MIT vs Rutgers

<p>What do you think about MIT no aid vs Rutgers full ride for math and CS?</p>

<p>It depends… but $228,000 is a lot of money to most people, especially if it would involve student loan debt.</p>

<p>(And Rutgers is a perfectly respectable school for math and CS.)</p>

<p>If the $ can be handled, even accruing some debt, there’s no question that the education and opportunities for a math and cs major will be far superior at MIT. If the student in question plans to pursue graduate studies, it will make a huge difference. Many more doors will be opened after graduation as well. If his/her goal is to become a HS math and/or CS teacher, then Rutgers wthout debt is a good choice.</p>

<p>I hope there are options in between … that’s a really wide gulf.</p>

<p>It is a really wide gulf in terms of money (unless the family is in the top 0.1% or so of income and wealth), but a much narrower gulf in terms of academics in math and CS. The gulf may be wider if the goal is to gain employment at an elite investment banking or consulting firm.</p>

<p>Yes, and the money gap is even wider than you think - a better estimate for MIT is $250,000 given minimal yearly increases.</p>

<p>Still, if it’s at all doable for this full-pay family, I’d really considering going for MIT. That’s just an amazing opportunity.</p>

<p>For CS, ABET accreditation can only be used in a positive sense. Some non-ABET accredited CS major degree programs are good (e.g. Stanford, Berkeley BA degree in CS), but others are not (e.g. Amherst).</p>

<p>What in particular about Rutgers CS “looks fairly weak”?</p>

<p>Of course, the OP has given very little other relevant information about conditions that matter in making the decision, such as how comfortably the MIT cost could be paid, and what the student’s career goals are.</p>

<p>MIT if you can swing without taking on too much debt.</p>

<p>Totally depends on the student and what kind of education (4 years) they are looking for.
Ready for the firehose? Ready for total immersion? Ready for just a little down time? How is their self esteem? Ready to go toe to toe with what MIT considers the best?</p>

<p>Very difficult to pass up the brand name and all that comes with it. Personally I would only pay that much for two schools. MIT and Harvard.</p>

<p>Shame there are no merit scholarships in the picture. Any little bit to help bring down the annual cost. I’m talking outside scholarships. And yes, it’s hard to turn down MIT, HOWEVER, there’s always grad school and if your student works hard he/she will get into a decent one and then you’ll have all that $ to pay for it.</p>

<p>I will just note here that anybody who can get admitted to MIT will probably be able to get substantial merit scholarships to other schools.</p>

<p>Rutgers has excellent CS. MIT is one of the best, but I don’t think it is $200K+ better.</p>

1 Like

<p>

I think this depends on where the 200 grand is coming from. If it’s already sitting in a 529, that’s one thing–it a lot of it will be borrowed, that’s something else.</p>

<p>This kind of sensational issue should have been asked before the student applied to college.</p>

<p>The money out of parents’ pocket is different than the cost of attendance. If the student really wants to go to MIT then he can work to contribute a portion of the cost. At MIT students can make $6,000-$12,000 a year. Students get paid about $10-$12 per hour while doing research. Also, the student can borrow money by himself.</p>

<p>MIT, no question. Those three letters on a resume are like a tattoo: permanent, and always obvious.</p>

<p>But it really depends on parental income. Since no aid was offered, the family is already in the top ~5% of national income. So it comes down to whether the family just makes the top 5%, or if the top 1%+ which makes the $$ affordable, IMO.</p>

<p>Rutgers is NOT one of the nation’s top CS or math schools, MIT is. What are the student’s goals and credentials? If only a bachelors is wanted it doesn’t make much difference. If a top grad school is desirable then MIT wins hands down. The MIT knowledge and academic experience base is likely far superior to that available at Rutgers. This could be different if Rutgers were a top 10 or 20 in those fields, which it is not. If the student is a top HS student- NMF, high SAT scores, high gpa etc but would be an average MIT student it wouldn’t be worth the extra money. But if the student is likely to be a top MIT student of course s/he should take advantage of the best education available.</p>

<p>Thanks to everyone!</p>

<p>We picked MIT last night right before the deadline. I hope we made right decision.</p>

<p>You did. By “we” I presume you lent your support to your child, whose decision it was. The good news is that this may be the incentive for him to be the best he can be instead of sliding through at the top of the heap. If things are too difficult or he dislikes it he can always transfer to Rutgers- the converse would not work. Not all schools are created equally- he’ll likely have much more material to learn than at Rutgers in most classes.</p>

<p>Rutgers is ranked #4 in the nation for discrete math:</p>

<p>[National</a> Rankings | Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey](<a href=“http://www.rutgers.edu/about-rutgers/national-rankings]National”>http://www.rutgers.edu/about-rutgers/national-rankings)</p>

<p>Congratulations! You made a great choice. Your son or daughter will be able to find meaningful, paid research opportunities and internships every summer after the freshman year, and interesting work experience will be available during the year as well. Because of this, he or she will graduate with a pretty compelling resume.</p>

<p>A friend and I were talking a week ago – his daughter went to Princeton over MIT, majoring in engineering. As a rising junior, she’ll be home in a few weeks with no internship lined up. Last summer was also very spotty. In contrast to Princeton and Rutgers, there are ample opportunities at MIT. Additionally, companies sent recruiters to MIT from all over the world.</p>

<p>My daughter graduated from MIT last spring. Every one of the students my daughter knew while she was at MIT is either working full time or is in graduate school by choice with all tuition paid plus a good living stipend. We paid full freight to send her to MIT; she turned down several schools where she had received full merit scholarships. We have absolutely no regrets. That was one of the best investments we have ever made.</p>