Google has a particularly strong presence in Pittsburgh, and FAANG recruit hard at CMU.
But those companies also hit the Ivies very hard. Princeton carries major cache with anybody and everybody.
And yet… CMU is no slouch outside of CS. Its business program is top notch. But so is its school of acting in particular. It’s more versatile than people think.
But Princeton is hard to turndown.
Both great schools.
At this price, your options begin and end with Princeton. Congratulations!
It’s accurate. They recruit heavily from CMU. But you won’t have any issue going to a FAANG or other highly desirable employer from Princeton. So this shouldn’t be a determining factor.
But you should also understand that neither school will automatically land you such a job based on school name alone. It’s going to come down to you and how well you do in the initial online coding assessment and subsequent interviews.
And a FAANG job doesn’t have to be your first job out of college. Both my kids work for a FAANG and neither started there right out of college.
If it is between Princeton and CMU, I would choose Princeton and bank the ~$80k for a house down payment.
If you were to decide to instead pursue business/Wall Street, Princeton will be a pipeline to industry or the street. Anything you chose to study at Princeton would be world-class. Even their CS is reputable – top-10 to top-20 on most lists, which indicates adequate quality. Princeton can open a diverse set of lavish doors.
Princeton has one very large advantage, and that is proximity to NYC for internships during the school year. It’s a long but cheap, comfortable, and safe local commuter train ride to Penn Station in NYC. There is a lot of demand for Comp Sci (and even more for double majors of Comp Sci and Math) on Wall Street.
I don’t think you can go wrong with any of your options, but if you think that you might want to work/intern on Wall Street or in NYC, I’d go with Princeton. If not, I’d go with Chapel Hill, because of the free ride. With your ability and qualifications, you will surely perform well enough to get into their Comp Sci major.
@thecholo89,
If your Wall Street interest switches to investment banking or quant jobs, you’ll do better from Princeton. For tech (CS) jobs on Wall Street, you’ll do just fine from CMU.
My vote is for Princeton as mentioned in my previous posts, for reasons other than career opportunities.
CS graduates makes ton of money , 80k more for Princeton is peanuts …
I believe it’s 80 LESS for Princeton. This seems like a no brainer to me. If OP hadn’t liked Princeton that would be different, but he did. Even if he also likes CMU it makes no sense at this point.
I see, yeah I would definitely want to try to engage with management consulting or Wall Street especially if I pick up Quantitative Economics as a minor at Princeton.
This makes sense. I may try to pursue consulting possibly in the future so this is good to know. Yes, I believe their CS is still top 10, and at least top 15, in many major rankings.
I agree with your other reasons, and I will definitely take them into account when choosing. Thanks!
Congrats!!! I agree that Princeton is most likely the best choice for you. More opportunities and a wider area of study is available. You did mention limited resources so I would encourage you to attend small group experience before orientation they have scholarships. It is a great way to meet other kids and find peers. There is some elitism at Princeton as with all the Ivies but I think there is also a lot of camaraderie amongst the students more than competition.
After receiving some outside scholarships, my updated cost of attendances are:
UW → $17.5k
CMU → $30.5k
Princeton → $20k
Right now based on fit all three options are appealing and I can see myself at all three campuses. There is no strong personal desire pulling me towards any of these colleges outside the little bump in ego Princeton gives haha.
I am just wondering with the 10k reduction in cost at CMU would it be a significant factor to consider? My goal is to potentially work in the west coast (CS major) and I know CMU has strong ties with FAANG but I just wanted to make sure that I was not missing out on this factor by potentially attending Princeton.
Thank you for all the help you have given me so far!
You’re not - and the world is much bigger than FAANG - who is laying off employees, btw.
I can’t imagine you will miss out by attending Princeton.
Please let us know what you decide.
Congrats again on the wonderful options.
Thank you so much. Will do!
You won’t miss out on any West Coast connections by attending Princeton.
(It kinda feels silly to be writing this^ actually).
Words never spoken…
“I regret attending Princeton because of the limited post graduation opportunities”.
Princeton is recognized as one of the most rigorous and elite academic institutions in the world.
Congratulations and be confident in your decision!
Haha, I wasn’t too worried but just wanted to check. 