I am currently in high school, and plan to attend grad school after completing my undergrad in computer science/engineering. However, I don’t know the best approach to get into a really good computer science grad school (ex. Stanford, MIT, Ga Tech, UMich, UC Berkely, CMU). Should I aim for a medium-sized state school which gives a lot of aid to talented OOS state students, is academically challenging but not as tortuous as other schools, and allows me to finish my undergrad one or two years faster? Or should I aim for a really competitive ivy/ elite private/ public ivy?
It is far too early for you to be thinking about grad school. If you want to get into a good graduate program, you will need a high GPA and good GRE score, and research experience if you plan on a PhD or thesis MS. Where you attend college is not as relevant.
Go to the best school you can get into that you can afford and which seems like a good fit for you. That’s what you should be aiming for as far as college goes.
I know. But let’s just pretend I’m about to head to college?
@AuraObscura told you everything that anyone can tell you right now.
The bigger point is, you don’t know what you don’t know yet. It’s not until you actually get fairly far into your degree that you can start deciding IF you want to go to grad school (most CS majors don’t) and WHAT you will study. What you want to study will determine where you want to go because you’ll be seeking out programs based on the work they are doing. That means you won’t be vetting programs based on the school names you think are important now, but by information you don’t know yet. The school you want might be Santa Barbara or Stoney Brook. Who knows?
Be patient and follow the advice above.
Aye Aye captain