What college should I go to?

[throw_away101]

Greetings. I'm an international student going to start college in the coming fall. For some context, I plan to go to grad school after doing my undergrad and am pretty confused about whether to shell big bucks for the undergrad or save it for grad school. The following are my college options:

1. U of St Andrews or Warwick in the UK -> grad school in US 2. Undergrad in my home country(good college. Cs faculty did their masters, phds from cmu, berkeley, etc) -> grad school in US 3. FSU -> Grad School in US 4. Transferring from FSU to UF, UIUC, UCD, Maryland, etc.-> Grad School in US 5. Transferring from California Community College to Berkeley, Davis, Irvine etc. -> Grad School in US 6. Going to Grinnell in Iowa and maybe transferring somewhere else or graduating.

Approx costs for undergrad in each option: 1. $150k 2. $25k 3. $100k 4. $135k - $170k 5. $180k 6. Idk rn

What prompted me to ask this question is that I don’t want to waste my family’s money on something that isn’t worthwhile. I personally think that the last option could be really good in the long run. However, all my thoughts and beliefs are just conjecture. The ultimate goal, I believe, is for me to be in an environment where I can utilize my full potential. Unfortunately, due to certain reasons, I wasn’t able to do so in the final years of high school and thus couldn’t get into good schools.

I can’t map out accurately the outcomes and roadmaps from choosing any of these routes. Therefore, I need some advice rooted in reality. If you happen to think that the ‘degree value’ doesn’t matter when trying get into good grad programs, please provide some valid information to back that up, while keeping the context, me being an international student, in view. Thank you for reading.

[sargstuff]

Post-degree plans are to stay in academia or non-academia work? (degree focus on theory vs. applied theory)

Know what concentration are going to do in graduate school?

If yes, then making sure undergraduate degree program aligns with anticipated graduate degree. aka not distracted / incure extra expense taking 'extra' classes to 'get up to speed' on background for graduate classes. example: CS undergraduate degree not heavy in math, but anticipated CS graduate degree is very heavy on math background. (database engineering - CMU vs. CT (computed tomography) software - MIT)

Community college to university would be one approach to earning credits while figuring out what aspect of CS interested in pursing a graduate/undergraduate degree.

[throw_away101]

Non-academia. AI->ML. I can do math-heavy work. Part of my school curriculum right now, involves a lot of courses that I'll get credits for in college. These classes are a bit tough, but maths is usuallythe subject I enjoy the most while studying.

[sargstuff]

Perhaps trying some of the on-line open courses at universities of interest to size up offerings relative to interest. Would like to say figure out 'challenge level' but, introductory / lead in courses tend to be more get up to speed in given area. aka jumping in to deep end of pool or 1ft wading area.

[WorldPeas]

I would say look for a college that has many other colleges in close proximity. I had a great experience at Northeastern University because of where it was situated in Boston (between BU, MIT, Berklee, NEC and the colleges in Longwood medical area). I use it only as an example because I can no longer wholeheartedly recommend Northeastern after their adversarial actions to the classical CS program and indications they want to shift focus to a bootcamp mindset. I'll add I got great value from a college that taught me PL from the ground (lisp) up, and taught a lot about graph theory and proofs.

[gnomeball]

1. St Andrews / Warwick aren't worth the money. UK economy is in the gutter. No point paying $150K when starting salaries in the UK are like $30k.

2. Seems like a decent option.

3. Going to FSU will not win you any points anywhere. A US college outside the top 20 just doesn't command a strong reputation.

4. Don't count on being able to transfer.

5. Ditto.

6. Grinnell college in Iowa for $180K? Money poorly spent. As with FSU, people are going to look down on the brand.

I'd go with #2, run through that as quickly as you can, then move to US either for work or grad school (1-year masters to minimize cost).

[throw_away101]

Any thoughts about option 5?

[spooneybarger]

Assuming you can get a decent education at a school, the deciding factor should be if the reputation of going there is beneficial to you. If it isn't, go purely with cost.

But credentialism is real and saying you did comp sci at CMU or MIT will open more doors than if you did it at the University of Florida.

[throw_away101]

Well, I do have the intention to go to grad school. So, are you of the opinion that a 'good degree' will open more doors for me in terms of grad school admissions?

[spooneybarger]

Yes

[KuriousCat]

I am not aware of any geographical constraints you might have but from what little I have seen, try picking up a good school either in Germany or Switzerland for your undergrad. Get a masters fellowship such as Erasmusmundus or DaaD, then move to Berkeley/Stanford for PhD…

[throw_away101]

Good schools in europe require you to be proficient in their native language.

[KuriousCat]

It is usually worth the effort and would provide you with invaluable experiences…

[JojoFatsani]

Do not come to the US to study in this climate. Google “tufts student detained.”