Son got admitted to Purdue CS & UMass CS. We are from CA, and UC results are still ~2 months away.
I am wondering given this situation, is there a threshold that people go by? e.g. if I get UCI, I will stay in CA. If it’s Davis; I am going to Purdue.
Personally Son is excited about OOS acceptances. But the distance & weather are negative points. Plus I think Purdue is very competitive.
I am wondering what should guide our research, and college visits at this stage.
That’s 100% personal. Interesting the cost of a UC isn’t that much less than Purdue and likely UMASS.
My kid chose Alabama over Purdue. Why ? His own dorm room. Others choose it over Ivy, especially NMFs because they go free.
My other chose her regional public over the top Honors College - UGA. Why ? UGA had too much sprawl. Her school is compact and urban, things she wanted.
Assuming budget works, only your student can determine where they want to be. One advantage of UMASS - they are known for great food - like tops.
What should guide your visits ? Learning….about the famous, surrounds, dining hall, fitness, dorms, architecture - whatever is important to him - and transport. Getting to UMass. Getting to Purdue. Likely not as hard as you think. If he’s not been before, exploring is great. Maybe he sets up a visit with an advisor or prof too or a student ambassador, or meets with a club of interest.
There’s no threshold other than budget. Kids choose all sorts of schools for all sorts of reasons. What was right for another isn’t necessarily right for you.
Congrats to him on two great options.
Just wanted to address this. Purdue is competitive for admission. But, CS is direct admit so there is no secondary admission hurdle. And Purdue students are highly, highly collaborative!
It is NOT a cut throat environment.
In terms of what should guide the research, I think it’s important to know what is on your child’s must have list. I’d rank the schools in order of preference (and affordability if that is a factor), do a deep dive into the four year plan of study for the major, look into clubs/activities, first destination outcomes, and do admitted student days if possible.
For sure Purdue is a PIA to get to from CA. You’d have to fly to Chicago or Indy and then take the Reindeer Shuttle to campus (1 hr from Indy, 2 1/2 hrs from Chicago depending on traffic).
These decisions are personal. Both of my kids would rather attend Davis than Irvine (they also prefer Davis over UCLA!) but your kid may differ… as long as all are within budget, your kid’s preferences should drive this.
Agree that if all colleges are in budget and you as parents supported all of the applications then student preference should drive the decision. I do think having direct admission to the major of choice is a huge positive.
If there are other factors in play (ex. you can help pay for grad school if student attends a UC, a recent change in financial situation, health, etc.) that must also be part of the conversation.
Be sure and visit while the weather is terrible. One of my daughter’s good friends ended up transferring out of Purdue as they really missed outdoor activities and really struggled with the winter freshman year.
My kids’ final choices centered around extra curriculars - if you’ve put together a good initial list, often it’s the intangibles that push them to the final decision. Best of luck!
Seems that the shuttle goes to O’Hare, which is further away and has more flight delays than Midway where it does not go.
Thanks for all the replies everyone!
Btw I do not mean to put down Davis. I like it too. I was just giving an example 
It is totally fine to have personal preferences!!
Great acceptances so far – hopefully more to come!
All the advice in the above post was good, but I wanted to highlight this one because it feels to me like not enough kids really game out the curriculum in this way. If nothing else you can be better prepared, and you might actually find you have some preferences about approach between different colleges you are considering.
You might also figure out what the crucial sequences of prerequisites are so that you do not delay taking them. Delaying crucial prerequisites could result in needing extra semesters to graduate or limiting upper level in-major electives.
Also pay attention to whether those courses are offered every semester or not.