So what do you want to study? Princeton is engineering. CMU is CS. UW is CS.
You can’t afford Ga Tech and you can’t assure what you study at UNC.
The only reason to go to UNC is if you can’t afford Princeton, UW, or CMU because over four years - those are large amounts - but then you risk not being able to study exactly what you want.
If you can’t afford CMU or it’s a stretch, then you have UW to study what you want.
Again, big flagship, sports, greek, seattle, crowded vs. CMU (in Pittsburgh, others can weigh in but when people say fit school - what if you hate) and then Princeton - which is the creme de la creme - but you can’t study CS.
The decision should be driven by money because there’s a 160K delta between the four over four years - + transport. Can your family handle all of those?
And then for which ones are affordable - you have to pick your environment I think.
And if you go to CMU and can get Tepper, great. And if not, you can do a Masters somewhere else.
Which schools have you visited? What kind of environment fits you best?
I think CMU is a “fit” school that people may either love, or not love so much. If I were you, I would not commit without visiting, as it seems you already have some great options.
I don’t think you should worry that you would be giving up anything important in the CS world if you were to pick Princeton over CMU. Princeton is a fine school, strong in CS, and will not close any doors for you.
But note they are not CS there - would be my only hesitation - if they want to study CS. CS is in the school of engineering - so if they can study CS there - then yes I’d agree!! And they’d save $80K over CMU.
I was assuming they couldn’t but I could be off there.
UW is not a better school and costs more.
UNC is full ride, but you don’t have a guaranteed najor.
In no terms will GT even come close to CMU or Princeton at OOS costs.
Leaves you really with CMU and Princeton to choose from.
Princeton is going to be more versatile than CMU. Besides being able to major in anything you want at Princeton, if your career trajectory changes, Princeton is going to offer you more diverse options. Cost aside, I would pick Princeton even if cost is the same. But in your case you get to go to a top uni in the world at a discount price. Congrats.
This is really good advise thanks! As @tamagotchi noted, I would be studying CS through the BSE program so I would be able to still do Computer Science at Princeton.
I have visited Princeton this week and loved the campus and I will be visiting UW again next week as it is in-state. I do not think I will be able to visit CMU.
I feel like the environment at Princeton fits better and since, as others stated, Princeton has equal opportunities post-grad for CS as CMU or, at least, similar outcomes, I would be leaning there as of now.
Correct, I do not think I will be able to visit at this time and I have heard high work-load and little downtime for CS majors which is something I do not resonate well with.
Thank you for the advice this is giving me some more confidence in where I was leaning!
One of my parents stated how FAANG and similar companies conduct in-person hiring on CMU campus and I was wondering how accurate this was and if this would be a significant factor to consider. This is maybe the only uncertainty at this point since in every other aspect I am leaning Princeton, but my parent wanted to make sure we were considering all our options carefully before.
FAANG is in many ways passe and so many companies like them interview at tons of schools.
But the hiring landscape is changing - many schools today are hiring via online.
in fact, Cornell shows for CS, in the last two years - more found jobs via online postings (think indeed or company websites) than linkedin. 1/12 as many that found jobs via those two sources found them via on campus recruiting or job fairs - 62 vs. 5.
So the world has changed and on campus isn’t what it was. It still happens on campus no doubt - but if you’re in the right place, regardless if it’s on campus or not, companies will want grads of these schools and they’ll find them one way or another.
I would take career outcomes out of the equation - because you want to go to the right place as you’ll be there four years, day after day after day. It sounds like you can say that about Princeton - but you’ll never be able to say that about CMU. It may be right - but it may be a train wreck - you just have no way to know as you can’t visit to get a feel for it.
And as a bonus, your parents will save $80K+ over four years vs. CMU if you choose Princeton.
And unless the economy is destroyed, grads from both schools will be in very high demand.
This information is very useful, thank you! I agree, a visit is very important I wish I had the resources and time to be able to. I appreciate the detailed response!
I would agree that this should be a Princeton/CMU choice, unless the OP is severely financially constrained. I would give the edge to Princeton in all respects (including cost), EXCEPT:
CMU is elite for CS, in a class with MIT and Stanford.
Some people would prefer the nerdy, quirky, intense environment of CMU. But only some, and OP cannot know this without visiting.
Princeton will give a much broader education, a better environment for most, and plenty of CS opportunities.
CMU will give a super-intense, unparalleled CS education. Very grueling, lots of all-nighters struggling to learn how to work through seemimgly impossible problems. Some students thrive on it, others hate it, or break.
Personally, I would not risk CMU without a visit. And I wouldn’t pick it unless OP is sure that is what they want.
A(mazon)A(pple)G(oogle) are big enough that they recruit widely, so any of these schools should be fine in terms of recruiting for them. F(acebook) seems to have a more college-elitist reputation, though all of these schools seem to be pretty high up in prestige. Not sure about N(etflix).
Where there may be more of a difference in computer companies is for smaller ones and startups that mainly relatively local people even know about, and which actively recruit mainly locally. So Washington students may be more aware of smaller companies in the Seattle area, while North Carolina students may be more aware of smaller companies in the Research Triangle area, for example.
Of course, other industries have computing jobs. Some of them may have preferred colleges. For example, Wall Street and management consulting tend to prefer recruiting at schools like Princeton.
I happened to be visiting SJSU the other day and commented to one of my s’s (who works at a FAANG) about the number of SJSU students who are hired by these companies. His comment was that if those he has met, most of the SJSU grads were contractors,
not FT employees, but that a significant number of employees in his field were grads of Waterloo. And AFAIK, most of these companies, while they have had cutbacks, and meta has had issues, are still highly sought after employers. That is not a thing of the past.
Your post-graduate opportunities will be much more dependent on what YOU accomplish during college rather than which one of these absolutely outstanding schools you choose to attend. Go to these college where you feel you will thrive.
