@jibler okay thanks! And good luck!
Well, “only” a freshman in CompSci is better for firsthand CompSci info than a parent of an engineer (even if I am a helluva cheerleader)!! LOL. I can only give so much general info that I know, but you can give more specifics on classes and stuff…and good advice! 
Anyway, Prodigee you might want to check out this page https://cmns.umd.edu/undergraduate/research-internships, the department events calendar http://www.cs.umd.edu/events (remember, January is empty because currently on winter break!!! Classes resume Jan 26th so calendar will start filling up closer to that time…and be sure to click on “talks” if you want the academics) For all other general university events, here is the link with same caveat to keep checking back since it is currently break so no action and nothing being booked yet http://freestuff.umd.edu/events.cfm
What you will be interested to know is that in addition to the school-wide Fall and Spring Career Fairs, there is also a specific career fair just for CompSci https://www.cs.umd.edu/cscareerfair/students
Oh, I could keep going, and going on and on about the opportunities at Maryland. Like jibler said, they are definitely there for you as long as you are willing to work toward them.
I think that does it for me on CompSci though… haha. You need to go visit the campus and fall in love. It really is all about the “fit.” Spend some time and talk to students. If you feel good being there, then that’s where you belong.
@maryversity oh wow haha thanks, i visited UMD and campus is amazing.
@jibler you are right that the big name companies do tend to favor upperclassmen, but if you check out the startup companies, they are more open to strong students at all levels…there is also a career fair just for start-up companies…
Start Up Career & Internship Fair 2015
Friday, April 10, 2015 • 12:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.
Location: Adele H. Stamp Student Union, Grand Ballroom
http://www.careers.umd.edu/events_description.cfm?event_id=5265
@maryversity @jibler Hey, quick question. I noticed on my UMD application i put that i, myself, filed a tax return for the past 3 years. However, this is a mistake because I haven’t even worked. So i was worried and wondered what I should do. Should i just wait for decisions to come out? Would it even affect my decision?
I don’t think tax returns are considered in the admission part of the decision process.
They may just be considered in the financial aid decision process, and you have to submit the FAFSA by Feb 15 anyway, so you can give the correct info then. However, since I’m not sure what part of the application you are talking about to begin with, you can always call and ask…but honestly I would not lose sleep over it. Sometimes it’s how you read these questions that is so confusing, so honest mistakes do happen. The only thing I can think of is maybe it has something to do with proving Maryland residency…? (thus my kids/I would have skipped that section so that’s why I am not sure what you are talking about…I seem to recall something like that now?)
@maryversity yea, its in the in-state residency status tab in the application. First it asked about tax info about my dependents, but then it asked for mine. I accidentally put my parents’ info again. 
You happen to be fortunate enough to live in a state with a great state university. Unless your parents are wealthy or you would qualify for a lot of merit aid at Georgia Tech, I’d say go to UMD CP
For Comp Sci, it’s no question UMD. I have had friends attend Georgia Tech over UMD for engineering, however, and believe they made the right call (even with their student loans). One of those friends got an internship with HP after orientation at GT.
@Vctory wow. Haha right at orientation
@Vctory, seriously, I doubt just attending orientation at GT is what earned your friend an internship at HP…I imagine that friend is impressive to begin with…
@maryversity sounds about right, either way ill probably pick UMD (if i get in). What would you say the acceptance rate this year will be around?
That is a really good question. I will be curious to see how being in the Big10 will affect volume of applications, actually, if at all…
@maryversity im gonna say around 45%, I’ve seen that UMD has gotten more competitive over the years
He’s extremely impressive (we ran a business together in HS), but he credits the internship almost entirely to GT’s name. According to him, HP made the exception of hiring him (he said they don’t hire many freshman before they have a semester down) because of his skills and that he was associated with GT.
Of course, this is an anecdote and shouldn’t be taken as the norm! For computer science, OP’s field, UMD > GT.
A bit after orientation, but still in the summer before he started his freshman year!
@Vctory @maryversity okay great. Now what if i don’t get into UMD. I have OSU (28k), Purdue (44k), GT (44k)
@Prodigee After seeing your stats on the GT EA thread, I’m fairly confident you’ll get in (possibly/probably with Honors College and/or merit money)!
For CS, you’ll definitely be able to find internships and employment. There are many good events around campus and job fairs, and I’m sure jibler can talk more about those. When I was considering adding CS as a double major, I went to a few events and loved every second of them. The people in the major are great, the events are great, the job prospects are great–it’s really a great program here!
@Prodigee, cross that bridge if/when you get there. Hopefully, it’s only 10 days before you’ll know for sure so why waste time and energy on the what/if scenario. Stay positive.
@Prodigee, there is no easy way to decide which college to attend but it would be advisable to set a few key drivers, like COA, ranking of program, job/internship opportunities and prestige. I will outline the watered-down decision making process I underwent for my D2 last year. She chose GTech (full fare) over UMD (small merit scholarship) for ChemE…similar COA…easy decision. Between UCB and UMich , UMich was eliminated as it had the same COA… full fare. The tough part was deciding between GTech and UCB. After much deliberation, GTech was the final choice as UCB was 11K/yr more and it is substantially more difficult to change from the College of Chemistry (which houses the ChemE dept.) to COE if she had a change of heart. For the sake of simplicity, I have left out other factors that came into consideration during the decision making process for my D2 – city campus, no LAC, research and internship opportunities, racial diversity, representation of students from different states/countries, school spirit, etc…
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Since you have posted this on the UMD thread (and as expected @maryversity has done a tremendous job of providing info on UMD), I will direct you to some links which deal more specifically with CS schools and GTech.
CS/CE rankings
Undergrad – USNWR
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-doctorate-computer
Grad CE – USNWR
http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-engineering-schools/computer-engineering-rankings?int=997808
Grad CS – USNWR
http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/computer-science-rankings?int=997808
Best values CS - ROI
http://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/computer-science-degrees-best-roi/
Global CS – USNWR
http://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/computer-science?page=2
Jobs/alumni at the likes of Google and Apple
https://en-maktoob.news.yahoo.com/20-schools-most-grads-apple-153500378.html
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-20-best-schools-for-getting-a-job-at-google-2014-10
You may setup your own search at the LinkedIn University finder.
GTech Career and Internship fairs
College of Computing (Jan 27/28)- http://www.cc.gatech.edu/student-life/career-development/career-fair-attendees
Internship (Jan 27/28) - http://career.gatech.edu/plugins/content/index.php?id=456
Fall (2014) - https://gatech-cfm.symplicity.com/events/students.php?mode=list&cf=Fall2014
(359 companies)
As @vctory mentioned in an earlier post, my D2’s roomie landed an internship with Microsoft on the 2nd week of school, as that was when the Fall Career Fair was held. In her case, she chose GTech (instate Zell Miller scholarship) over CMU SCS (full fare) and we all know how good CMU SCS is. So after due consideration, you can decide whether it is worth paying for certain institutions where you get admission.
Good luck!