Anonymous
03/19/2025 10:21
Subject: UMD vs Vt for CS?
I am a UMD alum and parent of 2 Terps. My two cents. My Terps feel relatively safe in CP. I don’t think it’s any less safe than other college towns/campuses. My kids love UMD but I don’t know that UMD is worth the extra money if it means accumulating debt. I have a HS junior who is looking at colleges and won’t have the stats for UMD. I wish we had an in-state option like VT. It’s a great school.
Anonymous
03/19/2025 10:16
Subject: UMD vs Vt for CS?
Anonymous wrote:You get thousands of applicants. How does your AI filter these resumes? I'm guessing you are not looking at every resume one by one.
I don't think anyone is saying that VT CS grads are subpar compared to UMD CS grads. But, when you are starting out, where you went to school or who you know helps.
And I say this as someone who went to a no name B rated state school. While I did well for myself in the end, it took me a lot longer and harder to get where I got to compared to those who went to "better" schools. I was in the tech field for 20 years in SV, including working for a FAANG.
Again, in the end, it may not matter where you went to school, but starting out, it can matter.
What are employment numbers for VT CS grads in the last two years?
I used AI to filter out applications. For example, I work in IT and I need a network engineer who is specialized in Cisco and/or PaloAlto products. Therefore, I code my AI to look for specific products. If the resume get passed the initial screen, I will take a look at it again to confirm. I'll talk to the candidate on the phone and schedule an in-person interview after that. That reduces the pool of applicants from 2000+ to less than twenty. I don't code my AI to look for "better" schools because it is NOT important.
Anonymous
03/19/2025 10:08
Subject: UMD vs Vt for CS?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:There is no difference in prestige or education between UMD and VTech. If it were an ivy and VTech that would be a difference.
Nope. Wrong.
that is a dp, btw. I also said there is a difference in prestige between the two, especially nationally and globally.
Anonymous
03/19/2025 10:07
Subject: UMD vs Vt for CS?
Anonymous wrote:I am confused by your finances. Presumably the 529 can also be used for MD. How much is MD after the 529 $ is applied?
If it was an MD prepaid it costs 10K per year for instate student. OOS pay 40K
I would expect the same for VA prepaid. So, I am guessing that it would be around 30K after VA prepaid 529$ is applied?
Anonymous
03/19/2025 10:04
Subject: UMD vs Vt for CS?
Anonymous wrote:There is no difference in prestige or education between UMD and VTech. If it were an ivy and VTech that would be a difference.
Nope. Wrong.
Anonymous
03/19/2025 10:03
Subject: UMD vs Vt for CS?
I am confused by your finances. Presumably the 529 can also be used for MD. How much is MD after the 529 $ is applied?
Anonymous
03/19/2025 09:34
Subject: UMD vs Vt for CS?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I am a hiring manager for a F500 tech company. UMD, Vtech, UVA, Upitt, and even UMBC and GMU are the same consideration, solid state school CS programs. The only stand out is if it's an Ivy League but that only gets you so far as the coding test, experience and interviews will be more important.
I am a tech hiring manager for a financial service company, and we do not care about your CS Ivy League degree. Anyone that passed the initial screen test has to go through a technical interview with a coding/troubleshooting test. I've seen many Ivy League CS people failed the test and those from GMU, VATech, and UMD passed the test.
You get thousands of applicants. How does your AI filter these resumes? I'm guessing you are not looking at every resume one by one.
I don't think anyone is saying that VT CS grads are subpar compared to UMD CS grads. But, when you are starting out, where you went to school or who you know helps.
And I say this as someone who went to a no name B rated state school. While I did well for myself in the end, it took me a lot longer and harder to get where I got to compared to those who went to "better" schools. I was in the tech field for 20 years in SV, including working for a FAANG.
Again, in the end, it may not matter where you went to school, but starting out, it can matter.
What are employment numbers for VT CS grads in the last two years?
Anonymous
03/19/2025 09:19
Subject: UMD vs Vt for CS?
Anonymous wrote:DD is deciding between these 2 schools for computer science
UMD OOS 46K (tuition and room and board)
VT IS we have a prepaid 529 so cost is only R&B (16K)
DD really has no preference for campus and can see herself being happy in either. An advantage for UMD is it's less than 1 hour drive away vs VT being 4 hours away and she would prefer being close to home. As parents, we worry a bit about safety at UMD since it is in PG county (is it a valid worry or are we being paranoid?)
We can afford the higher cost but really wondering if the extra cost is worth it. We know UMD is better ranked than VT in CS, but is the outcome (recruitment, jobs upon graduation,...) so different that it warrants an extra 120K?
You're being way too paranoid. Why are you equating PG County with being unsafe?
Anonymous
03/19/2025 09:11
Subject: UMD vs Vt for CS?
Anonymous wrote:I am a hiring manager for a F500 tech company. UMD, Vtech, UVA, Upitt, and even UMBC and GMU are the same consideration, solid state school CS programs. The only stand out is if it's an Ivy League but that only gets you so far as the coding test, experience and interviews will be more important.
I am a tech hiring manager for a financial service company, and we do not care about your CS Ivy League degree. Anyone that passed the initial screen test has to go through a technical interview with a coding/troubleshooting test. I've seen many Ivy League CS people failed the test and those from GMU, VATech, and UMD passed the test.
Anonymous
03/19/2025 09:06
Subject: UMD vs Vt for CS?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:There is no difference in prestige or education between UMD and VTech. If it were an ivy and VTech that would be a difference.
wrong. There is for CS.
No one cares but parents like you to brag.
haha no one cares about prestige on dcum? HAHAHAHAHA
And if no one cared about CS prestige, why do they have those "best CS college" lists?
Don't tell me that "no one" checks out those lists, particularly "no one" on dcum.
Anonymous
03/19/2025 09:04
Subject: UMD vs Vt for CS?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Hiring manager here. We would view CS grads from either as being equal. Both programs are large enough to have a good range of upper level electives, so that also does not differentiate. For job outcomes it really is about the same.
Thank you so much for your input!
you take the word of anonymous poster vs looking at data.
https://www.collegetransitions.com/dataverse/top-feeders-tech
https://www.cs.umd.edu/article/2024/09/umd-computer-science-graduates-secure-96-job-placement-rate
I can't find any information on VT CS undergrad job placement like ^ for UMD.
More important is long term job placement over immediately after school. Most tech jobs don't care.
The higher the starting point, the further one will go.
Does VT have job placement stats for their grads?
Anonymous
03/19/2025 08:59
Subject: UMD vs Vt for CS?
Anonymous wrote:UMD has a stronger computer science department than VT and this has been true for a very long time. In today’s job market, this could be important given that there are fewer job openings for college grads in computer science. There are also more opportunities for internships in college park than in Blacksburg, VA. In the end, it probably won’t matter that much. They are both good schools.
Just jumping in that VT alumni are a huge presence in NoVA, and there’s that new satellite campus that opened up here. I don’t think there is such a tremendous disadvantage to going to school in Blacksburg that the extra money for OOS is worth it.
Anonymous
03/19/2025 08:45
Subject: UMD vs Vt for CS?
UMD has a stronger computer science department than VT and this has been true for a very long time. In today’s job market, this could be important given that there are fewer job openings for college grads in computer science. There are also more opportunities for internships in college park than in Blacksburg, VA. In the end, it probably won’t matter that much. They are both good schools.
Anonymous
03/19/2025 08:28
Subject: UMD vs Vt for CS?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:There is no difference in prestige or education between UMD and VTech. If it were an ivy and VTech that would be a difference.
wrong. There is for CS.
No one cares but parents like you to brag.
+1
UMD boosters are just as insufferable as the other resident boosters. UMD is fine, but definitely not worth OOS tuition over VT.
I don't have a dog in this fight but the very top of my list when making this decision would be- can I afford it? Then, which school will give my kid the best job placement outcome for his major. It's much, much more difficult to find jobs these days. I worry about that for this generation of college kids.
Anonymous
03/18/2025 22:41
Subject: UMD vs Vt for CS?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Hiring manager here. We would view CS grads from either as being equal. Both programs are large enough to have a good range of upper level electives, so that also does not differentiate. For job outcomes it really is about the same.
Thank you so much for your input!
you take the word of anonymous poster vs looking at data.
https://www.collegetransitions.com/dataverse/top-feeders-tech
https://www.cs.umd.edu/article/2024/09/umd-computer-science-graduates-secure-96-job-placement-rate
I can't find any information on VT CS undergrad job placement like ^ for UMD.
More important is long term job placement over immediately after school. Most tech jobs don't care.