#UMich VS UMD CS

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mental iron
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Schools: University of Maryland College Park VS University of Michigan Ann Arbor
Intended major: Computer Science for both, maybe an engineering/business minor
Similarities: large size, pretty good cs programs for both, location

University of Michigan Ann Arbor
School 1 Pros:

  • Great curriculum, good at a lot of different things so there's flexibility in potentially taking things like a business minor
  • great job outlook for cs and internships
  • Apparently a really good college town

School 1 Cons:

  • main drawback is price, I'd be paying full so 80k a year.
  • Large school with a lot of lecture style classes especially in the beginning.

University of Maryland College Park
School 2 Pros:

  • Got a 10k per year scholarship bringing the total COA to 50k per year.
  • From my research still a pretty good job outlook and a good campus placement for jobs/internships

School 2 Cons:

  • Also somewhat large

Tiebreaking considerations:

My parents have agreed to pay for 3 years wherever I go, so I'd be left with ~85k or ~50k depending on where I go.

  • Because of that, ROI is my main tiebreaker. Not necessarily put off by the higher price of Michigan but it'd have to make sense as an investment over UMD. I looked and saw Umich listed their Median CS graduating salaries last year at ~119k, is this comparable with UMD? Only thing I found for UMD was the college of sciences average salary. I also plan to get as many internships as possible in college to help pay it off, so whatever campus has the "better" internships would play a role in my decision.

Addendum: My most important factor as mentioned is ROI. However I would like a nice closed off campus feel, while still having things to do. Lots of greenery around campus especially trees would be awesome, as well as a cool campus style (I like the old castle style designs with tons of greenery) From what I've seen I slightly prefer umich to umd but both are nice. No preference as to weather.

pliant zealot
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A big factor you should've considered is how these salary data that the universities can be influenced by a majority of other factors, these include location, low sample size, and just the user themselves. It's why it's hard to trust this data to play as a factor for ROI. The simple way to say would be that most great CS university alumnis are going to have similar salary ranges with certain outliers.

Another big thing to consider is Michigan has what's called a upper division tuition increase after passing 55+ credits, and how much the tuition increases depends on the college and major. For CS, the increase in tuition is a lot higher. I recommend you check out the tuition registrar for that. Regarding campus feel, this is something where we recommend you go in person for(through a tour) if you have the money to be able to, or you can do virtual tours.

With all those factors, despite my love for Michigan, with costs to consider, I believe the best here would be to go for UMD. It will put you in a lot less debt and you will still get an excellent and respected CS degree.

mental iron
# pliant zealot A big factor you should've considered is how these salary data that the universi...

Thanks a lot for the feedback!

Yeah it's very hard to justify the extra debt that I would have to take on going to michigan, especially considering how hard it is to actually figure out salary because of a ton of extra factors involved.

Definitely planning on touring both, have that scheduled for sometime in the next month.

Would you say there's no tangible benefit to michigan over umd? This may definitely be naive but I thought I'd be able to pay off the debt in a few years regardless (1 years worth) regardless of where I go, but if the differences between the two programs are neglible the additional costs would probably be unnecessary.

Also as a current student, would you say the michigan environment is super competitive? In terms of getting different opportunities, research, internships and just in general for classes. Definitely not from that sort of background so just curious to know

old urchin
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Umich vs UMD CS is marginal, I’d go with UMD

pliant zealot
# mental iron Thanks a lot for the feedback! Yeah it's very hard to justify the extra debt th...

I wouldn't say there's no tangible benefit. Michigan, and many other great universities, are up there for some of the best in CS for a reason. Largely our reputation, endless opportunities, and the sheer network that we have makes it an attractive university to go for. It's really all dependent on what your interests are. But for most careers related to your major, you'd be fine with either college as they're both great. Sure some would put you in a better position due to certain connections and specific opportunities depending on the career, but the costs outweigh the pros, and too much debt is just never a good idea. It's why we never recommend to take such a huge load of debt. You may have this idea that you'd be able to pay it in a few years but you just never know what could happen. Perhaps you go through an incident that makes it difficult to pay the debt, perhaps you don't find a job for a while. Anything can happen.

The Michigan environment varies. For CS/Engineering, it's usually in a more collaborative setting as that's pretty much a must to have in that field. Getting research varies. Some will be competitive to get just due to professors not being interested, others are not and are open arms if you just ask by conveying interest. Internships is not school environment dependent but rather major dependent, as in the competitiveness to getting internships is the same all over. For CS/Engineering, I would definitely say it is. Getting classes can be annoying to get as it's such a big school and many classes get filled quickly before it's your time to sign up so I'd say that's not competitive but rather annoying, but in terms of working in class it's not competitive but collaborative.

mental iron
# pliant zealot I wouldn't say there's no tangible benefit. Michigan, and many other great unive...

Yeah speaking to some people from Michigan I’ve definitely heard about the alumni network and opportunities available, but as you said the extra 30k debt is hard to swallow especially since I don’t know what’ll happen in the future.

Very good to hear that it’s a collaborative environment, as to cs/engineering internships would you say the people you know were able to find some? Or is it more hit or miss

Appreciate the feedback! Very difficult choice but I think both are really strong so I’d be very grateful to go to either

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Im also concerned that cs jobs seem to be getting harder and harder to find, if that trend continues the debt may be more impactful

ebon wing
# mental iron **Schools:** University of Maryland College Park VS University of Michigan Ann A...

Extremely biased; I can’t give an opinion on umd college park but I can tell you that umich CS is cracked af, and that the cs culture is amazing and collaborative unlike many other schools. Personally, I think it just depends on your finances and savings, but it shouldn’t be much harder IMO to pay off the extra 30k with a umich cs degree. If your parents weren’t paying at all it would be a completely different story, but since you’re getting 3 years paid for, I’d go Michigan.

mental iron
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And yeah I’m very fortunate that I’ll only have to pay 1 year, which is why I was really interested in internships/paid research so I could make progress on it while in college

ebon wing
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One of my really close family friends just graduated from there and always brings up how much he loves the cs program specifically

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I know it’s anecdotal, but I’ve seen it firsthand; they love it

mental iron
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From the photos it looks like it, but is there a good amount of trees/greenery around campus? small thing but I really enjoy an atmosphere like that

ebon wing
mental iron
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and from what I've heard people say Ann Arbor is a good college town

ebon wing
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It’s dope af

mental iron
ebon wing
mental iron
brittle steppe
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did u get into other colleges that u could leverage acceptance to get money bc if u get get that cost down go to umich but if u cant go to umd lowk bc umd cs goated

mental iron
mental iron
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Update to this got into Purdue today, do you think I could use any as potential leverage?

mental iron
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im guessing I didn't get any scholarships since I got no emails

pliant zealot
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The actual cost would generally be the total cost of attendance - that aid

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There's also the fact that there's direct and indirect costs, direct costs are usually fixed (tuition and fees, on campus housing and board) while indirect costs depend on you and your lifestyle (transportation, books, off campus housing, etc.)

mental iron
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Oh ok so I’d generally be paying what it says

brittle steppe
mental iron
brittle steppe
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Ya

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I mean aren’t a lot of schools coming out later this month?

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Wait for those first before thinking abt where u want to go… chances are u might not even be considering these schools at the end of the month

old urchin
mental iron
# old urchin regardless of which school you pick you’ll earn well

Thanks! seeing people always talking about how hard it is to get a job is a bit scary but I'll for sure be trying my best no matter what

Ngl still really struggling with choosing, do you think there's a real difference between michigan and umd in terms of outcome and salary?

old urchin
mental iron
old urchin
mental iron
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Total diff 30k since im only paying for one year no matter where, so umd total cost 50k mich 80k

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both admitted to cs

old urchin
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you make 30k in one summer internship

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that’s nothing

mental iron
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Sorry, umich is actually 85k not 80k because tuition increases

old urchin
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same thing

mental iron
old urchin
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I’d pick Umich then, doesn’t seem like too much of a difference

old urchin
mental iron
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im leaning towards it because i really want to go there i just wasn't sure if it would be a good value

mental iron
old urchin
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I’m not sure whether there will be a net difference of 35k between what you earn from UMD and UMICH, but the extra opportunities and network is worth that 35k

old urchin
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I’m at Amazon this summer and I’m earning 34k I think

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last summer I earned about that as well

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you’ll be making a lot

mental iron
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congrats that's insane, you think it's achievable for a good amount of people at umich?

old urchin
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yes definitely

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it’s achievable for any cs major

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and Umich is top 10 for CS

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you should join the cscd discord, there are some Umich CS ppl there

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you can talk to them

mental iron
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but I just heard it was harder for freshman/sophmores to find stuff but I'll for sure look

old urchin
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you have to be above average no matter where you are to get a good internship as a fresh or soph

mental iron
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average person at umich tbf but yeah very true

old urchin
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if you’re above avg at Umich you’ll earn 50/hr by your soph internship

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as a fresh probably 45

mental iron
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Hope so, are you a sophmore?

old urchin
mental iron
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yeah you're doing insane then two 35k internships, are a lot of people at cmu also getting similar internships?

old urchin
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I think about 1/4 had freshman internships

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and soph year majority have them

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it will be similar at Umich

mental iron
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wow insane, granted cmu is arguably 1st or 2nd best in the country for cs

mental iron
old urchin
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you’ll be good

mental iron
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appreciate the info, do you have any tips on what to start learning for the purpose of getting cs internships? I've heard doing leetcode problems is very helpful

old urchin
mental iron
old urchin
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make a good profile early

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and start reaching out to ppl

mental iron
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Yeah will definitely do so, thanks for the advice again!

old urchin
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yeah np

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take your time to make the decision

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either way you’ll be good

mental iron
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thanks for the advice