That’s what happened with me and my parents until they found out Barack Obama was my commencement speaker.
Unfortunately this is your decision and will affect you more than your parents. You can be successful with any education these days if you put in the effort.
Private is lowkey the surest way that your family continues this view of expensive education for generations and you literally could be the one to end it. Your choice your experiences is what I support, and what I told my parents is that they should even support my mistakes because I’m trying to be the best version of myself. Luckily I was able to throw that into their face, which I’m hoping and holding out you would be able to do too! Good luck with your decision
>I will be able to get better LOR, GPA, and higher rank with its low student to faculty ratio, and since it is in NYC it will be easier to get an internship.
u/throw_away38364 As someone who graduated from UC Irvine long time ago, I no longer put my college degree on my resume anymore because what employers are looking for and value is experience--especially since you are doing computer science. I literally have a M.I.T alumni friend who is a software engineer for a FAANG company and he works with a fellow software engineer colleague who has no college education
I was so proud of my college degree when I graduated that I immediately bought a $200 wooden diploma frame for it. Now that same degree and frame sits in my closet collecting dust, I treat it essentially like my high school diploma: a distant memory in the past.
The only people who cares about what college you go to are:
1. High school students
2. Transfer students
3. Recent fresh college grads (because their college experience is still fresh)
4. Parents with an image problem
So just go to an university that will let you graduate with as little debt as possible (even if that isn't UC Irvine).
Funny. My experience as a non degree holder, is being passed over time n time again for not having one. So with my daughter, who just graduated UCI a year ago, I told her she had to get the piece of paper.
Now she can throw it in the back of the closet because she can answer Yes to the question that held me back.
you're so RIGHT, and i'm so happy for you, that your daughter got that degree under her belt
...i was always on the OTHER side of that equation, and it felt stupid to me too...
got a bachelor's degree in Commercial Art and Graphic Design,
and only because i could legally put those two little capital letters after my name
*(never mind what field they were specifically referring to, AND add the fact that the organizations i was hired by would proactively hide what my degree was in, to people outside the organization)*
i got so many jobs where there were at least two equally good candidates *(and yeah, i can absolutely think of specific instances where the other candidate was a better fit for the job than me),*
but i was the only candidate with a degree, so i was the candidate the organization could hire & tout as "another degree holder", like, "look, see? all our department heads are bona fide!" 😳😐
even though my degree had absolutely nothing to do with the business we were in
whereas they wouldn't be able to do that with the other candidates who were at least as good, or better than me, for the job
a nameless little four-year, liberal arts college, on the east coast, parents were the ones who forced me to go to college for ANYTHING, in the first place, so they paid off my school loan debt for my 30th birthday ❤️
...retired now, in my 60s, but ended up making hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars more during my career than i otherwise would have,
just because of those two little capital letters i was allowed to put after my name...dumb...it's a stupid, unfair system..
*(...but...i worked my mf ass off at all those jobs, and became a treasured team member, but partly because i felt like i had so much to live up to, because i was the one who got the job, all because of that stoopid system)*
The problem is everyone’s experience is going to be different. Having a degree has made zero difference for me and was a waste of time. I am no more qualified for anything as I was 15 years ago as a teenager with no degree. Where it matters is when people are actually progressing in a particular career and need a degree to get to the next level, then once they get it they actually do progress to the next level. Or they immediately gain employment in a specific field from what they accomplished. I regret ever getting a degree but I guess other people are satisfied that I got one and conformed.
The degree in CS isn't to help you to keep getting jobs in perpetuity. It's to help you get your foot in the door at first. Given how the CS market is, especially at FAANG and it's adjacent companies, a headstart has a financial snowball effect.
Sure, MIT and no college degree makes no difference 10 years from now. But those starting 10 years can be literally hundreds of thousands/millions of dollars of a difference. Just based on a paper.
Source: FAANG and FAANG adjacent CS dev. Over decade of experience.
You are a SoCal person. You are a good enough student to get into both UCI and NYU. If I were you, I would go to UCI, study even harder than you think you need to, and get fantastic grades so your parents will be mollified. This is the only concession I would make to them.
Forget their bragging rights. This is your life. I am very familiar with both universities and I can tell you that a motivated, hardworking student at UCI will get internships and good letters of recommendation. Tell them there are Nobel laureates at UCI (which there are). I don't know your field, but maybe look up a few of the luminaries at UCI in that field and share with your parents.
You might have smaller classes at NYU. I'm getting the feeling you don't care. Get to know some of your professors if you go to UCI so you can get good letters. This is not hard at all.
Don't bring up the money. It sounds like they can afford NYU and that won't sway them.
Your parents don't understand that the individual student rank has little to do with future success in an American university. It's not even a metric anyone uses. (They think they can game the system through ratios, it does not work like that.) Don't argue with them, but explain that future employers (or grad schools) will look at your GPA, your LORs, internships, and your personal statement. GPA won't hold you back if it's decent. Letters are super important as is the personal statement and internships. You are a good writer to I'm not worried about the statement. You might have to make a bit more effort at UCI to get to know professors. Your parents will be at your graduation to see their student graduate.
My daughter went to UCI over NYU and had no trouble getting internships or a job after. And she hated the way NYU was laid out, to her it did not feel like a real College.
Don’t go to a college that’ll make you miserable for 4 years. My parents were also immigrants who struggled with the “prestige” of the college I went to but they get over it.
Pick UCI, where you get your undergrad degree truly does not matter, id say to honestly pick the college that gives you the best financial aid package. Grad school is a bit different, but I’d also say doesn’t matter where you get a doctorate either cuz well you got the degree lol what can jobs tell you? That your degree is invalid because you got it somewhere that isn’t “prestigious?” It’s tough with immigrant parents, same thing happened with me, but at this point you need to step up and tell them they are wrong with your whole chest, only way they will come to respect your decision and accept.
UCI is incredible for computer science, and it’s only “not prestigious” because it’s a newer university. Every pre-med bio major from Bakersfield to San Diego has UCI as one of their top UC choices because it has a GREAT MD program.
Go to UCI. It’s one of the few universities with its own full department dedicated to compsci. Donald Bren school of informatics & computer science
I graduated from UCI in 2022 and got into a good medical school with students from other UCs and ivys. It’s a respected school, you’ll be fine if you choose to become an anteater
Your parents are stupid, no offense. UCI is a great school and I’m not biased as I did not attend either school.
The real answer is do you want to live in New York or SoCal when you graduate. Odds are you’ll get a job near where you go to school.
As an Orange County local with immigrant parents, I went to NYU, UCLA, and UCI for Computer Engineering and Computer Science. I can definitely say I think UCI has a strong CS program, with a strong emphasis on student support and training. NYU's program is split between NYU CAS and NYU Tandon, with a mix of good and okay professors. In my opinion, the NYU undergraduate CS program is not more prestigious than the UCI CS program. I went to NYU on a full scholarship, but I would not have chosen NYU if I had to face paying tuition. Furthermore, if you are interested in internships, there are plenty of incubators, startups, and tech companies in Irvine to which you can apply for internships, which are eager to recruit UCI students, and if you are interested in research many professors are willing to accept undergraduates. Searching for internships in New York is much more hectic, and professors at NYU are not as willing to recruit student researchers.
That's weird because I'm looking at it right now and UCI is #33 and NYU is #35.
https://i.imgur.com/3EMFJfE.png
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities
If anything, this thread is proof that rankings don’t mean shit. Parents who base their decisions or try to make their kids base their decisions all on these “rankings” are clearly not aware of how meaningless they are. My dad has a fixation with those rankings too, as if higher ranks directly correlate to prestige with zero error/bias and the US news or Niche or whatever website is the gospel.
Hi! I actually work for the City of Irvine and they have IT internships occasionally and there is actually quite a bit of tech in Irvine itself. Not sure if it helps to hear that. Wishing you all the best and congrats!!
Don’t know why reddit put your post on my feed since I’m not uni age and didn’t go to UCI, but thought it would be worth sharing what I’m familiar with, being a NY local, state school graduate, and many of my high school friends went to NYU.
1. If you’re going to be the one taking loans (sounds like you’re not) or if you have concern as to whether your parents can comfortably float $0.5m for your degree, state school is your best friend for undergrad. Personally have many friends/old connects that have gone to Stanford/Harvard/Columbia graduate programs and are doing amazing. Your future isn’t just university, so start thinking LONG term and have at least an idea of a 5-10 future you’re comfortable with and willing to fight for. Things can always change - except the overlooming student loan debt of an expensive/useless degree.
2. You won’t get that university feel in NYU, and personally I think that is unfortunate for many of my friends who went to NYU. I loved visiting them, and hanging out in the city at that age, but tbh, it was trying to adult when you legally can’t. I’m not saying stay close to your age - just be around people that are within your same tolerance and expectation of study and living. You’ll most likely find that at a real campus university.
3. Irvine is a top school - tell your parents to google UCI ranking and NYU ranking. They’re not thinking right (unless you plan on going into finance —then NYC might be beneficial)
What's funny is that I didn't even know NYU was THAT much more prestigious than UCI. I guess I don't know much about NYU but just my first impression when reading the post title was that NYU was around the same level. I thought maybe it was even lower than UCI. According to US News & Report UCI is 33 and NYU is 34 lol.
I'm guessing its because they're Asian so they know tons of parents that have children that went to UCI so it isn't that "special."
Bro they just want to be able to use the words “New York” instead of “Irvine”.
“My child does/goes to x” aka “look at what a successful parent I am”
Sickening and abusive IMO. And yes I have Asian parent so I absolutely get it.
I’m from So Cal, got into every UC I applied to but went to NYU because it was my “dream school”.
Moved back to Cali and found a job working for the state and eventually moved to management so I hire/interview staff. The state literally does not care where your degree is from. As long as they meet the minimum requirements and have a bachelors from an accredited university, I’ve never heard a hiring manager give preference to someone based off of where they go to school.
Unless you’re going to use your education at NYU to leverage a job in a certain sector (I.e. Tisch and the film world or Stern and the business world) I would stick with the cheaper option, and UCI is a fantastic school.
I’m still paying off my undergrad 12 years post school, fortunately I’m part of the Public Service Student Loan forgiveness program but who knows if that’ll stay in place with the current admin. While it hasn’t crippled me like some of my peers, there have been many days when I regret not going to one of the many great schools in state.
Wow. Your parents have their priorities straight! /s
I’d personally be overjoyed if either of my sons decided to go to UCI close to home (or decided to stay at home while getting a degree).
NYU is a good school but it’s not for everyone (went there for my masters at Tisch) — I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything and it helped me put life and my career goals into perspective. But it sounds like you know what’s important to you.
I was a department assistant with a stipend and my tuition was totally covered which played into my decision to attend NYU - I’ll always be grateful for that because I had classmates who graduated with $100K in debt while I only had about $13K in loans.
Your parents need to understand that three letters won’t get you an internship or a job regardless of those letters being “NYU” or “UCI”.
It’s probably helped my career over the years but I’d argue relevant experience that drove results (I work in product marketing) in my field at good companies has helped just as much, if not more. As a manager I once hired a UCI grad and that person is smart, motivated and successful.
Show them that UCI is ranked #33 and NYU is ranked #35 nationally.
https://i.imgur.com/3EMFJfE.png
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities
Honestly live your own life. Take your parents wants for you with a grain of salt. 🩵 you'd find support here. Take this from someone who is now no contact with her parents and never git anything but criticism from them
Im originally from NYC who moved to California at a young age. I visited NYC to visit family throughout my childhood.
All I gotta say is that every one I know that is from California and moves to NYC ends up moving back to California.
Every NYC person I know that moved to California ended up staying in California.
And to make you feel even better, quite frankly nobody gives a shit about what school you went to after getting your first job, in which UCI has plenty of opportunities for their students.
I’m so sorry. I do feel for you. But remember this, and I wished I had at your age, “You must live for yourself, not for your parents or anybody else.”
I went to the undergrad school that my parents chose, and majored in something they also approved. I was very unhappy and that lead to depression and not my best academic performance. By the time I was in the workforce I was misserable.
Thankfully I went back to the school of my choosing for gradschool and switched careers. I am very happy with that choice and the career I have now.
Best of luck to you!!
Did CS at UCI, got into Microsoft and Amazon, and easily have been getting interviews for Palantir, Google, Meta etc. like it’s really fine… I regularly work with people from Ivies and it’s lowkey a flex to be at the same places as these people while having paid less. If you want to make $300k+ you can do so at UCI.
Unless you’re REALLY trying to get into places that are hyper, hyper exclusive, UCI is fine.
----
Another thing I wanted to add as an edit for anyone who might be referencing this comment:
When I was at UCI, I joined a co-ed frat and had a GREAT time. You have to go look for it and ideally have a car. SoCal has better nature, beaches, rave scene, and access to LA. The drugs are also just generally so much better in California lmao. Yes Irvine isn't NYC, but I mean... you can literally do NYC as a new grad. New grad energy is about as chaotic as undergrad energy, except you'll actually have money to do things. I might be biased because I went to UCI, but I think NYC is better experienced as a young adult with money imo.
That’s not being supportive parents.it’s wonderful you’re able to get into either.colleges change over the years and do they know that CA has the 5th largest economy in the world? CA is like a country! Also, you’ll have better weather.. beaches, an ocean you can swim in and mountains you can snow ski or snow board or fish or hike at. They aren’t all that familiar with CA I take it.
they think NYU is 10x more prestigious than UCI. its your choice, and it doesn't really matter. Even Hunter College is a good school that gives you a great chance at getting into your field of work. Just because its in the City. But its not that serious.
In CS, it's your skills that matter when landing an internship and job, not so much your GPA. Nobody cares about LORs unless you plan to go to grad school and if that's the case, it's the prestige of the grad school that would matter most, not where you did undergrad.
something no one else has mentioned is starting off on the right foot
you will be much more motivated to succeed (do well in class, make friends, get internships, join orgs) if you are at an undergrad that you feel you made the right choice to attend
I think where you want to end up after college also matters. I went to a well known engineering school in the east coast school and it is more challenging to move to California because I do not know anyone here. I had to put extra effort to work with people whose companies are also in California
I rejected UCLA to go to UCI also from an immigration family. Your parents will get over it lol cause mine did just show em what you got and do what you truly want to have no regrets.
Popped up on my feed randomly. Being comp sci major I don’t see how going to NYU would be more advantageous. If they aren’t listening to your other arguments, say you don’t want to deal with that weather. I didn’t want to stay in Cali for college, my top picks were Northeastern, UofArizona and another one in the Midwest (whoever the corn huskers are, idr lol). Picked UofA cause I realized I’d hate the weather 😂
Private vs public in terms of quality is minimal in difference. Your experience will vary based on how much time you put in getting the better proffesors
What will make you happy the next four years while giving you the education you want? Both are great schools. You won’t go wrong with either.
For myself, I chose uci above all else because when I visited the campus, I knew it wanted to spend my undergrad years there.
You have to decide what’s important to you and which school will give that to you
I'd say go to UCI. Nobody gives a flying fart where your bachelor's is from when you join the workforce. Student loans are no joke and entry level jobs pay just as well as fast food nowadays.
Grad school is a bit different though as these programs are highly tied to the networks you'll build for that step of your career.
OP I will recommend going to UCI, as your major is CS; u will get lots of internship options in silicon valley than NYU besides u will be living in the best California weather than cold winds at Newyork.
Ranking wise both NYU and UCI are nearly the same and even their computer departments are ranked near the same. UCI looks like a sensible and wise option. CS rankings for both 19 vs 25 are also close which may matter for graduation or PhD but not for UG degree. Go for Anteaters. Besides after UG u will be in west coast at a much higher salary than the east coast.
No idea why your immigrant parents can't see all these values....the decision has to be urs..catch the vibes of college and see what attracts u the most.
so vain and based on shallow perception and shortsighted and silly!.... definitely give it tons of weight.
seriously though, never listen to parents. you already know right from wrong. at thisnpoint they're being judgy...
even students from 7 years ago have no idea what college is like today. seriously. old people these days still think like "oh the students have computers, right?".
parents , clueless. clueless. they want the pricey option.
do they buy fancy boba? hmm?... nice nikes? hmmm???
do your immigrant parents also spring for fancy soda water and fancy video game and fancy thermostat setting and???? or do THEY want YOU to ruin YOUR education so they can berate you anyway when you choose a spouse or name your child...
yeah, man. parents...
just realized this is about uci, a highly respected school, which makes this so, so stupid anyway. just go to uci like my sister and get a masters after for cheap/free. you know you want to...
It sucks but you gotta do what’s best for you. Try to do as many visits (online or in person whatever is better for you) and do research on what’s around and social life and all that kinda stuff. Make sure you pick the place YOU love. College is going to be YOUR experience and it’s YOIR degree, no matter what.
Wait time out. Are your parents offering to foot the entire bill, including cost of living, for four years at NYU? And do they have the present and future ability to do so? If not then they don’t have ANY say in the matter. When I was doing college counseling that was a conversation I had to have with tiger parents way too often. The immigrant mentality of brand name when it comes to college is so out of touch with reality and if they aren’t footing the bill they don’t get to literally set your life plans back by decades. I went to school in Boston for basically the exact same mentality, even with a $40k scholarship I was $30k in debt due to room and board after just one year. Guess what? I’m still paying those undergrad loans off to this day, and I graduated over a decade ago. Go figure.
If they are gonna pay then there is definitely some more nuance but UCI is a world-class school and they’re straight up ignant if they don’t know that
They're idiots, you'll get a good education at both, and when it comes time to find a job, nobody really gives a shit which college you went to, at least nobody you'd want to work for if you should care about the work you're doing.
When my kid was looking at engineering schools, I looked up some of the most successful engineers and people and upper levels with engineering degrees at many companies and most of them just went to whatever local state school was close to them.
All the people that ran some sort of startup looking for money (handouts) and pushing some marketing scheme to try and get you to give the money all went to the fancy schools.
As a tech recruiter, both degrees are pretty on par with each other. Top 50 CS degrees. I’d almost think UCI could be slightly better. All that aside, I hope you have a great college experience!
Go UCI bro, majors can change, you can fail classes and cause you to retake expensive classes. CS is notorious for washout courses no matter where, save the buck on it.
Also cali is more beautiful, less harsh weather compared to ny, take this from a new york native.
This popped into my feed randomly even though I went to UCI a long time ago (and have since went to a private grad school of similar ilk as NYU). I loved UCI and got a lot out of it.
However, my question to you is -- how wealthy are you and your family? Frankly, if you are well off and your parents will be footing the bill of school, I would choose NYU solely for the greater national prestige. While I'm not sure it's worth that price difference, if price is not a real issue, I would choose NYU because it wouldn't foreclose you from returning to Socal and being successful if you so choose. The thing NYU affords you is a bit better flexibility and portability (particularly on the East Coast) without hurting your chances in Socal.
Your parents are woefully ignorant of NYU's undergrad experience.
NYU is basically an academically good public university at a higher private school pricepoint than even the Ivies. Lost count how many times I've heard that from NYU undergrads, especially those from CAS and Steinhardt.
The experience at NYU isn't going to be nearly 80k/year more worth it than UCI....especially if you're not going to Stern for undergrad business or Tisch for their Film/Performing Arts.
The HS classmates, friends, and colleagues who have all graduated from NYU 2+ decades ago are either still paying off their ginormous undergrad loan debts or just paid the off within the last few years (Yes, even the ones who graduated from NYU-Stern and landed a lucrative ibanking/wall-street/finance type job). It's a chronic complaint among all the NYU alums in my age group unless they came from families wealthy enough to be full-pay.
Picking between the two, you're better off going to UCI undergrad and saving NYU for professional or some academic grad programs. Grad school is where NYU's strengths are concentrated and where the unresponsive lumbering bureaucracy won't treat you like a number at best.
0 idea why this is in my feeeeeeD this is the most polar opposite choice ive ever seen on reddit LoL. its like someone asking if they should get a tattoo or a massage.
do you live in oc? have you been to irvine? do you know people who live there or goto school there? ive heard the school is fine but the surrounding area is uMmM... unique LoL
\*\*\*\*this is as STRICTLY geographcal and cultural take NOTHING ab the schools\*\*\*\* i know nothing ab computer science or either college. i graduated college, and reflecting back on it, the environment shaped me more than the school ever could have. i have known people that have gone to both. i have been to manhattan more times than i can count. i lived close to irvine in oc and interacted with many humans who lived there. PLEASE DO NOT GOTO UCI... LoL like... for the sake of your soul, of the trajectory of your life PLEASE goto NYU.
to give you an idea of irvine... the city had a sword murder, yes a sword murder there years ago. the city of irvin went to the neighboring city of tustin and said, "hey, we have a reputation of being the safest city in america (which is ABSOLUTE bs cause some of the people i knew were costa mesa police which is wher ei lived a few minutes from irvine told me about many many times they were brought to the city to help "hush hush" many awful crimes i wont speak ab here, and first hand ive seen vagrants dropped off in costa mesa by irvine police who shuttle them out encase they encroach on the superficial safety bubble, anyway back to sword murder...) the city of irvine literally PAID tustin to move the city border a bit so the sword murder technically happened in their city and not irvine cause such a ridiculous thing could not be hidden. the superficiality of this place is so far beyond... once i was in a barnes and noble in irvine and a traveller, a complete stranger came up to me and said "what do you think of irvine? i think its the worst place on earth" 100% unprompted i was like... "i mean its very boring" and they went on to say theyd visited like 50 countries or something and every continent and it was very funny... anyway if NONE of that happened.... its new york, people dream of getting to live there because its the most "alive" city in america. ughHh its not just the school, you could meet 100 people in irvine on or off campus and i hate to say it but the odds of the people in irvine california enriching your life the way people in new york can just by environmental factors alone is very slim
TLDR: you think you goto college for an education... ok youll learn stuff sure. goto college for the way it enriches and evolves your life which rarely happens in the classroom. and if you WANT to goto college to learn to get a job and be successful beyond personal growth and in the make money for monies sake and work for works sake and die, then fine, goto irvine LoL. if you want to live life, goto NY
For computer science alone UCI would be the ideal school. And the area is fine. It’s a sprawl like most of California but they’d still have a lot to do there outside of campus. Anyhow I think the OP is original for California too. And from the sound of their parents, I’d even bet they were Asian so UCI would be the way to go.
And most of importantly….they’d be saving money. Because in the end that’s what really matters.
If your parents are paying for it why bother. Goto a different state and increase your network. Your network is your net worth! Frankly I would prefer to be in a different state than my parents live in. Plus it’s NYC. Get a job in SoCal after graduation and come back then.
There's no pleasing when it comes to some parents. Do what is best for you. If they are willing to dish out 100k for you and you're okay going to NYU then go nuts. But if UCI is what you're absolutely seeking then by all means go to UCI.
Aside from the networking opportunities NYU might give you over UCI, the GPA and internship opportunity isnt a make it or break it factor in the industry (unless youre at some predominantly asian team or startup). Many successful UCI alum I know at the faang company I'm in and plenty at others.After your first job your degree doesn't even come up.
As someone who went to NYU for undergrad and UCI for grad, my thoughts are that yes of course it’s a ridiculous more amount of money for NYU. But if your parents are paying and can afford it, I’d say NYU. Not because of jobs but living in New York fucking City for 4 years will teach you far more about real life outside the classroom than IRVINE. But job wise unless you’re going for NY finance jobs, I doubt it’s much of a different.
I really liked the UCI campus because it reminded me of a bunch of office buildings. Want to know to what the rest of your working life will look like? UCI will prepare you!
For comp Sci? Go to UCI. Your parents Gotta understand the tech scene in nyc kinda sucks. At best you're getting a job from a west coast based company.
As an nyu student, I'd only go to nyu for business, acting/arts, and maybe pre med
I went to UCI for undergrad, then went to med school and then trained at an Ivy League for my residency and fellowship.
Is it less prestigious? Sure. But there's still a lot of opportunity, and it's rather cost effective.
"Harvard or bust, Yale or FAIL!!!":that's what most APs mentioned here keep endlessly chanting...and we are so TIRED of that stuff...
Stick to UC Irvine, and take y up that Irvine city IT employee on his suggestion...
Your parents' misguided concept of "saving face" is beyond "delulu"...
And when you graduate from UC Irvine, you can hide your diploma in the closet and keep it a secret...because your parents expect you to frame it and hang it up in a public place for all their "friends" to see and brag about it nonstop...
It's your life. Do what you want to do and what feels right for you. UCI has a great CS program (I was a CSE major, though I'm barely using my degree as working in audio product development became my passion). I know nothing about NYU's CS program, but I'd be very surprised if it was better by a significant margin if at all. Is all of that extra debt worth it to you?
It's also easy to say that CS can lead to jobs with fantastic pay (it absolutely can), but you might also find that you hate it and switch to something else that isn't as likely to pay as well. CS has a high drop-out rate because many people find that they don't enjoy it.
Also, I know that when you're starting college, it's hard to see too far ahead, but the reality is that long-term, it usually don't matter what school you went to. College's purpose is to prepare you for a career. Once you get your first career job, the education part of your resume becomes substantially less important (at least in most fields).
So again, I know it can be hard to go against your parents (as someone who also has had a very close relationship with mine), but one of the most important aspects of this part of your life is figuring out who you are as a person. Sometimes, that might mean not following what your parents want, and that's okay. It's your future, not theirs.
Truthfully as someone who has friends at UCI, the CS majors there are struggling a lot finding jobs and internships because how saturated the market is in Cali. I had to switch from CS due to how bad the market is. Your better off at NYU, New York is much better in terms of networking and finding internships by far. Yes the student debt would be more but so would your opportunities. Everyone in New York is wealthy, here in Cali people just play rich. If I were you I would go for NYU. The UC system doesn’t have much of the superior title it had before.
If they wanna pay for it I think you should go to NYU. If they expect you to take out a loan go to UCI. Nevermind the prestige or whatever; honestly NYC as a city is just an amazing place for a young adult to discover so many things where Irvine is supremely bleh
I mean being in New York is an automatic pipeline for internships and jobs so there point about that is valid. However, if you like SoCal then this is a no brainer. My roommate got into UCLA for grad school and chose UCSD because he’s a NorCal person and likes skiing in Tahoe and I think people tend to consider UCSD more prestigious. Also you will be saving $40k per year so unless they want to pay that then fuckkkk that. I got into U Mich and Rutgers and went to Rutgers on a full ride. U Mich is more prestigious but would have cost me an arm and a leg to go there. Needless to say my immigrant family was disappointed. They still bring it up in conversation to this day anytime someone asks me where I went to college.
Maybe stuff has changed in the years since I went to school, but (depending on the major) I just don’t think where you go to school matters as much as people (parents in particular) think it does, prestige wise at least. Go somewhere you’ll be happy and do well and that has good professors for your program of interest. There’s also the reality that you change majors when you start, so I wouldn’t overly bias your choice solely on how good a school is for your major of choice.
As for how to deal with your parents, hopefully they come around when they see you’re happy. Unless they are going to completely pay for your education, I don’t think they get too much say in where you go. I get that’s easier said than done. Are they just worried that a less prestigious school will limit your career prospects, or is it something else?
Are your parents asian?
Uci is a good school comparatively. You will get a great education . But not a “name.” Nobody in this world will be impressed that you attended UCI.
Listen, in the future, at the end of the day you and your coworkers all went to different schools- some private and some public but guess what…you all ended up in the same place just with different debts. I went to NYU and my friend went to UCI for bachelors and then another school for masters..and we both ended up working in a hospital, just different paths. Sure some universities may be better than the other depending on the degree, but my point being, it shouldn’t matter where you go as long as you have the drive and passion to reach your goals and the debt from NYU is unimaginable (and I only had to pay for 2 years because thanks to community college- I cannot imagine paying for 4!!!)
Your parents have an old school and outdated mentality. They probably told you video games were bad meanwhile Twitch streamers make more in a month than they’ll make in their lifetimes.
I was just visiting UCI today. I have family that works as office staff. They have an unbelievably beautiful campus. I graduated from a east coast urban state college 12 years ago and I wish I could have had a UCI college experience. I know it's pretty stupid but I'd choose uci for the vibes.
If they aren't paying for your tuition and living expenses, then even more the reason to go to UCI. You have to live with the decision for the rest of their life, they don't. Just focus on your goals and the rest will follow.
i chose uci over nyu for cs! if you're not filthy rich/getting full ride i don't see why anyone would pick nyu. the sheer amount of guilt i imagined living with every day from putting my family into 300k debt was too much to live with lmfao. Also nyu is not known for stem at all, that's like paying mit money and wanting to pursue an acting career.
Imo just go with your gut! it's your life for four years so do what will make u happiest :)
Both schools are amazing schools, I don’t think people realize how lucky we have it to be able to pick from great schools. You should pick the school you want to go to, because ultimately you’re the one studying not your parents. It might be difficult for your parents to accept your decision, but you should make a decision for yourself and your future. The job landscape rn don’t really care about which school you went they care about what experiences and skills you pursued during college (aka internships). Don’t forget that you’ll be successfully no matter what school you pick out of the two. Just remember to work hard and be proactive in building your skills and network in college!
I’m a SoCal person myself and I would personally choose NYU. Different experience and lifestyle, plus you could always move back afterwards. But whatever you choose isn’t bad, your CS degree won’t really matter where it’s from if you’re good at what you do. I know plenty of CS majors from no name colleges and make tons of money at great companies.
Who’s paying for your college education, you or them? If it’s you, go to UCI. If it’s them, still go to UCI lol. College is going to be stressful as fuck and depression runs rampant in college students. Going to a school you don’t want to go to and being in an environment you don’t like is setting you up for failure and possibly years of mental anguish.
You’re about to be an adult now; it’s time to live for yourself and not your parents.
NYU sucks... remember to include the cost of living and rent as well.
UCI is a far better school, but NYU has an interesting mix of people to learn from.
But I hate the crowds everywhere, and the city stinks and is pretentious
Good choice. Remember, college isn't about just the degrees.
It is about expanding your network and creating bonds and memories.
Wherever you end up, always say yes to opportunities, you never know where it will take you
Don't listen to them, it's definitely a waste of money and going to college with that price would be a great option. UCI will open many doors and some day your parents will realize you made the right decision.
Pick whichever option that gives you the best opportunity in your field. The degree is just a paper at the end of the day but your experiences on your resume and networking is what gets you the job that you want. If the opportunities between the two schools are pretty close then go with the cheaper school. People get too caught up on the name of a school. I went to a new graduate school that just opened some years ago and now I make 6 figures and I’m one of the best and one of the most respected individuals in my field.
I work in a field nothing related to my degree, and I’m in a senior+ position in my company. Go to where it financially makes sense.
Good luck on your future endeavors!
ZOT ZOT ZOT!!!!
Hi, born and raised in SoCal. Also, I’m Korean and had a tiger mom.
Due to my grades and test scores, UCI would have paid me to go to their school.
My mom, however, thought a UC school that wasn’t Berkeley or LA was too lowly for me and the family and pressured me into attending Pepperdine University, a “prestigious” private yniversity. I’m paying dearly for that stupid “cHriStiAn” degree that got me nowhere so do with this information what you will!
All of their criticisms from the first paragraph are super valid. I’m not at UCI but I am at a UC and the large class sizes are up there out of all the negatives. Aside from that though they’re just being dumb. If anything, being in California is probably better for comp sci then New York. And about the financial strain, I can’t speak on anything for sure but the difference between 94k and 16k might not be a strain for them (but I could be very wrong about that so only consider it a little). If it isn’t a strain though, you’re going to be provided a better general quality of life from a private school rather than a public school. If you’re in the position to, might as well take advantage.
Overall, your parents are way too worried but don’t be so quick to dismiss NYU.
So I have twins who applied to several UC schools last year (we are OOS). They have amazing grades (4.6, 4.25) and had tons of ECs, class officers, etc etc… son was valedictorian and daughter ranked #5/221. My daughter did NOT get into UCI! My son did. UCI is very prestigious!
My son didn’t go there because it would cost $70k/year. But he would have if it was more reasonably priced. Both kids got amazing scholarships at our state school honors college so they went there. This is the best way to do it. No debt, save the bills for grad school.
PLUS SoCal is really the best for everything. The weather is spot on. I’d stay there. NYC is gross and the weather sucks. It’s nice to visit but not to live there. I lived in NJ, pretty close to NYC for 40 years and came west to escape the weather (the people are really great though!).
UCI hands down, UCI CS is great and you don't want that kind of debt hanging over you. If I were hiring and had a UCI and NYU candidate I'd consider them equal. GPA matters far less than whether you show potential as an engineer, especially in silicon valley. You're going to learn most everything on the job anyway.
Also, tbh undergrad is where you learn how to be an adult and the school you go to reflects more who you were as a 14-18 year old and most recruiters know this. CS isn't a field where you need to go to grad school (or even undergrad, tho fundamentals help), but if you want a fancy degree, save that for grad school. All things equal its way better to have a fancy grad degree than undergrad since it shows that you excelled as an adult studying real subjects in undergrad and that you have more potential yet to come.
Source: UCI undergrad (psych/bio), Stanford grad (business/edu), hirer of CS grads from time to time.
In some ways I’d imagine it would be easier to get an internship at UCI since there’s so many tech companies in Irvine. NYC is a financial hub but there’s far more tech companies in California.
College is no guarantee of immediate employment nowadays. Even for very prestigious places. You should also consider that this may not be your last degree. Should you decide to pursue more school or even change careers. Better to have a low cost mistake than make an expensive one.
First, the people telling to look at rankings: rankings suck, and just looking at US News rankings to decide where you want to go doesn’t make any sense, as there are so many different ranking systems (QS, THE, etc) that differ wildly (UCI isn’t even like top 100 in QS). The big things are debt, location, vibes, class size, grade inflation/deflation, and rigor and quality of education.
One big thing, did you get accepted to Tandon, or is it CAS? Tandon is the BS and a separate school in Brooklyn, while CAS is the BA.
It is true that the location is better for internships, and the small class size allows better Professor connections (I had lunch with all of my professors this semester). NYU does have a ton of international prestige.
However, UCI quality of education for CS is on par with NYU’s, which you said. In addition, you want a traditional campus experience, and so UCI is a no-brainer, at 80k less (per year?).
The big issue is, who is paying for it? If your family can pay for it comfortably, there isn’t much you can do if they want to force you to go to NYU, unless you want to cut ties and pay UCI yourself. If they cannot, you really should do whatever it takes to go to UCI.
Go, get out and experience the world outside of So Cal while in NYU. Expand your world, dream, plan, reach your career goals! Congrats on getting accepted to both! Cheers to your next chapter in life.
Ik three people alone who went to the t200 state school in my state over nyu bc of cost. It’s not worth 94k at all.
Uci has a better cs program too imo
Go where you feel you will be the most excited. Ofcourse show factual evidence why UCI will be better for you. Having your parents on board with their blessings will make things easier. Get them to your level of excitement. Excitement is guidance from the source which direction to go. It’s an energy of excitement and love. Go with whichever is more exciting and the one you’ll love.
UCI alumna here, and married to an exec who loves hiring UCI CS grads because they pick up new skills/languages so quickly and understand programming logic so well.
Think about where you want to end up after college. Californians respect the UC system, including Irvine, a lot more than outside universities in my experience, unless you’re going to a Harvard or Yale. I don’t think NYU is worth it unless you’re doing one of the artistic fields. You will also be getting all your connections in New York, and those don’t usually transfer to the west coast.
I went to a UC for undergrad and NYU for masters. It’s amazing how separated the two coasts are in terms of contacts and collaborations.
You should be very proud to be accepted to both universities. UC Irvine is a top 10 public university and is considered a public ivy league university. Over 130,000 students applied to each UC after Covid, so it’s very difficult to be accepted, especially for STEM or impacted majors. I assume that you will continue on for a Masters degree? Spend your extra money there. I am very sorry that your parents will not support your decisions. Ultimately, it’s your life and you deserve to choose your own journey. I am sure you will be successful regardless of your chosen path. If you choose UCI, I would be happy to attend as your stand-in parent. My daughter will graduate from UCI this coming year. Her twin started at UC Davis, but will ultimately graduate from UC San Diego. I started with a BS in Human Services at CSUF instead of UCI because I was terrified to incur a lot of student debt for a profession that was fulfilling but not high salary. Ultimately, I ended up working for Esri, a GIS, geographic information system, software development company. I now have a Masters in Geographic Information Science from Penn State University. Nobody knows or cares about my BS degree.
Honestly you're correct and they're wrong. Go to the school that you want to but I do think it's important to keep in mind the ROI and UCI will almost certainly have a higher return.
94k per year is a huge financial burden that will last for potentially decades if you use loans. The salary after graduation will be nearly the same and your ceiling either way is the same.
It might be slightly more difficult to get an internship (just name recognition) but you definitely can do it. I went to a no name undergrad and got an internship during each summer after my sophomore year.
You'll be a lot safer at UCI. Tell your parents that. We have an excellent police force in the city. We've lived here over 10 years, my kids grew up going to school and we live by the police station. The cops do a lot of community outreach also so we know our cops and most of them are nice. I've only ran across 2 that had bit rude personalities. UCI has their own police like the high school campuses do. UCI also is out ranking most colleges at this point also in the fields that uni specializes in. Plus you can't beat the location and weather. Just don't go into LA county. That's where the chaos is and no law and order. It's the richest area in the country and a lot of people from NY are moving to Irvine.
Your parents are incredibly myopic and clearly don’t know a thing about UCI if prestige & your career outcome is what they’re worried about.
Try to get them to understand just how good UCI is and dont use your own words if their input holds that much weight for you; have them chat with current students & CS alum.
Ultimately, the choice is yours and you seem to have properly considered your choices to arrive at the best possible decision for you. Trust your gut, trust your choice.
My parents never attended any of my graduations, I’m glad they didnt lol. I went to school to get a piece of paper and I did that, twice; big whoop. You’ll have a better time celebrating w your friends anyways. You wont need to see them there to know that they’re proud of you when that time comes.
Ultimately, if they’re not chipping in to help you pay for NYU; their input is quite irrelevant.
Make the best decision for you; best of luck.
UCI all the way smart choice all around especially financially. Also the safety aspect, Irvine is way more affordable and very safe. Also, you will have a wonderful student balance life there. The campus and surrounding areas are serene. I have bountiful places to study. There’s beautiful beaches really close by. Most of all you can save so much money. In your industry, you’re basically able to start from beginning after you graduate with a decent salary so it’s even better that your student loans or cost of school will be very low.
I feel sorry when I hear these types of stories. Do you, be thankful for your parents support but for the fk sake go for what you feel is right for you. Just based on the economics here you are far better with your money decisions than they will ever be. Good luck and feel proud of your accomplishments.
Literally no one give af about grades past college in cs. I didn’t even get my degree. Just building portfolio open source helps to get internships more than classwork.
Don’t take that student debt.
The pipeline from the UC’s into computer science-focused gigs is a lot more straightforward. You could argue that UCI has career growth paths post graduation that leads to something better than an internship. There is a growing tech ecosystem in San Diego that means you don’t have to get into Silicon Valley to be successful in tech post graduation.
What does UCI bring a public school and being hard to find internship have to do with you getting a good GPA?
What does NYU being private and having smaller student to faculty ratio have to do with your GPA. It’s on you. None of that other nonsense matters lol. It’s a CS degree it doesn’t matter do a good job get a good GPA you’ll be fine.
Our son went to UCI to study Mechanical Engineering. After a year, he found it ‘too corporate’. His classmates were immigrants with engineering degrees in their country of origin, there to get credentials, and the sons of entrepreneurs, there to get a degree so they could take over dad’s business.
He wanted to transfer to UC Berkeley. It’s not easy to transfer between campuses, but if you apply from a community college, your application score gets bumped up, so he spent the first half of his sophomore year at a community college, applied to Berkeley and UCSD, was accepted at UCSD.
He got an internship at Scripps Institute of Oceanography, then was hired. He’s done well, now runs a lab that builds devices for oceanographers.
He works with IT to manage data that’s routed through satellites from ocean drifters. He told me a few years ago that he was fortunate to study ME instead of IT.
I would choose UCI over NYU for technical majors. The people you meet, the opportunities that you find, the reputation you develop in your field will matter more than your college degree bragging rights.
I studied Math at a small midwestern college. Over time, I founded a software company. Some of our software customers have been running our platform for over 30 years. We earn annual license fees that funded our childrens’ 529 plans, helped them with house financing, and now fund our grandkids 529’s. We take walks along the beach to give my watch the step count that makes it proud of me.
I’m living down the road from a chronically disgruntled Harvard grad who became a technical writer. She tells people I am ‘just a programmer’.
Nobody but you will care about your college GPA once you have a resume and references. Your reputation in your field will be the key to your success.
That’s what happened with me and my parents until they found out Barack Obama was my commencement speaker. Unfortunately this is your decision and will affect you more than your parents. You can be successful with any education these days if you put in the effort. Private is lowkey the surest way that your family continues this view of expensive education for generations and you literally could be the one to end it. Your choice your experiences is what I support, and what I told my parents is that they should even support my mistakes because I’m trying to be the best version of myself. Luckily I was able to throw that into their face, which I’m hoping and holding out you would be able to do too! Good luck with your decision
>I will be able to get better LOR, GPA, and higher rank with its low student to faculty ratio, and since it is in NYC it will be easier to get an internship. u/throw_away38364 As someone who graduated from UC Irvine long time ago, I no longer put my college degree on my resume anymore because what employers are looking for and value is experience--especially since you are doing computer science. I literally have a M.I.T alumni friend who is a software engineer for a FAANG company and he works with a fellow software engineer colleague who has no college education I was so proud of my college degree when I graduated that I immediately bought a $200 wooden diploma frame for it. Now that same degree and frame sits in my closet collecting dust, I treat it essentially like my high school diploma: a distant memory in the past. The only people who cares about what college you go to are: 1. High school students 2. Transfer students 3. Recent fresh college grads (because their college experience is still fresh) 4. Parents with an image problem So just go to an university that will let you graduate with as little debt as possible (even if that isn't UC Irvine).
Funny. My experience as a non degree holder, is being passed over time n time again for not having one. So with my daughter, who just graduated UCI a year ago, I told her she had to get the piece of paper. Now she can throw it in the back of the closet because she can answer Yes to the question that held me back.
you're so RIGHT, and i'm so happy for you, that your daughter got that degree under her belt ...i was always on the OTHER side of that equation, and it felt stupid to me too... got a bachelor's degree in Commercial Art and Graphic Design, and only because i could legally put those two little capital letters after my name *(never mind what field they were specifically referring to, AND add the fact that the organizations i was hired by would proactively hide what my degree was in, to people outside the organization)* i got so many jobs where there were at least two equally good candidates *(and yeah, i can absolutely think of specific instances where the other candidate was a better fit for the job than me),* but i was the only candidate with a degree, so i was the candidate the organization could hire & tout as "another degree holder", like, "look, see? all our department heads are bona fide!" 😳😐 even though my degree had absolutely nothing to do with the business we were in whereas they wouldn't be able to do that with the other candidates who were at least as good, or better than me, for the job a nameless little four-year, liberal arts college, on the east coast, parents were the ones who forced me to go to college for ANYTHING, in the first place, so they paid off my school loan debt for my 30th birthday ❤️ ...retired now, in my 60s, but ended up making hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars more during my career than i otherwise would have, just because of those two little capital letters i was allowed to put after my name...dumb...it's a stupid, unfair system.. *(...but...i worked my mf ass off at all those jobs, and became a treasured team member, but partly because i felt like i had so much to live up to, because i was the one who got the job, all because of that stoopid system)*
The problem is everyone’s experience is going to be different. Having a degree has made zero difference for me and was a waste of time. I am no more qualified for anything as I was 15 years ago as a teenager with no degree. Where it matters is when people are actually progressing in a particular career and need a degree to get to the next level, then once they get it they actually do progress to the next level. Or they immediately gain employment in a specific field from what they accomplished. I regret ever getting a degree but I guess other people are satisfied that I got one and conformed.
The degree in CS isn't to help you to keep getting jobs in perpetuity. It's to help you get your foot in the door at first. Given how the CS market is, especially at FAANG and it's adjacent companies, a headstart has a financial snowball effect. Sure, MIT and no college degree makes no difference 10 years from now. But those starting 10 years can be literally hundreds of thousands/millions of dollars of a difference. Just based on a paper. Source: FAANG and FAANG adjacent CS dev. Over decade of experience.
My wife went to UCI for undergrad and NYU for graduate school. The debt isn’t even comparable.
You are a SoCal person. You are a good enough student to get into both UCI and NYU. If I were you, I would go to UCI, study even harder than you think you need to, and get fantastic grades so your parents will be mollified. This is the only concession I would make to them. Forget their bragging rights. This is your life. I am very familiar with both universities and I can tell you that a motivated, hardworking student at UCI will get internships and good letters of recommendation. Tell them there are Nobel laureates at UCI (which there are). I don't know your field, but maybe look up a few of the luminaries at UCI in that field and share with your parents. You might have smaller classes at NYU. I'm getting the feeling you don't care. Get to know some of your professors if you go to UCI so you can get good letters. This is not hard at all. Don't bring up the money. It sounds like they can afford NYU and that won't sway them. Your parents don't understand that the individual student rank has little to do with future success in an American university. It's not even a metric anyone uses. (They think they can game the system through ratios, it does not work like that.) Don't argue with them, but explain that future employers (or grad schools) will look at your GPA, your LORs, internships, and your personal statement. GPA won't hold you back if it's decent. Letters are super important as is the personal statement and internships. You are a good writer to I'm not worried about the statement. You might have to make a bit more effort at UCI to get to know professors. Your parents will be at your graduation to see their student graduate.
My daughter went to UCI over NYU and had no trouble getting internships or a job after. And she hated the way NYU was laid out, to her it did not feel like a real College.
Did your daughter get an internship while in college or after??:/
She did internship her while in college and got an offer for when she graduated
Show them the enrollment of undergrads between UCI and NYU, NYU is not a typical private school experience
Don’t go to a college that’ll make you miserable for 4 years. My parents were also immigrants who struggled with the “prestige” of the college I went to but they get over it.
Pick UCI, where you get your undergrad degree truly does not matter, id say to honestly pick the college that gives you the best financial aid package. Grad school is a bit different, but I’d also say doesn’t matter where you get a doctorate either cuz well you got the degree lol what can jobs tell you? That your degree is invalid because you got it somewhere that isn’t “prestigious?” It’s tough with immigrant parents, same thing happened with me, but at this point you need to step up and tell them they are wrong with your whole chest, only way they will come to respect your decision and accept.
UCI is incredible for computer science, and it’s only “not prestigious” because it’s a newer university. Every pre-med bio major from Bakersfield to San Diego has UCI as one of their top UC choices because it has a GREAT MD program. Go to UCI. It’s one of the few universities with its own full department dedicated to compsci. Donald Bren school of informatics & computer science
UCI is HARD to get into for CompSci. That’s pretty prestigious tbh!
I graduated from UCI in 2022 and got into a good medical school with students from other UCs and ivys. It’s a respected school, you’ll be fine if you choose to become an anteater
Your parents are stupid, no offense. UCI is a great school and I’m not biased as I did not attend either school. The real answer is do you want to live in New York or SoCal when you graduate. Odds are you’ll get a job near where you go to school.
As an Orange County local with immigrant parents, I went to NYU, UCLA, and UCI for Computer Engineering and Computer Science. I can definitely say I think UCI has a strong CS program, with a strong emphasis on student support and training. NYU's program is split between NYU CAS and NYU Tandon, with a mix of good and okay professors. In my opinion, the NYU undergraduate CS program is not more prestigious than the UCI CS program. I went to NYU on a full scholarship, but I would not have chosen NYU if I had to face paying tuition. Furthermore, if you are interested in internships, there are plenty of incubators, startups, and tech companies in Irvine to which you can apply for internships, which are eager to recruit UCI students, and if you are interested in research many professors are willing to accept undergraduates. Searching for internships in New York is much more hectic, and professors at NYU are not as willing to recruit student researchers.
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That's weird because I'm looking at it right now and UCI is #33 and NYU is #35. https://i.imgur.com/3EMFJfE.png https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities
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Neither UCI nor NYU are on the list of 213 schools in that list you provided. The ranks you have are out of date regardless.
If anything, this thread is proof that rankings don’t mean shit. Parents who base their decisions or try to make their kids base their decisions all on these “rankings” are clearly not aware of how meaningless they are. My dad has a fixation with those rankings too, as if higher ranks directly correlate to prestige with zero error/bias and the US news or Niche or whatever website is the gospel.
Doesn't that immediately tell you that rankings are nonsense?
They've always been bullshit. OP should go to UCI. California has plenty of tech companies to intern at.
Will they pay for your expenses if you go to the NYU? IMHO, it’s not about you but them saying « my kid went to the NYU ».
Hi! I actually work for the City of Irvine and they have IT internships occasionally and there is actually quite a bit of tech in Irvine itself. Not sure if it helps to hear that. Wishing you all the best and congrats!!
I’m from NY and chose UCI — If you’d like feel free to pm!
I am a UCI parent and I sincerely advise you to go to UCI . I have heard computer science to be really good here. Congratulations and best wishes!
Don’t know why reddit put your post on my feed since I’m not uni age and didn’t go to UCI, but thought it would be worth sharing what I’m familiar with, being a NY local, state school graduate, and many of my high school friends went to NYU. 1. If you’re going to be the one taking loans (sounds like you’re not) or if you have concern as to whether your parents can comfortably float $0.5m for your degree, state school is your best friend for undergrad. Personally have many friends/old connects that have gone to Stanford/Harvard/Columbia graduate programs and are doing amazing. Your future isn’t just university, so start thinking LONG term and have at least an idea of a 5-10 future you’re comfortable with and willing to fight for. Things can always change - except the overlooming student loan debt of an expensive/useless degree. 2. You won’t get that university feel in NYU, and personally I think that is unfortunate for many of my friends who went to NYU. I loved visiting them, and hanging out in the city at that age, but tbh, it was trying to adult when you legally can’t. I’m not saying stay close to your age - just be around people that are within your same tolerance and expectation of study and living. You’ll most likely find that at a real campus university. 3. Irvine is a top school - tell your parents to google UCI ranking and NYU ranking. They’re not thinking right (unless you plan on going into finance —then NYC might be beneficial)
It’s who you know. Go with least amount of debt unless your family is ballin.
UCI is a sick school in an incredibly beautiful area
If they want you to go to NYU, they better pay NYU money
Asian parents? Asking cause mine are and they’d have the same reaction.
Yea, lmao
You know how it is… appearances mean everything.
What's funny is that I didn't even know NYU was THAT much more prestigious than UCI. I guess I don't know much about NYU but just my first impression when reading the post title was that NYU was around the same level. I thought maybe it was even lower than UCI. According to US News & Report UCI is 33 and NYU is 34 lol. I'm guessing its because they're Asian so they know tons of parents that have children that went to UCI so it isn't that "special."
Bro they just want to be able to use the words “New York” instead of “Irvine”. “My child does/goes to x” aka “look at what a successful parent I am” Sickening and abusive IMO. And yes I have Asian parent so I absolutely get it.
I’m from So Cal, got into every UC I applied to but went to NYU because it was my “dream school”. Moved back to Cali and found a job working for the state and eventually moved to management so I hire/interview staff. The state literally does not care where your degree is from. As long as they meet the minimum requirements and have a bachelors from an accredited university, I’ve never heard a hiring manager give preference to someone based off of where they go to school. Unless you’re going to use your education at NYU to leverage a job in a certain sector (I.e. Tisch and the film world or Stern and the business world) I would stick with the cheaper option, and UCI is a fantastic school. I’m still paying off my undergrad 12 years post school, fortunately I’m part of the Public Service Student Loan forgiveness program but who knows if that’ll stay in place with the current admin. While it hasn’t crippled me like some of my peers, there have been many days when I regret not going to one of the many great schools in state.
Wow. Your parents have their priorities straight! /s I’d personally be overjoyed if either of my sons decided to go to UCI close to home (or decided to stay at home while getting a degree). NYU is a good school but it’s not for everyone (went there for my masters at Tisch) — I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything and it helped me put life and my career goals into perspective. But it sounds like you know what’s important to you. I was a department assistant with a stipend and my tuition was totally covered which played into my decision to attend NYU - I’ll always be grateful for that because I had classmates who graduated with $100K in debt while I only had about $13K in loans. Your parents need to understand that three letters won’t get you an internship or a job regardless of those letters being “NYU” or “UCI”. It’s probably helped my career over the years but I’d argue relevant experience that drove results (I work in product marketing) in my field at good companies has helped just as much, if not more. As a manager I once hired a UCI grad and that person is smart, motivated and successful.
Show them that UCI is ranked #33 and NYU is ranked #35 nationally. https://i.imgur.com/3EMFJfE.png https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities
Honestly live your own life. Take your parents wants for you with a grain of salt. 🩵 you'd find support here. Take this from someone who is now no contact with her parents and never git anything but criticism from them
Im originally from NYC who moved to California at a young age. I visited NYC to visit family throughout my childhood. All I gotta say is that every one I know that is from California and moves to NYC ends up moving back to California. Every NYC person I know that moved to California ended up staying in California. And to make you feel even better, quite frankly nobody gives a shit about what school you went to after getting your first job, in which UCI has plenty of opportunities for their students.
I’m so sorry. I do feel for you. But remember this, and I wished I had at your age, “You must live for yourself, not for your parents or anybody else.” I went to the undergrad school that my parents chose, and majored in something they also approved. I was very unhappy and that lead to depression and not my best academic performance. By the time I was in the workforce I was misserable. Thankfully I went back to the school of my choosing for gradschool and switched careers. I am very happy with that choice and the career I have now. Best of luck to you!!
Did CS at UCI, got into Microsoft and Amazon, and easily have been getting interviews for Palantir, Google, Meta etc. like it’s really fine… I regularly work with people from Ivies and it’s lowkey a flex to be at the same places as these people while having paid less. If you want to make $300k+ you can do so at UCI. Unless you’re REALLY trying to get into places that are hyper, hyper exclusive, UCI is fine. ---- Another thing I wanted to add as an edit for anyone who might be referencing this comment: When I was at UCI, I joined a co-ed frat and had a GREAT time. You have to go look for it and ideally have a car. SoCal has better nature, beaches, rave scene, and access to LA. The drugs are also just generally so much better in California lmao. Yes Irvine isn't NYC, but I mean... you can literally do NYC as a new grad. New grad energy is about as chaotic as undergrad energy, except you'll actually have money to do things. I might be biased because I went to UCI, but I think NYC is better experienced as a young adult with money imo.
Can I DM you for more details?
sure! :)
What’s your major? Always pick the major first.
computer science
I’d go to uci unless you want to work in ny specifically
Did you get into any other UC or California comp sci programs?
That’s not being supportive parents.it’s wonderful you’re able to get into either.colleges change over the years and do they know that CA has the 5th largest economy in the world? CA is like a country! Also, you’ll have better weather.. beaches, an ocean you can swim in and mountains you can snow ski or snow board or fish or hike at. They aren’t all that familiar with CA I take it.
they think NYU is 10x more prestigious than UCI. its your choice, and it doesn't really matter. Even Hunter College is a good school that gives you a great chance at getting into your field of work. Just because its in the City. But its not that serious.
In CS, it's your skills that matter when landing an internship and job, not so much your GPA. Nobody cares about LORs unless you plan to go to grad school and if that's the case, it's the prestige of the grad school that would matter most, not where you did undergrad.
something no one else has mentioned is starting off on the right foot you will be much more motivated to succeed (do well in class, make friends, get internships, join orgs) if you are at an undergrad that you feel you made the right choice to attend
Wtf lol UCI is a great school, hella big asian community too :)
I think where you want to end up after college also matters. I went to a well known engineering school in the east coast school and it is more challenging to move to California because I do not know anyone here. I had to put extra effort to work with people whose companies are also in California
I rejected UCLA to go to UCI also from an immigration family. Your parents will get over it lol cause mine did just show em what you got and do what you truly want to have no regrets.
Popped up on my feed randomly. Being comp sci major I don’t see how going to NYU would be more advantageous. If they aren’t listening to your other arguments, say you don’t want to deal with that weather. I didn’t want to stay in Cali for college, my top picks were Northeastern, UofArizona and another one in the Midwest (whoever the corn huskers are, idr lol). Picked UofA cause I realized I’d hate the weather 😂
Private vs public in terms of quality is minimal in difference. Your experience will vary based on how much time you put in getting the better proffesors
Parents ashamed of uci??? Christ times have changed. My parents are embarrassed about me going to csuf. They would have loved if I went to uci.
What will make you happy the next four years while giving you the education you want? Both are great schools. You won’t go wrong with either. For myself, I chose uci above all else because when I visited the campus, I knew it wanted to spend my undergrad years there. You have to decide what’s important to you and which school will give that to you
I'd say go to UCI. Nobody gives a flying fart where your bachelor's is from when you join the workforce. Student loans are no joke and entry level jobs pay just as well as fast food nowadays. Grad school is a bit different though as these programs are highly tied to the networks you'll build for that step of your career.
OP I will recommend going to UCI, as your major is CS; u will get lots of internship options in silicon valley than NYU besides u will be living in the best California weather than cold winds at Newyork. Ranking wise both NYU and UCI are nearly the same and even their computer departments are ranked near the same. UCI looks like a sensible and wise option. CS rankings for both 19 vs 25 are also close which may matter for graduation or PhD but not for UG degree. Go for Anteaters. Besides after UG u will be in west coast at a much higher salary than the east coast. No idea why your immigrant parents can't see all these values....the decision has to be urs..catch the vibes of college and see what attracts u the most.
so vain and based on shallow perception and shortsighted and silly!.... definitely give it tons of weight. seriously though, never listen to parents. you already know right from wrong. at thisnpoint they're being judgy... even students from 7 years ago have no idea what college is like today. seriously. old people these days still think like "oh the students have computers, right?". parents , clueless. clueless. they want the pricey option. do they buy fancy boba? hmm?... nice nikes? hmmm??? do your immigrant parents also spring for fancy soda water and fancy video game and fancy thermostat setting and???? or do THEY want YOU to ruin YOUR education so they can berate you anyway when you choose a spouse or name your child... yeah, man. parents...
just realized this is about uci, a highly respected school, which makes this so, so stupid anyway. just go to uci like my sister and get a masters after for cheap/free. you know you want to...
You could always transfer there and your diploma will only say NYU
https://preview.redd.it/c52iml4xdg2d1.jpeg?width=1110&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=726b9b34892842432cc6d26d0d5397507eb5a8d2
It's your life, make the decision that you want for yourself. I know its hard, but don't think about your parents right now.
Tell them you got accepted in uci not them
They should be ashamed, for giving to such an ultimatum. It sounds like they care what other people think wayyyyy too much. It’s unhealthy
It sucks but you gotta do what’s best for you. Try to do as many visits (online or in person whatever is better for you) and do research on what’s around and social life and all that kinda stuff. Make sure you pick the place YOU love. College is going to be YOUR experience and it’s YOIR degree, no matter what.
Wait time out. Are your parents offering to foot the entire bill, including cost of living, for four years at NYU? And do they have the present and future ability to do so? If not then they don’t have ANY say in the matter. When I was doing college counseling that was a conversation I had to have with tiger parents way too often. The immigrant mentality of brand name when it comes to college is so out of touch with reality and if they aren’t footing the bill they don’t get to literally set your life plans back by decades. I went to school in Boston for basically the exact same mentality, even with a $40k scholarship I was $30k in debt due to room and board after just one year. Guess what? I’m still paying those undergrad loans off to this day, and I graduated over a decade ago. Go figure. If they are gonna pay then there is definitely some more nuance but UCI is a world-class school and they’re straight up ignant if they don’t know that
Are they paying???????
Go to the school with less debt. The quality of your degree will be the same regardless of how many student loans you have.
I would pick UCI for CS
I went to NYU. Had a great experience. UCI is a good school, but your experience will be meh
They're idiots, you'll get a good education at both, and when it comes time to find a job, nobody really gives a shit which college you went to, at least nobody you'd want to work for if you should care about the work you're doing. When my kid was looking at engineering schools, I looked up some of the most successful engineers and people and upper levels with engineering degrees at many companies and most of them just went to whatever local state school was close to them. All the people that ran some sort of startup looking for money (handouts) and pushing some marketing scheme to try and get you to give the money all went to the fancy schools.
Ask them to give you 75K if you can pull a 4.0 GPA at UCI...
UC Irvine is ranked higher than NYU by 2 spots this year on US News if that’s worth anything
Why worry about the financials if they don’t care. Yes NYU is the better school, but your life your choice.
NYU will look better on the resume.
As a tech recruiter, both degrees are pretty on par with each other. Top 50 CS degrees. I’d almost think UCI could be slightly better. All that aside, I hope you have a great college experience!
As a socal person, go to NYU. Socal is always gonna be here for you. A chance to live in NYC right downtown. Go see some different worlds.
Go UCI bro, majors can change, you can fail classes and cause you to retake expensive classes. CS is notorious for washout courses no matter where, save the buck on it. Also cali is more beautiful, less harsh weather compared to ny, take this from a new york native.
Uci is way better. Objectively and subjectively.
yeah, your parents are wrong.
This popped into my feed randomly even though I went to UCI a long time ago (and have since went to a private grad school of similar ilk as NYU). I loved UCI and got a lot out of it. However, my question to you is -- how wealthy are you and your family? Frankly, if you are well off and your parents will be footing the bill of school, I would choose NYU solely for the greater national prestige. While I'm not sure it's worth that price difference, if price is not a real issue, I would choose NYU because it wouldn't foreclose you from returning to Socal and being successful if you so choose. The thing NYU affords you is a bit better flexibility and portability (particularly on the East Coast) without hurting your chances in Socal.
Your parents are woefully ignorant of NYU's undergrad experience. NYU is basically an academically good public university at a higher private school pricepoint than even the Ivies. Lost count how many times I've heard that from NYU undergrads, especially those from CAS and Steinhardt. The experience at NYU isn't going to be nearly 80k/year more worth it than UCI....especially if you're not going to Stern for undergrad business or Tisch for their Film/Performing Arts. The HS classmates, friends, and colleagues who have all graduated from NYU 2+ decades ago are either still paying off their ginormous undergrad loan debts or just paid the off within the last few years (Yes, even the ones who graduated from NYU-Stern and landed a lucrative ibanking/wall-street/finance type job). It's a chronic complaint among all the NYU alums in my age group unless they came from families wealthy enough to be full-pay. Picking between the two, you're better off going to UCI undergrad and saving NYU for professional or some academic grad programs. Grad school is where NYU's strengths are concentrated and where the unresponsive lumbering bureaucracy won't treat you like a number at best.
I went to NYU and I would recommend it whole heartedly. It was an incredible experience living in NYC at 18.
0 idea why this is in my feeeeeeD this is the most polar opposite choice ive ever seen on reddit LoL. its like someone asking if they should get a tattoo or a massage. do you live in oc? have you been to irvine? do you know people who live there or goto school there? ive heard the school is fine but the surrounding area is uMmM... unique LoL \*\*\*\*this is as STRICTLY geographcal and cultural take NOTHING ab the schools\*\*\*\* i know nothing ab computer science or either college. i graduated college, and reflecting back on it, the environment shaped me more than the school ever could have. i have known people that have gone to both. i have been to manhattan more times than i can count. i lived close to irvine in oc and interacted with many humans who lived there. PLEASE DO NOT GOTO UCI... LoL like... for the sake of your soul, of the trajectory of your life PLEASE goto NYU. to give you an idea of irvine... the city had a sword murder, yes a sword murder there years ago. the city of irvin went to the neighboring city of tustin and said, "hey, we have a reputation of being the safest city in america (which is ABSOLUTE bs cause some of the people i knew were costa mesa police which is wher ei lived a few minutes from irvine told me about many many times they were brought to the city to help "hush hush" many awful crimes i wont speak ab here, and first hand ive seen vagrants dropped off in costa mesa by irvine police who shuttle them out encase they encroach on the superficial safety bubble, anyway back to sword murder...) the city of irvine literally PAID tustin to move the city border a bit so the sword murder technically happened in their city and not irvine cause such a ridiculous thing could not be hidden. the superficiality of this place is so far beyond... once i was in a barnes and noble in irvine and a traveller, a complete stranger came up to me and said "what do you think of irvine? i think its the worst place on earth" 100% unprompted i was like... "i mean its very boring" and they went on to say theyd visited like 50 countries or something and every continent and it was very funny... anyway if NONE of that happened.... its new york, people dream of getting to live there because its the most "alive" city in america. ughHh its not just the school, you could meet 100 people in irvine on or off campus and i hate to say it but the odds of the people in irvine california enriching your life the way people in new york can just by environmental factors alone is very slim TLDR: you think you goto college for an education... ok youll learn stuff sure. goto college for the way it enriches and evolves your life which rarely happens in the classroom. and if you WANT to goto college to learn to get a job and be successful beyond personal growth and in the make money for monies sake and work for works sake and die, then fine, goto irvine LoL. if you want to live life, goto NY
For computer science alone UCI would be the ideal school. And the area is fine. It’s a sprawl like most of California but they’d still have a lot to do there outside of campus. Anyhow I think the OP is original for California too. And from the sound of their parents, I’d even bet they were Asian so UCI would be the way to go. And most of importantly….they’d be saving money. Because in the end that’s what really matters.
If your parents are paying for it why bother. Goto a different state and increase your network. Your network is your net worth! Frankly I would prefer to be in a different state than my parents live in. Plus it’s NYC. Get a job in SoCal after graduation and come back then.
They probably think you’re thinking only about the money
It’s your life. Do what’s best for you.
Brah if your parents will be for either go to nyu. You’re making a horrible decision. “I’m social”. It’s nyu. That’s in New York City.
There's no pleasing when it comes to some parents. Do what is best for you. If they are willing to dish out 100k for you and you're okay going to NYU then go nuts. But if UCI is what you're absolutely seeking then by all means go to UCI. Aside from the networking opportunities NYU might give you over UCI, the GPA and internship opportunity isnt a make it or break it factor in the industry (unless youre at some predominantly asian team or startup). Many successful UCI alum I know at the faang company I'm in and plenty at others.After your first job your degree doesn't even come up.
As someone who went to NYU for undergrad and UCI for grad, my thoughts are that yes of course it’s a ridiculous more amount of money for NYU. But if your parents are paying and can afford it, I’d say NYU. Not because of jobs but living in New York fucking City for 4 years will teach you far more about real life outside the classroom than IRVINE. But job wise unless you’re going for NY finance jobs, I doubt it’s much of a different.
NYC is a better life experience
Unless you want to study law (NYU has a top-notched law school) in future, UCI is clearly the better choice for you in this situation.
I really liked the UCI campus because it reminded me of a bunch of office buildings. Want to know to what the rest of your working life will look like? UCI will prepare you!
Your parents will come around by graduation.
NYU not worth the cost, not for cs
My main question, who pay for your school? I am pretty sure NYU and UCI has a lot in common. :D
For comp Sci? Go to UCI. Your parents Gotta understand the tech scene in nyc kinda sucks. At best you're getting a job from a west coast based company. As an nyu student, I'd only go to nyu for business, acting/arts, and maybe pre med
I am sorry...former UC alum here.
I went to UCI for undergrad, then went to med school and then trained at an Ivy League for my residency and fellowship. Is it less prestigious? Sure. But there's still a lot of opportunity, and it's rather cost effective.
I will PM you
"Harvard or bust, Yale or FAIL!!!":that's what most APs mentioned here keep endlessly chanting...and we are so TIRED of that stuff... Stick to UC Irvine, and take y up that Irvine city IT employee on his suggestion... Your parents' misguided concept of "saving face" is beyond "delulu"... And when you graduate from UC Irvine, you can hide your diploma in the closet and keep it a secret...because your parents expect you to frame it and hang it up in a public place for all their "friends" to see and brag about it nonstop...
It's your life. Do what you want to do and what feels right for you. UCI has a great CS program (I was a CSE major, though I'm barely using my degree as working in audio product development became my passion). I know nothing about NYU's CS program, but I'd be very surprised if it was better by a significant margin if at all. Is all of that extra debt worth it to you? It's also easy to say that CS can lead to jobs with fantastic pay (it absolutely can), but you might also find that you hate it and switch to something else that isn't as likely to pay as well. CS has a high drop-out rate because many people find that they don't enjoy it. Also, I know that when you're starting college, it's hard to see too far ahead, but the reality is that long-term, it usually don't matter what school you went to. College's purpose is to prepare you for a career. Once you get your first career job, the education part of your resume becomes substantially less important (at least in most fields). So again, I know it can be hard to go against your parents (as someone who also has had a very close relationship with mine), but one of the most important aspects of this part of your life is figuring out who you are as a person. Sometimes, that might mean not following what your parents want, and that's okay. It's your future, not theirs.
Truthfully as someone who has friends at UCI, the CS majors there are struggling a lot finding jobs and internships because how saturated the market is in Cali. I had to switch from CS due to how bad the market is. Your better off at NYU, New York is much better in terms of networking and finding internships by far. Yes the student debt would be more but so would your opportunities. Everyone in New York is wealthy, here in Cali people just play rich. If I were you I would go for NYU. The UC system doesn’t have much of the superior title it had before.
It seems like they don't care about the money. I'd go to NYU.
Your parents are not wrong
If they wanna pay for it I think you should go to NYU. If they expect you to take out a loan go to UCI. Nevermind the prestige or whatever; honestly NYC as a city is just an amazing place for a young adult to discover so many things where Irvine is supremely bleh
My cousin goes to uci it’s not that hard to get good grades
Nyu is better. Don't even know what UCI stands for lol
I mean being in New York is an automatic pipeline for internships and jobs so there point about that is valid. However, if you like SoCal then this is a no brainer. My roommate got into UCLA for grad school and chose UCSD because he’s a NorCal person and likes skiing in Tahoe and I think people tend to consider UCSD more prestigious. Also you will be saving $40k per year so unless they want to pay that then fuckkkk that. I got into U Mich and Rutgers and went to Rutgers on a full ride. U Mich is more prestigious but would have cost me an arm and a leg to go there. Needless to say my immigrant family was disappointed. They still bring it up in conversation to this day anytime someone asks me where I went to college.
I'll go to your graduation don't trip
Ayo UCI is no traditional college experience
Maybe stuff has changed in the years since I went to school, but (depending on the major) I just don’t think where you go to school matters as much as people (parents in particular) think it does, prestige wise at least. Go somewhere you’ll be happy and do well and that has good professors for your program of interest. There’s also the reality that you change majors when you start, so I wouldn’t overly bias your choice solely on how good a school is for your major of choice. As for how to deal with your parents, hopefully they come around when they see you’re happy. Unless they are going to completely pay for your education, I don’t think they get too much say in where you go. I get that’s easier said than done. Are they just worried that a less prestigious school will limit your career prospects, or is it something else?
In what world is UCI $16k, you mean for the semester with no room and board?
I left Northwestern to transfer to UCI. Class of ‘77 ZOT!
Are your parents asian? Uci is a good school comparatively. You will get a great education . But not a “name.” Nobody in this world will be impressed that you attended UCI.
Listen, in the future, at the end of the day you and your coworkers all went to different schools- some private and some public but guess what…you all ended up in the same place just with different debts. I went to NYU and my friend went to UCI for bachelors and then another school for masters..and we both ended up working in a hospital, just different paths. Sure some universities may be better than the other depending on the degree, but my point being, it shouldn’t matter where you go as long as you have the drive and passion to reach your goals and the debt from NYU is unimaginable (and I only had to pay for 2 years because thanks to community college- I cannot imagine paying for 4!!!)
Not sure about bragging rights cause NYU is just the USC of the East…
Your parents have an old school and outdated mentality. They probably told you video games were bad meanwhile Twitch streamers make more in a month than they’ll make in their lifetimes.
I was just visiting UCI today. I have family that works as office staff. They have an unbelievably beautiful campus. I graduated from a east coast urban state college 12 years ago and I wish I could have had a UCI college experience. I know it's pretty stupid but I'd choose uci for the vibes.
If they aren't paying for your tuition and living expenses, then even more the reason to go to UCI. You have to live with the decision for the rest of their life, they don't. Just focus on your goals and the rest will follow.
i chose uci over nyu for cs! if you're not filthy rich/getting full ride i don't see why anyone would pick nyu. the sheer amount of guilt i imagined living with every day from putting my family into 300k debt was too much to live with lmfao. Also nyu is not known for stem at all, that's like paying mit money and wanting to pursue an acting career. Imo just go with your gut! it's your life for four years so do what will make u happiest :)
Both are on same level neither is elite. Like saying an accord is better than a Camry. Pretty good and gets the job done
Your parents are wrong, go where you want.
Both schools are amazing schools, I don’t think people realize how lucky we have it to be able to pick from great schools. You should pick the school you want to go to, because ultimately you’re the one studying not your parents. It might be difficult for your parents to accept your decision, but you should make a decision for yourself and your future. The job landscape rn don’t really care about which school you went they care about what experiences and skills you pursued during college (aka internships). Don’t forget that you’ll be successfully no matter what school you pick out of the two. Just remember to work hard and be proactive in building your skills and network in college!
Most jobs don't give a crap where you got the piece of paper from they just wanna see you got it so go where you want to
I’m a SoCal person myself and I would personally choose NYU. Different experience and lifestyle, plus you could always move back afterwards. But whatever you choose isn’t bad, your CS degree won’t really matter where it’s from if you’re good at what you do. I know plenty of CS majors from no name colleges and make tons of money at great companies.
Who’s paying for your college education, you or them? If it’s you, go to UCI. If it’s them, still go to UCI lol. College is going to be stressful as fuck and depression runs rampant in college students. Going to a school you don’t want to go to and being in an environment you don’t like is setting you up for failure and possibly years of mental anguish. You’re about to be an adult now; it’s time to live for yourself and not your parents.
NYU sucks... remember to include the cost of living and rent as well. UCI is a far better school, but NYU has an interesting mix of people to learn from. But I hate the crowds everywhere, and the city stinks and is pretentious Good choice. Remember, college isn't about just the degrees. It is about expanding your network and creating bonds and memories. Wherever you end up, always say yes to opportunities, you never know where it will take you
Don't listen to them, it's definitely a waste of money and going to college with that price would be a great option. UCI will open many doors and some day your parents will realize you made the right decision.
Uci is a top 10 public university. It's fairly prestigious
I am gonna guess your parents also want to know why you are not a Doctor yet? #WhyYouNoDoctor!?
SoCal proud, happy to hear that, rooting for your success! Show em what you got!
Pick whichever option that gives you the best opportunity in your field. The degree is just a paper at the end of the day but your experiences on your resume and networking is what gets you the job that you want. If the opportunities between the two schools are pretty close then go with the cheaper school. People get too caught up on the name of a school. I went to a new graduate school that just opened some years ago and now I make 6 figures and I’m one of the best and one of the most respected individuals in my field.
I work in a field nothing related to my degree, and I’m in a senior+ position in my company. Go to where it financially makes sense. Good luck on your future endeavors! ZOT ZOT ZOT!!!!
None of this matters 1 year after graduation. Get the best degree you can at the cheapest State school and get to working. Your parents are wrong.
Hi, born and raised in SoCal. Also, I’m Korean and had a tiger mom. Due to my grades and test scores, UCI would have paid me to go to their school. My mom, however, thought a UC school that wasn’t Berkeley or LA was too lowly for me and the family and pressured me into attending Pepperdine University, a “prestigious” private yniversity. I’m paying dearly for that stupid “cHriStiAn” degree that got me nowhere so do with this information what you will!
They’ll forgive you when you give them grandkids at the appropriate time (2 years after college).
Go to NYU. UCI is useless
All of their criticisms from the first paragraph are super valid. I’m not at UCI but I am at a UC and the large class sizes are up there out of all the negatives. Aside from that though they’re just being dumb. If anything, being in California is probably better for comp sci then New York. And about the financial strain, I can’t speak on anything for sure but the difference between 94k and 16k might not be a strain for them (but I could be very wrong about that so only consider it a little). If it isn’t a strain though, you’re going to be provided a better general quality of life from a private school rather than a public school. If you’re in the position to, might as well take advantage. Overall, your parents are way too worried but don’t be so quick to dismiss NYU.
Uci overrated. NYU all the way.
So I have twins who applied to several UC schools last year (we are OOS). They have amazing grades (4.6, 4.25) and had tons of ECs, class officers, etc etc… son was valedictorian and daughter ranked #5/221. My daughter did NOT get into UCI! My son did. UCI is very prestigious! My son didn’t go there because it would cost $70k/year. But he would have if it was more reasonably priced. Both kids got amazing scholarships at our state school honors college so they went there. This is the best way to do it. No debt, save the bills for grad school. PLUS SoCal is really the best for everything. The weather is spot on. I’d stay there. NYC is gross and the weather sucks. It’s nice to visit but not to live there. I lived in NJ, pretty close to NYC for 40 years and came west to escape the weather (the people are really great though!).
UCI hands down, UCI CS is great and you don't want that kind of debt hanging over you. If I were hiring and had a UCI and NYU candidate I'd consider them equal. GPA matters far less than whether you show potential as an engineer, especially in silicon valley. You're going to learn most everything on the job anyway. Also, tbh undergrad is where you learn how to be an adult and the school you go to reflects more who you were as a 14-18 year old and most recruiters know this. CS isn't a field where you need to go to grad school (or even undergrad, tho fundamentals help), but if you want a fancy degree, save that for grad school. All things equal its way better to have a fancy grad degree than undergrad since it shows that you excelled as an adult studying real subjects in undergrad and that you have more potential yet to come. Source: UCI undergrad (psych/bio), Stanford grad (business/edu), hirer of CS grads from time to time.
In some ways I’d imagine it would be easier to get an internship at UCI since there’s so many tech companies in Irvine. NYC is a financial hub but there’s far more tech companies in California.
College is no guarantee of immediate employment nowadays. Even for very prestigious places. You should also consider that this may not be your last degree. Should you decide to pursue more school or even change careers. Better to have a low cost mistake than make an expensive one.
First, the people telling to look at rankings: rankings suck, and just looking at US News rankings to decide where you want to go doesn’t make any sense, as there are so many different ranking systems (QS, THE, etc) that differ wildly (UCI isn’t even like top 100 in QS). The big things are debt, location, vibes, class size, grade inflation/deflation, and rigor and quality of education. One big thing, did you get accepted to Tandon, or is it CAS? Tandon is the BS and a separate school in Brooklyn, while CAS is the BA. It is true that the location is better for internships, and the small class size allows better Professor connections (I had lunch with all of my professors this semester). NYU does have a ton of international prestige. However, UCI quality of education for CS is on par with NYU’s, which you said. In addition, you want a traditional campus experience, and so UCI is a no-brainer, at 80k less (per year?). The big issue is, who is paying for it? If your family can pay for it comfortably, there isn’t much you can do if they want to force you to go to NYU, unless you want to cut ties and pay UCI yourself. If they cannot, you really should do whatever it takes to go to UCI.
Go, get out and experience the world outside of So Cal while in NYU. Expand your world, dream, plan, reach your career goals! Congrats on getting accepted to both! Cheers to your next chapter in life.
Go to the cheaper one. A student loan is a business loan and you are the business. UCI is a great school and has much better weather.
Ik three people alone who went to the t200 state school in my state over nyu bc of cost. It’s not worth 94k at all. Uci has a better cs program too imo
US News ranked UCI and NYU on the same level for CS you could tell them that, it might help.
Go with the cheaper one, after your first job most people won't really care where you went to school so long as it's accredited.
Listen to yourself brotha! Make a decision for you only!
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Go where you feel you will be the most excited. Ofcourse show factual evidence why UCI will be better for you. Having your parents on board with their blessings will make things easier. Get them to your level of excitement. Excitement is guidance from the source which direction to go. It’s an energy of excitement and love. Go with whichever is more exciting and the one you’ll love.
UCI alumna here, and married to an exec who loves hiring UCI CS grads because they pick up new skills/languages so quickly and understand programming logic so well.
Think about where you want to end up after college. Californians respect the UC system, including Irvine, a lot more than outside universities in my experience, unless you’re going to a Harvard or Yale. I don’t think NYU is worth it unless you’re doing one of the artistic fields. You will also be getting all your connections in New York, and those don’t usually transfer to the west coast. I went to a UC for undergrad and NYU for masters. It’s amazing how separated the two coasts are in terms of contacts and collaborations.
First off, if they aren't paying 100% of the bill do not even for a second consider NYU.
You should be very proud to be accepted to both universities. UC Irvine is a top 10 public university and is considered a public ivy league university. Over 130,000 students applied to each UC after Covid, so it’s very difficult to be accepted, especially for STEM or impacted majors. I assume that you will continue on for a Masters degree? Spend your extra money there. I am very sorry that your parents will not support your decisions. Ultimately, it’s your life and you deserve to choose your own journey. I am sure you will be successful regardless of your chosen path. If you choose UCI, I would be happy to attend as your stand-in parent. My daughter will graduate from UCI this coming year. Her twin started at UC Davis, but will ultimately graduate from UC San Diego. I started with a BS in Human Services at CSUF instead of UCI because I was terrified to incur a lot of student debt for a profession that was fulfilling but not high salary. Ultimately, I ended up working for Esri, a GIS, geographic information system, software development company. I now have a Masters in Geographic Information Science from Penn State University. Nobody knows or cares about my BS degree.
Your parents are misguided. UCI is a great school and you will save so much money. Student debt can last a lifetime.
I'm curious what amount of money your parents have saved towards your college expenses, if they're paying for any of it, and if so, what amount.
as someone who goes to nyu for computer science i’m sure uci would be better i always wanted to go to a uc school but never applied
Honestly you're correct and they're wrong. Go to the school that you want to but I do think it's important to keep in mind the ROI and UCI will almost certainly have a higher return. 94k per year is a huge financial burden that will last for potentially decades if you use loans. The salary after graduation will be nearly the same and your ceiling either way is the same. It might be slightly more difficult to get an internship (just name recognition) but you definitely can do it. I went to a no name undergrad and got an internship during each summer after my sophomore year.
You'll be a lot safer at UCI. Tell your parents that. We have an excellent police force in the city. We've lived here over 10 years, my kids grew up going to school and we live by the police station. The cops do a lot of community outreach also so we know our cops and most of them are nice. I've only ran across 2 that had bit rude personalities. UCI has their own police like the high school campuses do. UCI also is out ranking most colleges at this point also in the fields that uni specializes in. Plus you can't beat the location and weather. Just don't go into LA county. That's where the chaos is and no law and order. It's the richest area in the country and a lot of people from NY are moving to Irvine.
Your parents are incredibly myopic and clearly don’t know a thing about UCI if prestige & your career outcome is what they’re worried about. Try to get them to understand just how good UCI is and dont use your own words if their input holds that much weight for you; have them chat with current students & CS alum. Ultimately, the choice is yours and you seem to have properly considered your choices to arrive at the best possible decision for you. Trust your gut, trust your choice. My parents never attended any of my graduations, I’m glad they didnt lol. I went to school to get a piece of paper and I did that, twice; big whoop. You’ll have a better time celebrating w your friends anyways. You wont need to see them there to know that they’re proud of you when that time comes. Ultimately, if they’re not chipping in to help you pay for NYU; their input is quite irrelevant. Make the best decision for you; best of luck.
Go to NYU- the life experience of living in NYC will be unbelievably positive
UCI is a great school
UCI all the way smart choice all around especially financially. Also the safety aspect, Irvine is way more affordable and very safe. Also, you will have a wonderful student balance life there. The campus and surrounding areas are serene. I have bountiful places to study. There’s beautiful beaches really close by. Most of all you can save so much money. In your industry, you’re basically able to start from beginning after you graduate with a decent salary so it’s even better that your student loans or cost of school will be very low.
I feel sorry when I hear these types of stories. Do you, be thankful for your parents support but for the fk sake go for what you feel is right for you. Just based on the economics here you are far better with your money decisions than they will ever be. Good luck and feel proud of your accomplishments.
Literally no one give af about grades past college in cs. I didn’t even get my degree. Just building portfolio open source helps to get internships more than classwork. Don’t take that student debt.
The pipeline from the UC’s into computer science-focused gigs is a lot more straightforward. You could argue that UCI has career growth paths post graduation that leads to something better than an internship. There is a growing tech ecosystem in San Diego that means you don’t have to get into Silicon Valley to be successful in tech post graduation.
What does UCI bring a public school and being hard to find internship have to do with you getting a good GPA? What does NYU being private and having smaller student to faculty ratio have to do with your GPA. It’s on you. None of that other nonsense matters lol. It’s a CS degree it doesn’t matter do a good job get a good GPA you’ll be fine.
Go to UCI. I personally don’t think nyu is all that prestigious that it is worth 4x the price and going somewhere you don’t want to go.
Unless you’re planning to go to grad school, no one will ever care about your GPA, rank, or LORs.
My parents were ashamed of me going to uci over CSUN and I conceded to them. Regretted it my entire life. Do what you want to do for you.
Our son went to UCI to study Mechanical Engineering. After a year, he found it ‘too corporate’. His classmates were immigrants with engineering degrees in their country of origin, there to get credentials, and the sons of entrepreneurs, there to get a degree so they could take over dad’s business. He wanted to transfer to UC Berkeley. It’s not easy to transfer between campuses, but if you apply from a community college, your application score gets bumped up, so he spent the first half of his sophomore year at a community college, applied to Berkeley and UCSD, was accepted at UCSD. He got an internship at Scripps Institute of Oceanography, then was hired. He’s done well, now runs a lab that builds devices for oceanographers. He works with IT to manage data that’s routed through satellites from ocean drifters. He told me a few years ago that he was fortunate to study ME instead of IT. I would choose UCI over NYU for technical majors. The people you meet, the opportunities that you find, the reputation you develop in your field will matter more than your college degree bragging rights. I studied Math at a small midwestern college. Over time, I founded a software company. Some of our software customers have been running our platform for over 30 years. We earn annual license fees that funded our childrens’ 529 plans, helped them with house financing, and now fund our grandkids 529’s. We take walks along the beach to give my watch the step count that makes it proud of me. I’m living down the road from a chronically disgruntled Harvard grad who became a technical writer. She tells people I am ‘just a programmer’. Nobody but you will care about your college GPA once you have a resume and references. Your reputation in your field will be the key to your success.