SUNY Stony Brook V/S Dartmouth , MS in Computer Science

[seaweed]

Hi all,

I have received admits for Masters in Computer Science from Dartmouth College and SUNY Stony Brook. 

I would really appreciate it if you guys could give me some advice . They may be subjective or objective.

Below are my pros & cons lists:-

Dartmouth Pros :-

1. Greater reputation, vibrant culture
2. Smaller class size , so it will be quite different from a number of other universities which admit students by the droves. Greater student-faculty interaction perhaps ?
3. They have given me 25% scholarship, which is an encouraging incentive .. though the course is still a bit too expensive for me.

Dartmouth Cons :-

1. 50% more expensive as compared to Stony brook in terms of application fees.. though I suspect living expenses would be much lower.

Stony Brook Pros :-

1. Much cheaper.
2. Located in New York.
3. I know a few people studying there, as compared to Dartmouth where I do not know anybody.

Stony Brook Cons :-

1. Very large class size. According to a friend, there is very little student-faculty interaction and the campus is not really active.

 

Also, can you advise me on whether the Return-on-investment would suffieciently compensate for Dartmouth's fairly expensive program ?