My S22 was accepted into UCR Data Science and SJSU Software Engineering. He’s not sure what to choose. Perhaps the wisdom of the crowd could help him decide.
We live near SJSU, so he will not be in a dorm if he goes there. UCR requires a move south and this gives him the college experience.
SJSU is very inexpensive since no housing costs, while UCR will cost substantially more because of housing.
UCR is a UC, but it is not clear how much more prestigious than SJSU.
Software engineering and Data Science are both fine majors, but the former seems to offer more job opportunities than Data Science, and SJSU seems better positioned for internships.
Your post is already pretty comprehensive with pros and cons. The only reason to pick UCR is to have a true college experience living in a dorm. Only your son can decide if that is important enough to pick UCR. Maybe living in a dorm at SJSU is an option?
It’s not about the prestige of the institution BTW. It’s about the utility of the degree. Apple employs more SJSU grads than grads from any other school. I think I’d be inclined to do SE at SJSU, but give him the opportunity to live on campus.
It seems hasty to me, to assume that software engineering is a better major that should tilt the decision toward SJSU. It depends on the student’s aptitudes and interests. A particular student might love and excel at data science, and might not be suited to software engineering at all. I think this particular student needs to look closely at the four-year pathway and course requirements for each of these programs, and consider which seems more compelling. Also, look into how difficult it would be to change paths at each school (it may be that he could still switch into data science at SJSU; not sure if the reverse would be true at Riverside).