As the title says, I want to major in computer science. I plan on applying to some of the top tier CS schools (U Washington, UC Berkeley, UT-Austin). However, chances are, I’m not gonna be accepted into the top schools, so I’m looking for slightly less competitive programs (roughly 20%-60% acceptance rate) that are still good.
I’m interested in artificial intelligence and software engineering (I’ll be exposed to the latter at almost every CS program, so this interest isn’t super important for my college search), so I’d be willing to look into any program with a somewhat moderate emphasis on AI/ML.
I heard that the following universities have good CS w/ AI programs. What are your thoughts on this?
U Mass Amherst
U Tennessee, Knoxville
U Rochester
Ohio State U
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
UC SD
U Michigan
If there are any other good CS AI schools, or if there are any good “tier 2” CS schools in general, please do tell me so.
some info:
Good Recs
decent extra-curriculars (mostly random)
1370/1600SAT (620R+W, 750M)
95/100 weighted GPA
AP Scholar w/ Distinction
taking 5 more AP’s senior year
- more info available upon request
Most colleges with good CS departments have at least an upper level course or two on AI/ML. If you want more than that, you may have to look through course catalogs, schedules, and faculty rosters to see how much more they offer (often at the graduate level).
Price limit and state of residency?
“I plan on applying to some of the top tier CS schools (U Washington, UC Berkeley, UT-Austin). However, chances are, I’m not gonna be accepted into the top schools, so I’m looking for slightly less competitive programs (roughly 20%-60% acceptance rate) that are still good.”
Michigan is probably more selective than Texas and UDbub…statistically anyway. The OOS acceptance rate is under 20%, and the average SAT/ACT score is 1430/32. RPI and Rochester are also quite selective.
I think good CS programs that are slightly “less selective” than those are Maryland-College Park, Purdue-West Lafayette and Wisconsin-Madison.
Your ambition is admirable, but before you get too carried away, make sure your parents can afford the out of state tuition. Otherwise, none of this will help you. The most you can take out in loans for a 4 year degree is $27k. If you have to co-sign loans to afford tuition, then you can’t afford it. You don’t want a pile of debt dragging down your choices, especially when you decide to get married and start a family. You’ll be surprised how much overlap there is in technology. Most CS and a lot of EE graduates end up getting IT jobs and spend their entire career never looking at a math problem.
@ucbalumnus
state: New Jersey
Price Limit: 35k/yr
@Alexandre
I see.
I am actually considering Purdue and U-Wisconsin. May you elaborate more on those?
@Dolemite
Seems to be fairly specialized and their CO-OP system looks good. But what do you think about the quality of their CS programs? I’ve read mixed reviews online.
Rutgers seems like an obvious school to add to your list.
Most out-of-state public universities give little or no financial aid and are therefore unlikely to be affordable. Try the net price calculators on their web sites to see the bad news.
Rutgers has an undergraduate introductory AI course, 440. It has additional graduate level courses in AI, 530, 532, 533, 534, 535. https://www.cs.rutgers.edu/graduate/courses
Wisconsin has a cost of attendance of $53k/year for OOS with no real chance of aid
at 35K/yr all the UCs are out of your price range since they offer no aid to OOS students.
OSU has good merit-aid for out of state students, which should get you in this limit. One can take a good number of classes in artifical intelligence as an undergrad there.
UT Austin would be over your budget ($50k+ a year for oos) and very competitive. Look into UT Dallas you have a chance to get some merit aid and if you get any merit aid you would automatically qualify for instate tuition rates. You might want to retake your SAT to increase your odds of merit aid. Please look at the cost of attendance at each you plan to apply to!
Drexel’s BS CS degree is ABET accredited. The Co-op program will help you land a job. Merit to take it down to 35K a year is possible but not guaranteed and can’t tell you how likely for your stats.
University of Massachusetts/Amherst. If you get some financial aid it could get into price point. And it’s cs and ai programs are excellent.