This is exactly how my husband feels. He is a UVA CS graduate, and feels strongly that UVA is her best option.
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But what if your husband was a U of SC grad? Then what would he think 
Hopefully after the visits and further research, OP will be able to inform the best opinion for them.
Note the competitive secondary admission to CS at NCSU.
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I usually avoid these threads unless I have something specifically valuable to add: I believe I do so here.
UVA has a national reputation for excellence in engineering, including computer science; South Carolina does not have that reputation. As someone who has spent 20+ years hiring computer science majors, both in high-income/high-cost regions and nationwide, I feel confident saying that there will be more opportunities, (specifically) coming right out of school and (in general) later in career, for a UVA grad than for a U of SC grad, whose best opportunities will be regional.
Put differently, if your daughter went into industry, I would bet that that her earning difference over the first several years of her career would exceed $60K (obviously $60K now isnāt $60K in 5-10 years but itās a good-enough analogy). None of this is a certainty, and Iām cognizant that itās not my money Iām spending in this post, but I do think there is a material difference in both the quality of education and the quality of opportunity.
Of course none of this is 100% determinative or certain - Iām sure there are U of SC graduates who are very successful - Iām just playing the odds in an industry where hiring can and often is boom-and-bust.
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This is very helpful input. Thank you!
Many would make this same argument for most or all majors (UVA to U of SC, even for those studying International business at U of SC)ā¦not sure about the $60K differenceā¦but on an overall basis. Not saying I agree or donāt agree - but nothing many would believe similar to you on the basis of the two schools alone, forgetting the major.
Your daughter has wonderful options! I understand that UVA probably seems like the ābestā choice, and it certainly is a phenomenal school, but your posts indicate your daughter doesnāt really want to go there. Personally, I think see how she feels after the tours and let her decide.
Our son is facing a similar choice. He has been accepted to our highly ranked flagship, UF, but he really doesnāt want to go there for a variety of reasons. He is most likely going to go to South Carolina. Outsiders certainly will think this is a strange choice for him, and may not understand why he would choose a lower ranked school, but I think he will have good opportunities coming from either. (He is not going to study CS though, and I donāt know anything about relative merits of CS programs)
I think your daughter will have great opportunities coming out of any of these wonderful schools. I wonder if Capstone at S.C. or Honors at NC State gives her any advantages as a ābig fishā at those schools? Would those programs help her stand out or give her better opportunities for research or internships? ultimately, I think her outcomes will depend more on how she does in her classes and in how she takes advantage of opportunities than on the name of the school on her diploma
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I agree that UVA is a great choice based on cost and reputation. But if the student prefers to go out of state and cost is not a factor, then I would respect that choice.
As a technology hiring manager who has hired CS grads for decades, I see UMD as the best OOS choice among the three schools mentioned. They have an excellent CS program and the other two schools (which are very good schools too) are not on par when it comes to CS. Also, as ucbalumnus mentioned, NC State has secondary admission to CS.
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I donāt know a thing about cs, but UVA would be tough to pass-up for instate tuition. As far as comparing programs, canāt find email for exact number, but it was only about 500 or so for invited to honors at NC State. That would be a step-up from capstone which is a tier below USCās honors program.
Can I ask you this ?
If you got two resumes for a entry job - and both had an adequate background - a summer internship that you looked at that seemed reasonable - and the resumes were from two different schools - in this case UMD and U of SC - would you discard the U of SC student or still follow up with an interview or whatever your next step process is?
What if it was an interview for an internship - and the student has yet to have one - and there was a student from UMD that had nothing that stood out beyond they go to UMD for CS. And the second student was at U of SC - and they are active on campus or maybe has a part time job, etc. - in other words, while not related to the role, itās clear they are more a go getter.
Would you still engage the UMD person and not the U of SC person - even if it seems like - removing the two brand names - the U of SC person is more impressive?
Or I guess asking another way - for the right person, will you engage with the U of SC student or you are seeking a certain brand, regardless? Obviously you are one of many hiring managers at many organizations, but just curious your take.
I still think OP should get career outcomes from the school - of course, nothing will be more telling than that.
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Interestingly, I had a conversation with a colleague of mine who was telling me about the tremendous pressure he felt to send his kids to UVA. I thought I might have been imagining it for myself until he brought it up, but I felt that same pressure. The kids also feel this pressure to go to UVA when they donāt necessarily want to go there either. In the end, he sent all his kids out of state because the schools were a better fit for his kids. And of course, not surprisingly, all of them are doing amazingly well. Just be sure, if she does go to UVA, its a good fit for her.
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Great questions, so thank you for asking.
Iām going to answer for my own firm, but most large tech companies have a very similar process.
First off, I want to make it clear that no one is eliminated simply because of the school.
After an initial (mostly automated) screening, candidates are invited to an online assessment test that they must pass before reaching the interview stage.
So, why do people say some schools (like UMD in the context of this thread) are stronger/better than others?
- the range and depth of courses differ. For example, an algorithms course is pretty standard. But at a school like UMD that includes a lot of theoretical depth while at others the focus is more on implementation.
- students at schools like UMD have often taken more advanced courses (and often, earlier). For example a sophomore may have completed 1-2 courses that arenāt taken until junior year at other schools
- students at leading CS schools have often engaged in research. This is important experience for emerging technologies.
- students have benefited from being amongst a stronger group of peers and have access to alumni who have placed very well
- the school will usually have several strong industry partnerships (which sometimes includes exclusive internship opportunities)
All this translates to the students being better prepared and therefore outperforming applicants from other schools in both the OA and in the interviews. Of course, we are comparing typical applicants from each school and individual outcomes will vary.
So in conclusion: itās not merely the brand name, but going to a leading CS school provides many advantages.
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Iāll assume further responses will focus on the OP and not one companyās recruiting or hiring processes.
I was able to look at job placement data for USC grads, and I was impressed by some of the hiring companies. The average year 1 salary is $20k less than UVA and UMD, but thatās not surprising based on location. I couldnāt find any information about where USC alumni go to grad school.
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Hopefully they can provide - they should have.
Where were you able to find their career dashboard?
Did she get into VTech or W&M (if those 2 might be a better fit than UVA)?
What support does each university offer women, specifically (in a very male-dominated major) and what is the persistence rate for female students specifically (in some programs, most female students switch or drop out whereas at others persistence is similar to male students - usually because the Dept. Spent time thinking through the way their 1st year courses discouraged women in obvious or non obvious ways, took the findings seriously, then course-corrected.)
Is the CS major linked to engineering or to math? How many Calculus-based Physics courses are required? What languages are used/taught?
I would have NCSU off the table altogether due to the secondary admission process.
My daughter was able to login to their GradStats site. It is on their career page.
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Sheās not interested in VT, and we havenāt received a decision for W&M. She wants an Engineering-based program, which W&M is not, so even if she gets in, she probably wonāt go there. She loves math and physics, and would prefer those to humanities courses.
Itās good to know about NCSUās secondary admission to CS. That will likely disqualify it.
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Congratulations to your Dās acceptances to date. I donāt know the specifics of the 4 schoolsā CS program you mentioned, just UMD-CP. I know UVA in general is highly regarded. I also understand how challenging it can be to find balance and fit related to a good program for the desired majors, financial concerns, social, internship and job opportunities, etc.
I think your D will see the pros and cons of each program after visiting. Our 3 kids knew if the schools were a fit or not during the visits. While there, have your D ask about club opportunities too - major related ones. Our youngest is majoring in CS at our flagship, UIUC, and is involved in 2 clubs (software engineering and quant) which are competitive but offer very interesting hands on work. I think at UIUC, given its reputation and large research funding, companies will work with students in these types of clubs to work on their company specific research projects. The work can be a semester long or sometimes a full year of project work. For one project, team meetings with the company are scheduled twice a week for project updates at all hours bc company reps are in Asia and Europe. Our child said a few times ādonāt they know we are college students and have other demands as well?ā lol. Given that CS internships and jobs are competitive, many students want to build their resumes with club activities.
I agree with this - she shouldnāt be concerned about feeling āobligated to hang out with her old crowd. Weāve tried to convince her that she will make new friends wherever she goes.ā
I think this is very typical. At our suburban public HS, many students prefer to attend OOS for various reasons, but the one reason always comes up is āI donāt want see my current peers.ā Given the size of UIUC, probably very similar to UVAās population, students donāt normally see their HS peers if they choose not to (unless of course, you live in that one private dorm where most of the HS peers tend to live in, lol). Our middle and youngest lived in the universityās dorms so they rarely ran into their HS peers.
I am definitely in the camp that students will bloom where they are planted. In that context, it helps that the environment is a good fit (ie full sun plants should be planted in full sun borders vs wooded forest in order to fully bloom.)
Best of luck with the decision process.
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