Match a junior with mid ECs who wants to exit Nevada some match and reach schools [3.71, 27, CS, < $50k]

Affordability has to be the first filter. UMD is 59K/year OOS, which is well above your budget. So the fact that it’s also a reach for CS is sort of moot. Rutgers and Purdue are under 50K/year but not by a lot. Purdue CS is a pretty tough admit - acceptance rate is in the 10-15% range, I believe. Rutgers isn’t quite as reachy but even if you can get in, is it worth being at the upper limit of your budget?

Again, it would help to back up and try to describe what you’re looking for. The schools you’re proposing don’t have a lot in common, which makes it appear that you’re just working your way down a CS-rankings list of some sort and trying to find the highest-ranked school that’s attainable. This isn’t a wholly worthless process but it shouldn’t be your entire process. You can get a terrific CS education at many schools; there’s no need to incur financial strain or to feel as if excellent-yet-affordable programs like Utah or even UNR aren’t good enough.

I’m probably over-posting, though - I’m sure others will chime in tomorrow!

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