UT Austin [$33k] vs. Cornell [$66k] for CS [parents can pay full]

Compare College Acceptances
, ,
1

I have been admitted into these two schools, but for so long I have been unable to come to a decision despite doing much research and asking in different forums. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

My parents are able to pay in full regardless of which college I decide to attend. UT Austin will cost $33k per year after everything while Cornell will cost $66k per year after financial aid.

I was admitted into UT Austin for CS, and I was admitted into Cornell for the College of Arts and Sciences, where I can also do a CS major (but a BA instead of a BS). I want to pursue a minor or double major in Math as well.

I hope to go to graduate school for CS (or maybe an MBA), preferably at a top institution. I don’t aim to get a PhD (at least right after undergrad), but most likely a Master’s. I am looking at going into finance as well.

I am a Texas resident, so UT will be much closer to home. I am not exactly sure if that is a god thing or not, so if anyone has any experience with either please let me know how it is like to be close to/far away from home!

I have heard that, although Cornell’s 9:1 student-to-faculty ratio is much better than UT Austin’s 18:1, CS classes are still large at both. I hope to get many internships, and I’m not sure if that is difficult at Cornell because of its location. Weather in Ithaca will be hard to deal with as a Texas resident, but I really love Cornell’s campus. I am very interested in undergraduate research and clubs. I also know that the "Ivy League name” can help out a little in graduate admissions, as well as the improved research opportunities I will have there.

Also, I am a very big instrumental music person, and I know the UT music scene is much more abundant than Cornell’s, but it is very good at both places.

I am currently leaning towards UT because of its proximity to home and plethora of friends from high school, but any insight will help!

2

This is a case where two reasonable people could make two different choices. Sounds to me like you prefer UT and it has a better price point. If that is true, go to UT.

3 Likes
3

Both of these universities are excellent overall, and excellent for computer science and for mathematics.

This is good.

Math and computer science are a very good combination. This is relatively close to what I did, but my degree just says “mathematics”. There is a wide range of computer science jobs. At least IMHO the ones that also use mathematics tend to be interesting ones.

I agree with both points. The Cornell campus is beautiful. The winters there are, well, real winters.

Look up what “Operations Research” is. This is what I did for my master’s degree. I was at a university that was well ranked overall and for operations research (specifically Stanford) and the other students in the same program came from a very, very wide range of undergraduate universities, a large number of which are ranked lower than either UT Austin or Cornell. I do not think that attending either of these two excellent universities will hold you back at all.

You also might want to think about whether machine learning or artificial intelligence would be of interest. These are of course again on the overlap between math and computer science.

There is talk of AI taking over low level programming jobs. I would not expect this to impact high level jobs that require significant knowledge of both math and computer science. On the other hand AI can make mistakes and having at least some clue what it is actually doing may be potentially useful at some point. I think this might be worth thinking about at least taking one class and seeing what you think of it. I would expect you to be able to do this at either of these universities (or at quite a few other universities). The math connection will help here quite a bit.

If you live on campus it will almost like a different world compared to living at home. If you need help, then it will be relatively nearby.

I think that you will have very good research and internship opportunities at both of these schools. A lot of A’s in tough classes plus good internship or work experience and corresponding strong references will help with graduate admissions. I am not sure that the “Ivy League” name will matter much, if at all, particularly when you are comparing it with an excellent university such as UT Austin.

In the same situation I would most likely lean the same way. Saving some college money for a master’s degree also seems like a good idea.

Two reasonable people could indeed make two different choices here, and both be right for them. There is no bad choice (assuming that you want to work hard and learn a lot, and you can afford to attend either school). However, I think that UT Austin is a very good choice.

And congratulations on having these two excellent opportunities. You must have done something very well in high school!

4

Because your family is getting aid and you are talking about further schooling -which will have a cost - I give the nod to UT.

In the comprehensive Brown rankings, they are similar - 6 and 11. These are such different environments though - and I don’t think your friends going to UT is a positive. College is about growth, maturity - but the reality is at a school like UT, you likely won’t see one another often. My son’s best friend from HS went to his school, in the same major, and they barely hung out, etc. Life moved on and likely will for you too. Obviously, at UT you’re smack in the city and Cornell, you’re smack in beautiful nature.

Cornell A&S for CS show $125.5k average and $128k median starting salary. Haven’t found UT….although I put a link to other resources below. It’d be nice to compare…you can ask them.

For an MBA, the where won’t matter - these or otherwise but the work experience you get will - and of course these schools are in part why and how you get that work experience.

Both schools are home runs. Congrats.

https://career.cornell.edu/outcomes/#!eWVhcj0yMDI1O2RpdmlzaW9uPUNvbGxlZ2Ugb2YgQXJ0cyAmIFNjaWVuY2VzO21ham9yPUNvbXB1dGVyIFNjaWVuY2U=

These are the top orgs that hired Cornell a&S CS grads. Not finance although doesn’t mean that wouldn’t happen for you.

IMG_0220
IMG_02201179Ă—2556 272 KB

Computer Science | Career Services

1 Like
5

Thank you guys so much for the kind advice! I agree that these are two very amazing schools, and I feel that I will do well no matter which one I went to. I am currently very much leaning UT now! However, if anyone has anything else to add that would be helpful for anyone coming across this post in the future (as these threads helped me a lot too).

5 Likes
6

Agree that since you are not very sure of whether you will pursue MS or MBA later, I think it is better to go with the cheaper option UT, Austin and go Ivy in the future.

7

If you choose Cornell, will you parents be able to pay an additional ~$200k for a master’s/MBA? If not, I would go to Texas.

1 Like