

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

I&#x27;ve made a list of pros&#x2F;cons for each school. I just finished my sophomore year as a CS&#x2F;Math major. Right now I&#x27;m interning at a mid-sized software company in Boston. I interned here last summer as well. I&#x27;m at Umass Amherst, and the schools I can transfer to are Cornell and Michigan.<p>UMass-Amherst CompSci+Math pros: Solid CS dept (top 10 AI&#x2F;top 25 overall), lots of ML&#x2F;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&#x2F;graduating  thesis. I have a good relationship with him. Solid GPA atm-3.75. I&#x27;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?<p>Cornell InfoSci Pros: Ivy pedigree&#x2F;Overall Rep, cool research in HCI&#x2F;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&#x27;m  assuming the worst case scenario.<p>Michigan CS Pros: Engineering powerhouse+Prestige, lots of  research, great recruiting. Would get CS degree+math minor. Cons: 45k debt<p>My ultimate goal is to work on machine learning problems in whatever capacity, i.e. doesn&#x27;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.
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andymoe
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.

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seanmccann
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.

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hrttrht
I doubt you have to worry about school's prestige if you want to work at
Amazon or Google or etc.

