My son has narrowed his college decision down to the University of Michigan and the University of Southern California. He’s studying computer science, but is also interested in creative writing and journalism; he wants to pursue a job in computing but isn’t sure what specifically to go for yet. We can cover the cost for both schools, but USC is significantly cheaper. Since my son recieved the National Merit Presidential scholarship, which is half-tuition, the net cost of the school would be around $60K; Michigan would be $80K, since we’re out of state. My son also got into UIUC and NYU for CS+Linguistics and CS respectively, but ruled them out – the latter due to cost, the former because of location. We’re still open to convincing, but are leaning heavily towards USC/UMich.
My son is really interested in the rigor of the computer science program, but especially in faculty accessibility – he’s always been interested in getting to know his instructors and wants to pursue research. He also wants to attend a school that’s well-rounded and good across all subjects, but we believe Michigan and USC both fit that bill. We’re excited about Michigan because of the strength of its computer science program and the liveliness/spirit of the school and Ann Arbor; our main concerns are the cost and the lack of accessibility since the CS program/school are so big. Our concerns about USC are that the CS program is less renowned in addition to its past reputation of being a rich-kid school, but we really like that it’s good with Silicon Valley recruiting, less expensive, and that the CS program is smaller/more diverse. The honors housing is a plus as well. Any help or opinions would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
Absolutely love Michigan and grew up there, but USC sounds like the better bet all around, plus great weather and proximity to Silicon Valley. I’d go with USC scholarship.
4 Likes
I wouldn’t worry about the SC CS program and the school is a leader in journalism, if you can access some.
Don’t forget, the last two years of Michigan go up $4K.
Either way you’re great - but SC will likely have the better ROI if CS is holding - 2024 grads are struggling a bit with all the industry layoffs.
Either choice is great of course.
As for getting to know profs, that can happen anywhere - depending on the kid - and of course the professor.
No wrong choice here.
Best of luck.
PS - here are career figures for USC - Viterbi so CS isn’t broken out but usually higher. What you don’t know is - does it include bonuses, etc. I put U of M too - but harder to use - different tabs, etc.
Honestly, you can’t go wrong.
Success After Undergraduate – USC Viterbi | Undergraduate Admission
Michigan Engineering Post-Graduation and Intern/Co-op Employment Data – Engineering Career Resource Center (umich.edu)
2 Likes
We paid extra for our son to go to Michigan engineering not CS OOS and we feel it was worth the extra $100,000 (about $25,000/year over UIUC).
Forget about how big the school is. You can make any school small by being active on campus. In second year most of my sons classes were 25-30 students and all professors knew his first name. Very accessible advisors and with 2 minors he had 3 total.
Can’t beat the collegiate atmosphere. If you want to save the money then go USC. My son started a tech group on campus with mostly CS kids. They all had early job offers. Had very early internships with all the big names and earned decent money. Won the MIT hackathon. Did incredible work with NASA. Had internships with Microsoft, Google and all the usual suspects.
3 Likes
Have you visited both schools?
What exactly does being a “rich kid” mean to you? I’m asking because, if you can afford UMich OOS, your son is probably better off than a large percentage of students at USC.
Silicon Valley recruits from all over. I’m sure they recruit from UMich as well.
Students in all departments have access to journalism classes, film classes, business classes, etc. USC Viterbi looks for students who are interested in more than just engineering/CS. Engineering Plus – USC Viterbi | Undergraduate Admission
USC offers a progressive degree program. Annenberg & Viterbi offer a joint degree MS in Communications Data Science.
4 Likes
UMich is a top CS school, with heavy recruiting from tech firms of all sizes.
Tech recruiting at USC is fine, but not at the same level as UMich.
6 Likes
But will the job be similar in pay and stature? In the end, you can only get one job. Is that worth the extra cash?? The family brought up the cost differential…
And OP has other interests beyond the CS - I can’t say for sure which school is better in feeding those additional interests but something the OP can check.
They have to, of course, make the financial decision that best fits their needs but OP said they can cover the cost at both (and didn’t say it would be a stretch) so I will trust they know their own situation.
What I was pointing out was that UMich recruiting isn’t “less than” at USC just because the latter is geographically closer to Silicon Valley.
5 Likes
I agree which is why I’m not sure that their pros and cons of each school are well thought through.
We definitely misworded the original post. We know that U-M has a more established/heavily recruited program and its location isn’t necessarily a detriment; we were basing our assumption about USC on informal online data (eg. this article) as well as anecdotes that tell us that it’s surprisingly good for the Bay specifically.
No doubt Michigan has one of the top CS programs. But in terms of placement into Silicon Valley, here is another piece of “informal online data”. Take it with a grain of salt though, as its methodology has been challenged.
For your student’s second interest, Annenberg is one of the best journalism and communications programs.
1 Like
In fact, one of the best in the world:
As a Michigan grad (CS graduate degree) with a daughter currently at USC (presidential NM scholar) my opinion is that you can’t lose with either. You’ll have great opportunities and job prospects with both. I know undergrad research opportunities at USC are plentiful and not difficult to get. Not sure about UMich in that area.
Weather-wise, LA is the winner hands down (unless you like cold and snow!) As far as the immediate area surrounding campus, IMO Ann Arbor is way nicer than the neighborhood around USC.
5 Likes
Our son auditioned at both USC and University of Michigan. All schools on his list supported multiple majors and adding minor studies without a lot of barriers.
We got the impression that your son can’t go wrong with either school. However, spending considerable time at both schools and talking to many people, we believe U Mich makes it a little easier to pursue additional interests, both academic and extracurricular.
The only other schools that seemed even easier were Northwestern and University of Rochester. Both of those schools almost seemed like you’d have to actively run away from opportunities to branch outside your chosen major. All four schools made me want to go back to college again.
1 Like