I'm a recent Year 12 graduate interested in doing Statistics + Computer Science. My original plan was to go to Melbourne and do a Bachelor of Science (Statisitcs) and do a Diploma of Computing to fulfill this, but I just received a scholarship offer from Monash (Vice Chancellor's Scholarship of Excellence), conflicting my entire viewpoint, and now I'm thinking of Bachelor of Science (Statistics) and Bachelor of Computer Science in Data Science.
Here are the pros and cons for each uni (for me):
UoM:- Said to be an AMAZING University for Statistics
- 30-40 minutes of commute in CBD (for the entirety of my HS years I commuted to school but it's only been 20ish minutes in morning)
- Majority of people I know going UoM (Not a huge factor)
- MUCH more prestige (not a huge factor but it's there)
Monash:- Scholarship of 6k a year
- 10ish minutes of commute
- Also have some good mates coming here (50/50 between monash and melb on this side)
- Statistics is not as good as UoM (they don't have you UNDERSTAND what you're doing, you are just doing)
- Monash Computer Science has a bit of a reputation in Australia, but I'm not sure about this
- More expensive (by around 1k)
Additional info - I am not planning on using 100% of my scholarship to pay off the student loan, but still a good amount. If I study for 4 years, I could pay around half or a little more of my student debt (I'm saving a bit for other equities, like rent or electricity)
I currently have Monash as Preference 1, but preferences close tomorrow at 4PM, and I'm really in a bind, as this decision will quite literally change my life. Which one should I do? I'm hoping for a Melbourne Access Scholarship which would give Melbourne solid footing, but my friend just received an offer so it seems highly unlikely I'll receive Melbourne Access currently.
It's basically Better Academics VS Better commute + Solid scholarship. If someone could share their opinion on this situation, that'd be amazing. I'm TORN on this