Ask HN: Transfer schools Need advice- have less than a week to decide.

1 points by oatherbreakerr ↗ HN
I've made a list of pros/cons for each school. I just finished my sophomore year as a CS/Math major. Right now I'm interning at a mid-sized software company in Boston. I interned here last summer as well. I'm at Umass Amherst, and the schools I can transfer to are Cornell and Michigan.

UMass-Amherst CompSci+Math pros: Solid CS dept (top 10 AI/top 25 overall), lots of ML/AI stuff, and can definitely graduate a semester early. Worked with a Professor in Stats department starting this year and can continue work as part of my senior/graduating thesis. I have a good relationship with him. Solid GPA atm-3.75. I'll Graduate with no debt. Solid recruiting. I know some seniors who graduated and went to work at Amazon and Google.Cons: not prestigious and not as well known in NYC+San Francisco?

Cornell InfoSci Pros: Ivy pedigree/Overall Rep, cool research in HCI/ML, can still take classes in their CS department which is top 10, and better recruiting? Cons: 35k debt and \not a CS major. Information Science. I can try to switch, but I'm assuming the worst case scenario.

Michigan CS Pros: Engineering powerhouse+Prestige, lots of research, great recruiting. Would get CS degree+math minor. Cons: 45k debt

My ultimate goal is to work on machine learning problems in whatever capacity, i.e. doesn't matter whether startup,company like Google, or a research lab. I do want to live in either NYC or San Francisco. A long term goal would be to do my own thing or be a technical lead.

5 comments

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I doubt you have to worry about school's prestige if you want to work at Amazon or Google or etc.
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Don't underestimate the value of having no debt when you graduate. Debt makes it harder to take risks and thus can lesson your possible rewards.
Agreed! But don't over estimate the burden of debt. You might be able to wipe it quickly if you get the right job after graduating.