UCSD CS vs UMich CS

[spiral marten]

Short Background: I was admitted to UCSD CS and to UMich CoE Early Action. I haven't gotten a decision on my CS Advance Selection status for UMich though (postponed), so this is assuming I do get CS later in Early April. Otherwise, I'd probably side with UCSD as I'm not keen to compromise on my major unless there is some significant advantage UMich holds over UCSD. I don't see any right now, but you are free to change my mind!

Schools: UCSD and UMich
Intended major: CS
Similarities: Both are really great options for CS and I recognize that I can't go wrong with choosing either.

UCSD
UCSD Pros:
-Cheaper by about 8-10k
-Significantly better weather/location
-Great CS program
-Closer to the massive Cali tech scene (not sure how much this actually matters)

UCSD Cons:
-UC Socially Dead? (I've heard this is blown out of proportions, but I'd like to know the actual situation)
-Quarter system (I've also heard this makes stuff too fast, not sure though)
-No school spirit

UMich
UMich Pros:
-Also a great CS program
-(seemingly) Greater prestige? (as a result of being older and being better rounded, not sure how much it matters)
-School spirit
-College town
-More "traditional" college experience?

UMich Cons:
-More expensive by 8-10k
-Depressing weather
-Worse location (in my opinion, change my mind if you want to)

Tiebreaking considerations:
-International so school spirit probably doesn't interest me that much
-Leaning UCSD right now
-Important consideration: what are the internship/career prospects like for both?

If you have any more important details for consideration I'm not aware of it would be greatly appreciated if you could mention it. This is all I could think of right now.

[plain needle]

I’m also in the same position rn (but im doing data science instead), and im also leaning towards UCSD.

AFAIK, both universities have similar prestige and you will get similar internship opportunities.

However, I think UCSD have a ton of resources put into research for undergrads, so if that interests you then UCSD might be slightly better.

Also which college did you get at UCSD? GE requirements might be something to consider (especially if you don’t wanna do mandatory liberal arts and humanities courses).

I think the UC socially dead thing is often exagggerated, if you wanna party then you have to make the effort to find places. Overall San Diego is a really nice place to live.

Both are really good options, so you won’t make a mistake choosing one over the other

[spiral marten]

Well, my current view on things is that UCSD and UMich have very similar prestige levels for CS, but for overall general prestige UMich is slightly better due to being a top school in areas that aren't just STEM. Does UCSD have better research internship opportunities for undergrad than UMich or something? Also another factor that is making me reconsider UMich is its college town. I'm wondering if I'll miss out on a part of the "college experience" by going to UCSD instead.

I got into Sixth, which I've heard has pretty good GEs and the (anecdotally) best dorms. Maybe I should've went for Warren instead though since some GEs there overlap with CS major requirements.

Other than that, yeah, I'm leaning towards UCSD just because of its significantly better weather and location (and maybe proximity to the cali tech scene).

theres also the fact that UCSD uses the quarter system but idk how much that affects the experience there

[plain needle]

I think that doesn’t matter much

I got into sixth as well! I’ve heard it’s probably top 2 in terms of colleges you could have got

You’re right about UMich giving that “college experience”. If you have some interests that lie outside of STEM that you might want to take up, then you should consider UMich.