Waterloo CS acceptance rate is under 10%, so it’s a reach. Waterloo has a double CS/business degree as well as other combinations in the Faculty of Math. https://ugradcalendar.uwaterloo.ca/page/MATH-List-of-Academic-Programs-or-Plans There is software engineering and computer engineering in the Faculty of Engineering too. Students can apply to 3 programs. Waterloo may offer an alternate program if the student is not accepted to one of the programs to which they applied.
How about Case Western Reserve University? They have a nice balance between STEM and Liberal Arts and are known for merit scholarships
Also I would add a more safe safety that he would be delighted to attend.
Waterloo has a CS degree with “business option”. However, this is basically a CS degree plus a business minor, not a dual-degree combination.
https://ugradcalendar.uwaterloo.ca/page/MATH-Computer-Sci-Business-Option
For a full BCS/BBA dual-degree combination, Waterloo has a joint program with nearby Wilfred Laurier University. However, this is a five-year program.
These are the usual limitations for joint CS/business programs. The ones that take four years don't typically offer full degree programs in both disciplines. The ones that do offer two full degree programs typically take five years, rather than four. Two full degree programs in four years is quite rare.Well if he gets into Pitt early (apply as soon as you can) and he’s happy to go there then you don’t need as many in the likely area.
@mathmomvt ,
you dont have NEARLY enough true safeties, especially since your DS is interested in the most competitive, popular major of college applicants today…
start hunting for more- those that have the programs he wants AND guarantee admission, otherwise he risks being left out in the cold next April. Any college that has a 10% admission rate is a REACH, not a match.
start here.
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
Are you going to allow him to apply early to EA colleges? there is quite a big difference in acceptance rates between EA and RA at selective colleges [ though that is mostly due to the early acceptance of recruited athletes, and others with “tips” applying early]
Add some rolling admissions colleges too.
There is NOTHING more calming than having an early acceptance. Then you KNOW he will be going to college.
it CAN’T hurt to apply to more safeties.
but NOT doing so can REALLY hurt, ESPECIALLY these days.
Case Western is no longer a safety. Valedictorian at my daughter’s school with super impressive stats and EC was wait listed.
Pitt (already on your list) offers good merit.
Here are some that offer auto merit:
- Alabama
- Ole Miss
- New Mexico
- Alabama-Huntsville
Any of these would broaden your “safe” base.
And (at least) UNM has an honors college. I think Bama does too, but I’m not sure about Mississippi or UAH. An honors college can make a big school seem much smaller.
He likes Pitt and Northeastern very much, and I believe both are clear safeties for him, so I think he’s safe even though his list is reach heavy. Pitt does rolling admissions. For a kid who is competitive for the tippy top schools, there’s really no such thing as a match, just reaches and safeties, and you kind of have to shotgun the reaches to see if any of your lottery chances come through. He has 36 ACT, will almost certainly be a NMSF, and is currently 2nd in his class of ~250, with strong ECs (see below).
At Waterloo he will apply to CS and SE (with Comp Engr as a backup – does not count as a third choice on the OUAC form – this is on the AIF). He’s not especially interested in the CS/Business degree, but may be interested in Data Science (which I’m not sure if it has separate admission from CS).
UBC and UWash are both on my radar, but his list already feels ridiculously long. (similar objection to adding more safeties, but we will if it seems necessary)
His ECs are: Junior class president, HOBY, extensive involvement in his school’s drama program (has participated in every production (3/year) since freshman year with major roles in many productions, also has been “historian” of the club for 2 years – this is 8+ hours per week most of the year), National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, and an after school choral group. No STEM ECs available here in rural VT, but he is top 5 in VT in UVM’s math competitions (but just missed AIME qualification), and will be participating in the Governor’s Institute of Vermont’s Mathematical Sciences institute by invitation on a full scholarship, and on Vermont’s ARML team. He took the Euclid and junior Computing contest from Waterloo this year, and will take Euclid again and Senior Computing contest next year. He has worked through a number of Project Euler problems while bored in AP CS class.
He will apply EA where he can, but not ED.
Does he really need more safeties? I guess we’ll see what he hears early from Pitt but I’d be gobsmacked if they don’t admit him.
“Does he really need more safeties?”
As I said before, It CAN’T hurt to have them.
A LOT of parents have gotten gobsmacked this year.
Do you want to be one of them next year?
So just remember that he may need to apply EARLY to the colleges at offer automatic admissions/ merit awards . Check the individual websites. Applying early at those colleges will NOT prevent him from applying EA to other colleges, such as Yale, because an early application is required for scholarship consideration.
If it was me, I’d come up with more safeties that you can add if he doesn’t get an early yes from Pitt. Your son’s qualifications are great but given the competitive nature of CS and results we’ve all seen here on CC for other high stats students, it’s just better to err on the side of caution which means more safeties.
You might want to consider adding UMass Amherst as a safety.
Very strong CS program
Offers some merit for OOS
Less heuristic admissions
The biggest potential downside of University of Waterloo CS is that it has 3300 undergrads plus 320 grad students and 80 professors.
.
That makes for a 45:1 student teacher ratio
https://cs.uwaterloo.ca/research
At about 825 graduates per year, Waterloo CS is bigger than MIT CS (325), Northeastern CS (178), Harvard CS (131) and Tufts CS (136) combined.
In fact, you could throw in Olin’s General Engineering (44) or most of Brandeis CS (59) for equivalency.
Olin does not really offer CS, it offers a computing concentration within a General Engineering Degree.
http://allendowney.com/swampy/E:C_FAQ.pdf
All coop degrees from Waterloo take 5 years. This is because students spend almost every other term on a work term. There are 8 terms of school and 6 terms of coop. Each term is 4 months. They don’t get summers “off”, except maybe the first one, and then they’d finish after the summer term of their 5th year. https://cs.uwaterloo.ca/future-undergraduate-students/co-op-and-regular
There are 345 CS spots at Waterloo each year. https://uwaterloo.ca/math/future-undergraduates/admissions#Targets Up until recently, it was relatively easy to transfer into CS from another program. They cut back on that this year.
There are 2600 undergraduates studying CS at Waterloo. 2100 of them are in coop. At any given time, half of them are on a work term, so are not on campus. https://uwaterloo.ca/institutional-analysis-planning/university-data-and-statistics/student-data/student-headcounts In 2017, there were 378 CS degrees awarded. https://uwaterloo.ca/institutional-analysis-planning/university-data-and-statistics/student-data/student-headcounts
Huh? What are you talking about? Of course those kids have matches. Generally any college with an acceptance rate between 15-20% and 40-50% (and for a kid majoring in CS I would use the higher of those numbers) is a safety unless the school is an OOS public or they are applying to an especially competitive school (like CMU CS or NYU Stern) or to be pre-admitted into an especially competitive major (like UW CS or JHU BME). Lehigh would be a match with a 26% acceptance rate and so would Northeastern with a 29% acceptance rate- it is in no way a safety.
Northeastern’s acceptance rate just hit 19% and that doesn’t even consider selectivity of CS (not publish but suspected). Absolutely not a safety. Pitt is still on the border but also getting more competitive.
I’d second UMass as a safety/low match. Maybe RIT?
@bouders - This is from their web page, (but I should have divided by 5 not 4). I wonder why the numbers (3300 vs 2600) are so different ???
Why is the Waterloo numbers all over the place and none of them add up? If they have 345 CS spot each year (defined as a Cohort), then they should only have 1380 students (if 4 years) or 1725 students (if 5 years). Where does the 2600 or 3300 come from?
Lehigh’s mid 50% ACT Score range is: The average ACT score composite at Lehigh University is a 30. The 25th percentile ACT score is 29, and the 75th percentile ACT score is 32. If they admit approximately 25% and you’re way above their 75%ile ACT score for admitted students (and also have a very strong GPA and ECs) how is that a match and not a safety?
According to The Princeton Review, “A safety school is one where your academic credentials fall above the school’s range for the average freshman. You can be reasonably certain that you will be admitted to your safety schools.”
By that definition, Lehigh (or Pitt or even Northeastern) is a clear safety. That definition doesn’t include selectivity but I was under the impression that unless the admit rate was very low (10% or below) using published credential ranges was sufficient. My point was that the schools that are a “match” for stats are automatic reaches based on super-low admit rates, but anywhere else he’s well above the published stat ranges, which makes those schools safeties.
Surely if you’re competitive for merit scholarships at a school, as I believe he certainly is at Pitt and probably is at Northeastern, then it’s a safety for admission. Unless the admit rates for CS are substantially lower, which is possible. I don’t believe Pitt currently has students apply directly to CS, so that should be less of an issue there.
As for other safeties, he doesn’t want to go to school in the south, but UMass Amherst is a possibility.
I’m guessing that those numbers include non-majors taking CS classes, perhaps?
Lehigh’s acceptance rate was 22% this year and they do practice holisitic admissions. You can’t go by stats alone and therefore I think Princeton Review’s definition of a safety school is flawed.
A lot of top stat students get waitlisted at merit scholarship and other schools that aren’t 10% or lower admissions rates. If you look at the results on each school’s forum, you’ll see evidence of such. There’s a good chance that won’t happen to your son but enough so that I don’t think you can view a 20% admit rate at a school like Lehigh as a safety.
How about RPI?