[is_it_worth_it_]

I know a good amount about the tech scene in nyc. It works like this, you can get paid a bunch by google or fb, maybe amazon. Sure if you make it in as a state school college grad you get paid. But developers in finance working on the actual trading models who make 300k+ almost exclusively went to top schools. Look at a front office development team at any quant fund.

[arcanus]

The guys working at quant funds tend to have ph.d.s, in my experience. Some are certainly from state schools (UT Austin).

[beisner]

Anecdotally, I am currently an undergraduate in a top 10 CS department and I have several friends who have $160k+ job offers straight out of undergrad at quant firms.

[chlee]

UT Austin has a top 10 CS program.

It's just below MIT/CMU/Stanford/Berkley. Typically just as well regarded as UW/Cornell/Princeton/UIUC/Georgia Tech/Caltech.

Dijkstra used to be the department chair in the 80s and early 90s.

[is_it_worth_it_]

Right, but a phd is a different case than a bachelors. UT Austin is also a solid school.