So for some context. I’m a high school senior in the middle of the college process. I’m applying to a total of 16 schools, 4 of which are California school, for Computer Science. (I have free and reduced lunch so my application fees are waived) My question is, since the west coast is amazing for computer science since Silicon Valley is a thing, is their any competitive edge a school like UCLA has over say Georgia Tech, Michigan, or Washington? Specifically in internships and connections. For example, UCSD and Michigan are both in the top 20 in the country for CompSci, but would I have a better experience/connection network at UCSD? This question applies to all California schools excluding Berkeley since Berkeley is tied for number 1 and is right next to Silicon Valley. Thank you in advance
The problem is that if you need lots of financial aid, the out-of-state public schools (other than maybe Michigan; check its net price calculator) are very unlikely to be affordable, since getting money there depends on super-reach large merit scholarships.
Go to each college’s net price calculator on its web site to see what financial aid it is likely to give (which will be little or none for most out-of-state public schools, other than those where you would get large merit scholarships).
I understand the price situation, and I’m well aware California schools don’t give the best financial aid. My question is, in a hypothetical scenario where I could afford any of the schools I applied to, is it more beneficial to go to a UC school or Georgia Tech for example if I’m studying comp sci
The California public’s give no financial aid to out of state applicants so full fees at $65K/year are the costs you should expect. No, there is no reason to pay $260K for 4 years at any of the California public’s for a CS degree.
Thank you for that information, I didn’t know out-of-state applicants received nothing. But I’m asking money aside. For example if I somehow get the trustee scholarship at USC and can afford to loan out the rest, is there a benefit to being on the west coast compared to other colleges known for computer science in terms of internships and general connections. Money aside, even assuming I pay full tuition that isn’t my question. For someone who could afford it all and got excepted to all the schools applied, is there any network benefit for West coast schools? Assuming a job/ internship in Silicon valley is the plan
As a California resident and a mom of a CS major and graduate, yes there are plenty of job opportunities here in California but just as many across the country especially for a CS graduate. Top CS companies hire from all over the country, so you do not need to attend college in California to work in California. You can just as easily apply to a summer internship in California while attending a school like Georgia Tech as from UCLA.
Bottom line should be what is the best school you can get into that is affordable financially. Graduating without debt is something you may not appreciate now as a HS Senior, but 4 years from now it could make a huge difference in your quality of life.
USC is private, so it may offer financial aid. Check its net price calculator.
However, the UCs, GT, and Washington will be extreme reaches for merit scholarships that will be necessary for a student currently getting reduced-price school lunch to be able to afford them.
Thank you so much, that’s exactly what I wanted to know. And yes I’m very aware about financial debt and I will not under any circumstances go massive debt, at most take out a small loan but that’s it. The job thing is what I was most concerned about so thank you for answering. I’ve been questioning that for a long time so it’s nice to finally get a straight answer. I will be attending what ever school is both best for me financially and best for my education. I’ve only applied to 3 in-state schools for the sole reason being Florida has a grand total of 2 good schools for comp sci, and good is a bit of a stretch. I would like to go out-of-state, and my brother goes to Michigan was almost all of his tuition covered so that seems like a good plan as of now. Thank you again for the response!
Yes I understand the affordability to those schools are a large reach for my situation. My plan is to first see what schools accepted me, see their financial aid package, weed out the ones that I absolutely can’t afford, appeal to the colleges for a larger financial package (better safe than sorry), then make a decision by May 1st. Difficult plan, hoping it works out. 13 out of the 16 colleges I’m applying to are out-of-state, so if I can afford any of them after my acceptance then that’s where I’m going. (If you haven’t been able to tell yet I’m not very fond of staying in-state, but in-state will still be an option considering in Florida our tuition is covered by the Bright Futures scholarship)
Did you run the Net Price Calculators on all of the schools? Unless you have a complicated financial situation, most NPC’s can give you a decent estimate of costs.
Yes, run the net price calculator on each college’s web site so that you can get an idea of whether the college is a realistic one (reach/match/safety based on admission difficulty), a super-reach that requires the top-end merit scholarship, or a wasted application.
Don’t apply to OOS publics. Just don’t waste your money or time, they won’t be affordable. But privates don’t care where you live, and some give good aid to low income students. What are your stats?
Yes I have checked, and for most out-of-state schools the prices range for $18k-$30k so it all depends because it may be more or less. Michigan is an exception because their calculator says I’d be paying less than $10K which is ideal and close to what I’d pay in-state. Their’s also the possibility I get a work-study job at one of the universities. I think the most I would be able to afford would be $20k/anually including loans unless some miracle happens and we win the lottery.
I have a 3.7 GPA unweighted, 4.7 GPA weighted, I have a 1420 SAT, taken 13 AP classes including my current senior year courses. I have plenty of extracurricular activities and have started my school’s coding club, as well as plenty of community service. And I don’t know how much this applies but I’m a low-income Latino
Yes, Michigsn gives aid to OOS students. But they are unusual.
UCs cannot take into account URM according to state law. GPA weighting for OOS is AP/IB/DE for 10-11 grades and the senior year AP classes will not count.
1420 is low for UCLA CompSci if it’s in the Engineering school. And to reiterate what everyone has said, UCs do not give any aid to OOS and 65,000 is beyond your budget.
What are your in-state options? Go with those.
Yes I get it’s a low chance but since I have my application fees waived I applied to schools I would have never applied to otherwise(I applied to Columbia knowing full well I’m getting rejected but at least I can say I applied). My in-state schools are UCF(Central Florida), UF, and FSU (Florida State). FSU is god awful for anything engineering, UCF has a pretty solid engineering program and I’ve already been accepted (rolling admissions) and UF is the best school in Florida so I wouldn’t mind going there obviously, but if I can get into an OOS and have decent financial aid that would be ideal. My brother goes to Michigan and only pays around 3 thousand dollars a year and it’s a great school for Compsci (applying to LSA compsci). There is University of Miami as well but it’s a private school that gives almost no financial aid, plus I personally don’t like the school in general. As of now UF is my best bet (if I get accepted) or if I get into Michigan because of their financial aid as well as my connections with the Alumni association helping me with scholarships
in a word - no.
don’t know your stats but, assuming you are a realistic candidate for UCSD, privates like Santa Clara, LMU and USD are all likely to offer generous merit aid, making them much more reasonable.
You’re relying way too much on rankings. For computer science, it matters very little where you go to school. Good paying tech jobs are everywhere. You need to focus on going to a school you can afford. As of now, you could go to the University of Alabama with a university guaranteed tuition scholarship. Scholarship deadline is Dec 15. If you’re low income, that would be a far better deal than anything you could get in California.
Don’t count on Santa Clara, they typically don’t give much aid, merit or otherwise.