U Mass Amherst Honors vs. UMD for CS

[lone inlet]

Basic Info + Questions about both colleges:

Distance from Home: about the same for both
Visited both campuses and liked them; don't know about each of their surrounding areas however, and if there are nice things to do outside of campus
Assuming both colleges will have a decent amount of parties considering they're state schools, however, not looking to join a frat so if that greatly affects my social scene please lmk; General pastimes of people at each college? Looking to continue soccer and rugby at a club level but things non club related?
Any major differences in housing?
I am lucky that I am fortunate enough in that I will not have to take out loans for either college, but obviously do not want to be spending more money if there is no benefit in doing so.

U Mass Amherst (35k a year)
Pros:
Honors college
CS school recently received 100 million in donation
Student Union building so clubs are easy to find and join
Top campus dining

Cons:
Companies that recruit here/only consists of Amazon + Microsoft out of FAANG / (not sure if I want to work at those companies but obviously top companies recruiting there is a good sign + my dad works as a data manager and hasn't heard much about graduates from there)
Will I feel out of place? (Is general atmosphere more towards work hard play hard or just play hard?)

U Maryland (53k a year)
Pros:
CS program is pretty well known by top companies (dad has heard of their cs program/hired people from here)

Questions:
Benefits/difficulty in getting into the honors college?
Campus dining?

Cons:
Not accepted into major (but heard that it's easy to transfer in; coming into the school I'll already have AP credits to bypass 2 of the 3 required courses)

[lone inlet]

U Mass Amherst Honors vs. UMD for CS

[prime thorn]

many uma students arent involved with greek life. they still have a social life/presence. i would take note of umass' infamous nickname of zoomass. it can get rowdy and some friends ik that study there say it is quite a mess after wild nights, especially the bathrooms 🤢

im not sure about umd but, generally speaking, you dont need to be involved in greek life to be social/sociable.

there are lots of intramural and recreational activities at uma and pretty sure at umd too. uma might have more since it's got a huge campus and not much to do around there.

i've nvr visited umd so im not too familiar with it. despite many flaws and critiques about uma, i would personally recommend umass amherst.

[vagrant basin]

imo they are quite similar for cs academically but I would say UMass cuz cheaper and honours

[rugged vortex]

Have some experience with UMass (lots of friends who go there): None of my friends work at FAANG now. Most are in the government sector, which is both good and bad, depending on what you want. Food is crap at any school, don’t factor that into your decision (and yes, I’ve tried UMA’s food). UMass’ surround area consists of just Amherst. There are also a few other colleges, but all in all, campus is where you’ll be 95% of the time, from my understanding.

A few of my friends were a part of a frat, definitely part of the party scene, but my other friend was not. He graduated a semester early. Do with that what you will.

Personally, I’d go with Amherst, because of the cost and honors, but if working at FAANG and a city nearby is important to you, UMD might be the answer.