Kids can get A's in the classes...my kid is one of them and CS is a minor for them. Please don't tell me I don't know what I am posting about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For Umich, is it CS Major in COE or LSA? Both takes the similar classes with LSA has 2 year of language requirements and COE has physics, chem, and multi variables and differential eq. 128 credits needed for COE graduation and 120 for LSA. Very tough CS program. EECS280 (first real CS class) has 1450 kids. Long waiting for help in office hour. 25% will drop/fail the class or take Pass/Fail. The next class EECS 281 is another killer class. If your child has lot of programming experience, it will be good in Umich, otherwise it can easily suck in the weeder classes.

It is true, these are tough weeder classes, but kids do get A's in them and move forward through the Major or as a minor.

Not the immediate pp, but I don't think you know what you're talking about. Very few kids getting A's in those classes, and if they do they are spending lots and lots of time and energy to pass. Kids routinely fail UM math classes, and are excited if they get a C+ based on the curve. There is real thing about Michigan Math, which people despise and there was a recent article in the Michigan Daily about how to improve math. FB parents complain about it all the time. Kids are routinely suffering through math, CS, econ classes that are required. The idea that it's easy to get an A is misleading at best, laughable at worst.

Per a Reddit user who got a FOIA males in CS are graduating with GPAs just over 3.0.

I am the poster you are responding to. Kids can get A's in the classes...my kid is one of them and CS is a minor for them. Please don't tell me I don't know what I am posting about.

19:27 said it better than I did and it is possible if not probable our kids might know each other.

[Anonymous]

Both are going to be great for CS, but Michigan has more overall prestige nationally. It's spoken of with schools like Berkeley (although slightly lower) while Maryland is more similar to the likes of Wisconsin, UIUC, and Washington (maybe slightly lower since Maryland's rise to prominence is more recent).

Is that prestige worth the 80k extra?

For CS itself, no because the material will be the same, the research opportunities will be the same, the professors will be as good (as in, renowned but not focused on undergraduate education), the companies will be the similar since both are quite far from Silicon Valley (mix of big tech and either automakers at Michigan or defense contractors at Maryland).

For other majors, like undergraduate business and finance especially, there will be a difference in recruiting due to the prestige.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Both are going to be great for CS, but Michigan has more overall prestige nationally. It's spoken of with schools like Berkeley (although slightly lower) while Maryland is more similar to the likes of Wisconsin, UIUC, and Washington (maybe slightly lower since Maryland's rise to prominence is more recent).

Is that prestige worth the 80k extra?

For CS itself, no because the material will be the same, the research opportunities will be the same, the professors will be as good (as in, renowned but not focused on undergraduate education), the companies will be the similar since both are quite far from Silicon Valley (mix of big tech and either automakers at Michigan or defense contractors at Maryland).

For other majors, like undergraduate business and finance especially, there will be a difference in recruiting due to the prestige.

In terms of national reputation, MD is definitely lower than the schools you list. That may be different in another decade, but not currently.

[Anonymous]

Four year cost for UMD is $217K and U Michigan is $296K. Apart from ~$80K cost differential, the CS program in Michigan may be slightly better.
But employment outcomes post graduation may not be so much different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Four year cost for UMD is $217K and U Michigan is $296K. Apart from ~$80K cost differential, the CS program in Michigan may be slightly better.
But employment outcomes post graduation may not be so much different.

Is the $80K or whatever the diff is worth it for the better location, increased prestige, more extensive network and incremental job opportunities, is the real question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Four year cost for UMD is $217K and U Michigan is $296K. Apart from ~$80K cost differential, the CS program in Michigan may be slightly better.
But employment outcomes post graduation may not be so much different.

Is the $80K or whatever the diff is worth it for the better location, increased prestige, more extensive network and incremental job opportunities, is the real question.

Better campus town, better football experience, generally better school spirit, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the salary for a UM CS graduate vs. UMD CS graduate? At the work place MAANG in my software division, they get paid the same. I work in a group of 20 SWE and I see all of their salaries.

What's the typical range at MAANG companies for a fresh undergrad students? How many years that will take to recoup college expenses at $75K x 4 years? Should I opt to go to college for $75k vs $55k COA college?

+1 this is why I told my CS major DC to just go in state with merit at UMDCP honors. UMich is a great school, obviously, but it's not worth $100K in loans. We did the math with DC on loan repayment, and they saw how it didn't make sense.

I don't think the salary between UM and UMD CS is all that different out college or in 10 years.

I told DC we can save the money for masters, if they want.

[Anonymous]

According to Parchment, 82% go to Michigan vs 18% to UMD, thought this doesn't take into account major.

https://www.parchment.com/c/college/tools/college-cross-admit-comparison.php?compare=University+of+Michigan+-+Ann+Arbor&with=University+of+Maryland%2C+College+Park

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UMD is top for CS.

Both schools are regarded similarly in CS rankings. I like the CS program at Maryland because it's flexible and deep. I haven't looked closely at UMich. If it were me, I'd look and see whether it was an engineering program that had a lot of EE reqs or if there was a non-engineering program like UMDCP. Usually that involves 2-3 EE and a couple of physics classes. If that doesn't interest you may be worth avoiding.

[Anonymous]

csrankings.org has UM at #5 and UMDCP #11. Both are solid programs neither has the prestige of MIT, so it comes down to which school you like better otherwise, just splitting hairs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW US News has Michigan CS tied at #11 with four other schools. U Maryland CS is tied at #17.

How come noboby talks about Michigan CS? Lot of talk about how great MD CS is.

In terms of prestige and rankings, both are similar for CS. UM is a few spots higher but that's mostly splitting hairs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Four year cost for UMD is $217K and U Michigan is $296K. Apart from ~$80K cost differential, the CS program in Michigan may be slightly better.
But employment outcomes post graduation may not be so much different.

I look at it differently. I would never pay $217K to attend UMD OOS for any undergraduate major. If I were to pay that much to attend an OOS school, I would much more consider paying $296K for Michigan.