All he knows is he wants to be a computer engineer!

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi all -</p>

<p>My son is a senior and is having a lot of trouble narrowing down his list of colleges. He knows he wants to study computer engineering or computer science, but that is it as far as discriminating factors go for him when it comes to choosing a school. He likes schools in urban settings and rural ones; he likes far away and close by schools (we live in WA state); he likes big and small schools. So, narrowing down the list is a problem.</p>

<p>His tests scores are very good (well, by any standard but CC's :) ): 33 composite on the ACT and 760 CR - 700 M - 730 R on the SAT. His GPA is 3.6. I know that looks low, but two factors come into play: his freshman year was tough (3.3), and in his school, from looking at Naviance, very few kids have 3.8s or more. I guess grade inflation hasn't set in. He is probably in the top 15% in his class (his school doesn't publish rankings). He takes a fairly tough course load, including three AP and two honors courses this year. His extracurriculars are average.</p>

<p>These are the sorts of schools we are considering, broken down by our guess as to difficulty of getting into for him:</p>

<ul>
<li>Almost impossible: Cornell, Washington-St Louis, CMU</li>
<li>A reach but not impossible: Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, Boston College, UCLA, Michigan, USC, Rose Hulman</li>
<li>Good shot, but not guaranteed: Illinois, Cal Poly, RPI, UCSD, UCI, UW (Comp Eng program), Virginia Tech</li>
<li>Fairly safe: Purdue, UW (general), Santa Clara, USD, Georgia Tech</li>
</ul>

<p>Are we missing a computer/engineering school we ought to look at? He isn't interested in the service academies, and schools like Stanford et al are in the "impossible" range we assume. Money isn't really an issue, so we can look at private as well as public schools. Are there schools you'd eliminate from our list? I can't see applying to 20 schools...</p>

<p>Thanks for any help!
- PuzzledParent</p>

2

<p>Assuming money is not an issue, this is a good list. I think CMU would fall in the second group.</p>

3

<p>If he’s applying to UCLA, I would consider adding Berkeley. They have an exceptionally strong engineering department.</p>

4

<p>Rice has excellent computer science and ECE programs. It’s not an easy school to get into, but it looks at applications holistically and essays can make a big difference. My son was very strong in computer science but entered college thinking he wanted to major in ECE. He’s a senior now and he ended up double majoring in both ECE and computer science. He’s had incredible opportunities to do research and has had a lot of interaction with faculty. I really suggest your son look into it.</p>

5

<p>Rose-Hulman is pretty unselective. I’d put it in the “good shot” schools.</p>

<p>One school that you should look at is Harvey Mudd, although it would certainly be in the top tier. It’s a liberal arts school as part of claremont colleges with a focus on math, science, and engineering.</p>

6

<p>I’d add Case Western Reserve. It is a small science-focused full university; a friend went for a visit and fell totally in love, and I have corresponded with someone else whose daughter is very happy there. I agree with Rose-Hulman - it is like a liberal arts college for scientists, and people are happy and well-educated there. They’re not into weed-out classes, but they help the people who get in to get through. Both have merit aid for people with excellent stats. </p>

<p>I haven’t looked at the mid-50% scores for all those schools, but I’d assume your son is a little higher in the pools than you think he is.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

7

<p>I would not consider Georgia Tech a safety for an OOS applicant. Look again at the average test scores, admit rates, etc. Ditto for USD if that means UCSD (UC San Diego). The 2009 entering UCSD freshmen had an average HS GPA of 3.96. Presumably, the qualifications are even higher for OSS applicants.</p>

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<p>^UCSD is already listed under “good shot”. I think USD is UC Davis.</p>

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<p>*he likes far away and close by schools (we live in WA state); he likes big and small schools. So, narrowing down the list is a problem.</p>

<p>His tests scores are very good (well, by any standard but CC’s ): 33 composite on the ACT and 760 CR - 700 M - 730 R on the SAT. His GPA is 3.6. </p>

<p>He is probably in the top 15% in his class (his school doesn’t publish rankings). </p>

<p>His extracurriculars are average.</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Almost impossible: Cornell, Washington-St Louis, CMU</p></li>
<li><p>A reach but not impossible: Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, Boston College, UCLA, Michigan, USC, Rose Hulman</p></li>
<li><p>Good shot, but not guaranteed: Illinois, Cal Poly, RPI, UCSD, UCI, UW (Comp Eng program), Virginia Tech</p></li>
<li><p>Fairly safe: Purdue, UW (general), Santa Clara, USD, Georgia Tech</p></li>
</ul>

<p>Are we missing a computer/engineering school we ought to look at? </p>

<p>Money isn’t really an issue, so we can look at private as well as public schools. *</p>

<p>Since you can afford $55k+ per year for your son’s education, then I think your list is fine. :)</p>

<p>As long as your son can find a school that he also likes the “feel”…he’ll be great! :)</p>

<p>At this point, your son can narrow his list by thinking about “non academic” lifestyle aspects that he wants from a school…quiet campus, spirited campus, warm weather, cold/snowy weather, rural campus, city campus, male/female ratio, “eye candy” (some don’t like GT because of its supposed lack of pretty girls…LOL), etc.</p>

10

<p>And some like GTech because they’re more interested in smart girls than pretty girls.</p>

11

<p>Thanks for all the feedback and we welcome more. A few comments:

  • I’ll move GT “up”.
  • I think of Rice and Harvey Mudd like Stanford - schools he has no shot at. Am I incorrect?
  • USD is U of San Diego.
  • His GPA for UCs is higher than 3.6 given what courses and years they count. But I may be too optimistic on them.</p>

<ul>
<li>PP</li>
</ul>

12

<p>His GPA for UCs is higher than 3.6 given what courses and years they count.</p>

<p>What is his UC GPA?</p>

<p>*And some like GTech because they’re more interested in smart girls than pretty girls. *</p>

<p>Yes…To each his own…LOL…but, some guys like beauty and brains. (and some girls do, too!)</p>

13

<p>Rice has built 2 new residential colleges in the past few years and has had a corresponding increase in its class size. It’s also trying to increase geographic diversity. As I mentioned before, they really look holistically at applicants, and a terrific essay really makes a difference with them. I would say that yes, your son would have a shot. It’s still a reach, but not out of reach. You don’t know if you don’t apply.</p>

14

<p>His UC GPA would be around 3.8 - 3.9. We are hearing some interesting things here in WA about the UC schools, by the way. Apparently for the first time in a long time they are up here aggressively recruiting WA students. Schools like UCB that don’t usually do the local private high school tours are doing so now. I don’t know if that means anything in terms of their standards for OOS admissions though.</p>

<p>I will look further into Rice. Thanks for that info, blackeyedsuzan.</p>