If you’re worried about the church, SLC is less than 50% LDS. The first advertisement we saw getting off the plane back in 2014 was for a beer called Polygamy Porter. There certainly is influence there, but it’s not oppressive in any way. Mormons tend to be very friendly (I grew up in SLC as a Catholic kid).
Of course, if you’re looking for LDS involvement you can certainly find it in SLC. It’s just not as universal as say Provo or even further in the boonies like Nephi.
The airport there is great with access virtually anywhere.
The medical community is VERY strong.
The thing about SLC that few can wrap their heads around is that there are seven world class ski areas within 45 minutes or less. You can ski, like you would golf at other schools. One of my good friends went to medical school and did his residency at The U. He skied 100+ days every year. It’s something you can do if you just have a few spare hours.
Good to know! I think this whole thread has been confirming that I should go to Utah. Haven’t heard a whole lot about the other schools on here, so maybe I will ask around. Utah is definitely at the top of my list and hard to beat.
The truth of the matter is that your success will be based on four things, your horsepower, curiosity, work ethic and luck. You’ve already demonstrated the first three. Without them, the name on the paper won’t matter. With them, taking advantage of all of the opportunities in front of you, the name on the paper doesn’t matter much either, especially for CS. Then there’s the last piece…luck. As they say, luck favors the prepared. There is a little to be said for being in the right places at the right times.
On top of that, debt is a retirement killer. Being debt free is a HUGE advantage. Don’t overlook that.
Programmer here. I promise, it’s not worth paying triple the tuition to go out of state for the sake of prestige. After about 3 years experience, employers don’t even ask where you went.
U of Utah is also a very good option as well. Salt Lake is a big tech hub that gets a lot of recruitment from U of U. And it’s considered a great place to raise a family.
Your parents could be setting you up for a big let down when they tell you a small budget after application deadlines have passed and all of your admission offers are significantly higher than that small budget.
Have they at least assured you that Utah will be within budget?
Don’t give up on the MIT waitlist. Our rural school valedictorian was waitlisted in 2018 and did get off the waitlist and turned down a full ride to Penn State.
Also, did you appy to Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh? I know they have a game design program.
To be fair, that’s a significant point. Full ride at MIT vs full ride st Penn State. I’m not surprised at the choice made.
Your point about not giving up on the waitlist is valid, if anecdotal. In the meantime OP needs to put MIT out of mind and dive into their acceptances.
I would be paying full price at MIT. Utah I am at $30k per year (sticker price minus the scholarship I got). I could also reasonably become a resident while there (although I cannot be a resident and have the WUE scholarship.)
I have considered in state at Montana State but I just have never really liked the school. Certainly free college would be nice, but I think I would rather pay to go to Utah than have free tuition in state.
Ask if they’d change your scholarship. They offered my son one year tuition free. Then the plan was that he stay over summer and establish residency, paying in state the next three years. There’s nothing wrong with asking.
As for MIT, it would be $200k MORE than your current UT award. How will you pay it?
FWIW, my sister turned down MIT for a full ride at Missouri S&T and our dad is a MIT alum.
If I accept WUE I cannot gain residency status, so it is one or the other sadly. Looking at it, it seems like I am better off to decline it and just gain residency status? I could be missing something.
It’s a math problem. Considering tuition only, as all other costs are similar, 4 years of WUE is (9,400 x 1.5) x 4 = 56,400. One year out of stat plus three years in is 31,000 + (3 x 9,400) = 59,200. Clearly WUE wins, if only by a little.
Where it gets interesting is if they give you a first year discount and then you establish in state status. In my son’s case year one was tuition free. That would have left him with three at 9,400, or 28,200 in today’s tuition.
Your stats are very good. Unless they just don’t use that trick anymore, it’s certainly worth asking admissions if they’ll consider it. I’d mention that you have heard of that tactic and that you’ll likely get a full ride at MSU.
There’s a lot less merit than there used to be at Utah. The lowest of the non-WUE scholarships is $10K year 1 and $5K after residency. But now they seemingly prefer to just give WUE to residents of WUE states. But I suppose you could ask. The problem in this case may be that they ignore SAT scores and instead focus on course rigor (number of APs).
One caution. Utah is a fine school, but it isn’t going to have the intellectual intensity of engineering at Purdue, MIT, Wisconsin, or even uva. As others have eloquently explained, students choose Utah to ski and be outdoors, not to grind. If you are craving to be around people that prioritize learning, then Purdue or Wisconsin might be a better choice. All of them will get you a job in CS. And if being outdoorsy and skiing is important to you that is fine. But the intellectually serious/grinding vibe between the schools will be different. As evidence of this, 61% of students at Utah say classes are easy. 45% at Purdue say classes are easy. Just choose based on where you will be happiest. Grind more or ski more.
That’s definitely something to consider. I think my goal is not necessarily to have to work hard on my classes. I do want to learn a lot, but I want spare time to do other things (lifting, skiing, and especially continuing my business). I should try to figure out which school I can graduate from with the best industry connections and knowledge while also balancing free time to work on our games.
There certainly is influence there, but it’s not oppressive in any way. Mormons tend to be very friendly (I grew up in SLC as a Catholic kid).