<p>The cost and acceptance rate benefits of going to an in-state school appeal to me, but according to the research I've done, my home state doesn't really have much to offer in the computer science field. I'll probably go out of state, but I want to apply to a good in-state college for fallback purposes. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>Computer science is a major that is well defined and therefore reasonably well executed at any of the state flagships. A large university would have a PhD program and hence summer research opportunities for undergraduates. Exceptional undergraduates would be able to take advanced courses. Is there a reason that the University of Kentucky isn’t the obvious choice?</p>
<p>Any of the state universities in Kentucky should be fine. You don’t have to go to a top school for a CS degree.</p>
<p>I’ve seen some good stuff coming out of the University of Kentucky’s graduate CS program.</p>
<p>Search the school’s website to see which companies are coming to its job fairs for CS careers. If the local, regional, and national companies are showing up, you have nothing to worry about.</p>
<p>The last time I looked, the companies coming for CS fairs were not listed on the web site. My daughter actually visited a couple of months ago, and we asked this question. They were able to print something out that showed where people did coop, but were unable to give us any information about where graduates end up working. This seemed a bit odd, as most schools love to tell you where CS graduates are working, because they are proud of it.</p>
<p>That is a bit of a concern, isn’t it? The stuff that isn’t on college websites, or the stuff that is but you have to be a hound dog to find it, is enough to make faculty members pull their hair out. I couldn’t find anything there just now. </p>
<p>I don’t think lack of recruiting reflects much on a the quality of a program. Companies have limited resources for recruiting on campus, so they’re probably going to focus on schools with larger CS programs and/or are easy to get to. Only a small minority of companies with CS jobs recruit on campuses anyway.</p>
<p>While I’m sure the CS programs in Kentucky are fine, the downside to being in Kentucky is that it’s not exactly a hotbed of CS jobs, so it will be more work finding something once you graduate. </p>