Hello,
My daughter has gotten into the CS program in these colleges.
All of these are out of state colleges for her (northeastern is private so that doesn’t count) so we expect limited (if at all any) scholarship funding from them, which would make UMN and Georgia tech most affordable.
Is the CS degree from one of these better than the rest in terms of job and career opportunities?
Thanks
All are great schools congrats! I would go with the most affordable and less debt. Georgia Tech is ranked 6th in Computer Science by US News so that’s a huge plus. When I was looking for Boston for my kids the cost of living was crazy to me.
Most will tell you Ga Tech and then UMD - rankings. All are great schools. NEU lives off co op.
You might find career data on line.
Here’s a comparator you can look at.
Honestly you’ll get great jobs at all. Weather will be different etc.
Your kid is really smart 
You’ll get money at UMN I’d surmise.
Good luck
Check on the secondary admission requirements to CS at UMN, assuming admission to the College of Science and Engineering there.
thanks for the link. NEU is the most expensive and not as highly ranked in CS but they offer a joint program of CS and business administration (that daughter likes and was accepted into). So wondering if such a joint program might be more attractive from career opportunity standpoint ? Does anyone have any experience / info on the NEU’s joint program?
Reg. UMN, waiting to hear about any money. Yes, she got into the college of science and engineering there. Thanks for the tip on the secondary admission requirements.
I would say to your question it depends what she wants to do.
A CS career and a business career or business/cs career can be very different.
You might be able to add a business minor at the others.
The rankings are - well - nothing official, etc. And there are many rankings.
I’m a value guy.
Georgia Tech is a name that “travels” far. You say you went to Ga Tech and most are impressed. I work with some Ga Tech people as my company is in Atlanta and they put on their pants one leg at a time like the rest of us. But - repugationally, they are very strong.
NU is $87K a year.
So it’s not even close.
But I set a budget - $50K for each kid - and both my kids together cost less than that - so I’m the wrong one to ask.
But my guess is most people would put Ga Tech at the head of this list.
But everyone is different - some want to be in Boston or just prefer a certain environment that might be different, etc. Some might want to be on a lake
So it’s really an individual call - both fit, budget, major, etc.
Given the list of acceptances, I suspect your kid will do well wherever they attend.
I agree. GT’s prestige and name recognition far outweighs NEU’s. And at a $35k/year difference it’s hard to argue against GT.
They have a joint CS and business minor, and probably offer other opportunities to combine your daughter’s CS and business interests.
Congratulations 
to your daughter! That’s really impressive.
All universities will offer some form of a business minor so she can combine her interests anywhere. NEU’s appeal is a the co-op, but she won’t have any trouble finding paid internships from any other option (or even co-ops if that’s what she really wants).
Georgia Tech would be my pick if she’s used to working hard and enjoys the challenge. All students there will be topnotch and dedicated - but she’s got a vibrant big city next door and an energetic student body. Plus: good weather!
Congratulations to your daughter. If all of these options are affordable, please let her choose where she wants to attend college. A CS degree from any of these colleges will be fine.
I’m a big fan of kids being happy where they will be in college for four years. Happy kids do better.
Really, any of these colleges will position her well for a job in the CS world, and as noted by @MYOS1634 there are options for a minor or something else at all of these schools.
These are all great schools. By reputation, I think GTech is probably the strongest in CS. I’m most familiar with NEU since I live in the Boston area - Boston is a great college town and kids I know that have attended NEU really like it. However, with the co-op it does take most kids 5 years to finish so that is something to keep in mind. I don’t know what part of the country you are from, but UMN, UWis and NEU are all going to be very cold in the winter. UMD and Georgia Tech definitely win on the weather front!
Most students at Northeastern now finish in four years with two coop periods.
Good to know. That might involve taking summer classes, right? That is what one of S22’s friends is having to do to finish in 4 years.
Yes, students have always attended a summer session or two. But unlike most colleges, the summer sessions are only for regular Northeastern students.
Does a student’s financial aid cover summer sessions?
thank you everyone. She decided where she wanted to apply and will decide where to go as well. My role is to facilitate information gathering so helpful to know about the business minor options in other school, as we haven’t looked into those yet.
She has diverse interests and is not a hard core techie so her current thinking is to start in CS but possibly branch to business over time. GA and UMD are her top preferences in this list (latter as she has friends there) so it is good to get the additional inputs here.
Yes. Two summer sessions equal one semester.
Unlike most colleges, summer sessions are not a make-up or extra session.
UMD is limited enrollment school. So she may or may not get access to Business classes.
I would pick GaTech.
For the overall college experience, I would pick Wisconsin. Madison is one of the great college towns. There likely isn’t much of a difference in quality between top and bottom on this list. I would look into the ability to enroll in desired classes. It isn’t always easy to understand if it is easy/difficult to get classes.
With Internships getting hard to come by, wondering how UMD (students search for internships)compares with NEU’s Co-op (University Facilitated Search?). GA Tech has its own downsides with hyper-competitive /rigor and nerdy college life (few like it though).
Like other schools - career fairs, on campus whether in person or virtual, and how most seem to be today - indeed, linkedin, direct on company websites, and handshake. Sometimes alumni or professor contacts.
Not sure how hard internships are to come by - but getting the first is tougher - and yes, requires grit and persistence.
But the quantity out there is sizable.
Some get after first year but I’d surmise (don’t know) that most don’t - but it’s easy enough to find a summer job to keep busy and make money after first year.
My kid wanted to work in the car industry…couldn’t get a job. so worked for a remote car care service - i.e. went to people’s houses and detailed cars (and made great money). The next summer - got hired by a car manufacturer.
So you want to show you’ve worked…doing something.