I recently got accepted to these schools EA. Full pay everywhere unless specified, in-state for UVA. Sorry for the long post, just a lot to think about. I’m assuming I won’t get into my remaining schools (all are reaches), so I’m starting the decision-making process early.
General Things
- I love astronomy/astrophysics, big long-standing passion, don’t care much for other aspects of physics besides maybe quantum
- I like CS and am fairly experienced in it (low-level and high-level programming, AI/ML, Web Development)
- I like aerospace but am not very experienced in it, so I don’t know if I will like it in college
- I really enjoy humanities as well, especially politics and philosophy
- I ideally want a stable and well-paying career
- I like study abroad opportunities
- Also got into UNC and Virginia Tech, feel free to bring up those schools if I’m missing anything.
- BIG THING WITH COST: parents are willing to spend ~$350-400k no matter where I go, letting me save and/or invest what won’t be going toward college expenses. I think this is their way of persuading me to stay in-state
- While I might bring them up below, things like rural vs. urban, campus beauty, weather, and politics are fickle/weak considerations for me
UofA (Astronomy, Honors College)
- $134k merit scholarship over 4 years, would pay around $26k per year
- Amazing astronomy program and can easily double major with physics (and maybe CS?)
- Worried about finding nerds like me here
- Might be more for observational astronomy (I favor theoretical astrophysics)? Might be pigeonholed into pursuing a PhD? Employment worries?
UMich (Astronomy & Astrophysics, LSA Residential College)
- Residential College sounds fun, I’d look forward to intensive humanities and foreign language study balancing out my STEM focus, keeping me well-rounded
- Great college town (visited), well-rounded school, academic but also social
- Can’t sell out to CS
- Around 80k per year OOS
UIUC (CS+Astronomy)
- Heard that employers often think it’s a double major, top-tier CS program
- Maybe too rural?
- IDK cost, but I think it’s cheaper than UMich?
- Is it the best of both worlds or the worst of both worlds, in both education and career outcomes?
Georgia Tech (Aerospace Engineering)
- Absolute top-tier program
- Only place I applied engineering
- Considerable opportunity in a growing field
- Campus safety? Social scene? Gender ratio? Pigeonholed into a career in aerospace?
- Cheap for OOS ($50k per year)
UVA (Astronomy/Physics)
- Close to home
- Great campus and college town (visited)
- Can switch to CS (for now…)
- Like UMich, feels both academic and social
- $40k per year in-state
Thoughts? Anything else to consider? Is any of my reasoning juvenile/not actually important? Thanks!