hey there! currently facing a dilemma — im split between umass amherst (in-state, honors, ~$35k/year), northeastern (in-state, ~$80k/year but i did appeal for more finaid due to special circumstances), and rutgers nb (oos, honors program, ~$50k/year). for reference, im currently looking to do ux/ui design, product design, front-end software engineering, etc. in the future.
i’m currently trying to weigh rutgers’ value as an oos student against umass’s cs major restrictions + lack of focus on ux/ui/product design, and the coa for northeastern. while coa is the main thing making me hesitate in choosing northeastern, the thing is i was admitted to umass for bio, rutgers for iti, and neu for cs/design. i’ve heard it is impossible to switch into cs at umass, and i was thinking of doing the bdic/create-your-own-major program (to create some sort of hci/design major), but i was told people in this program often struggle to sign up for cs classes as they are second-priority. i also am unable to switch into the bdic program until sophomore year, while i am directly entering into cs/design freshman year at neu and don’t declare my major until sophomore year at rutgers. umass also doesn’t rly have similar majors for ux/ui that i can switch into like graphic design or information technology (which is only a minor). i’m somewhat indecisive, so i’d like to have a wide variety of majors which ik neu has with its combined and niche majors + rutgers with its wide range of unique majors, while umass only has the more traditional list of majors. i did look into the informatics major at umass, but i was directlv told it was not at all focused towards ux/ui design and instead more data science stuff.
now rutgers. for reference, i plan to major in iti and possibly minor in cognitive science. im not really interested in back-end coding which i heard rutger’s cs major is mainly comprised of, while iti allows you to be more creative through its emphasis on the user and front-end coding which is exactly what i’m looking for.
rutgers happens to be very similar to neu (top choice) in terms of the pros of the pros/cons list i made. like neu, rutgers also has a wide range of unique majors (that you can easily switch between), high-ranking T40 university, located in the city, racially diverse and is an research-oriented school. i believe the large student body would give me lots of resources to access ux/ui design clubs like rutgers blueprint and rutgers creative x with other iti majors, and the campus’s close proximity to nyc would give me easier access to internships that may be “harder” to get at the more rural amherst. as for rutgers cons on my list: i heard the quality of professors rly varies (umass is a bit more consistent), bus system (but honestly i don’t really mind), housing is meh, food is mid (umass food is better), and the RU Screw.
the thing is, i heard rutgers is not really worth it as an oos student, but considering that umass doesn’t rly have the resources i can easily access + take advantage of and neu is too expensive, would rutgers nb be worth it as an oos student? should i take the leap at umass amherst and try the bdic major for ux/ui — something umass doesn’t necessarily have the resources for (unlike neu and rutgers)? or should i just pray i get more money and attend northeastern (because i do feel like i would really take advantage of their programs and make the best of it)?
any advice would be greatly appreciated!