Best Computer Science Undergrad Program? CMU, MIT, Stanford?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>My son is applying this fall to several Top CS programs (MIT, CMU, Georgia Tech, Utx Austin, UVA, Stanford, + others). What is best school for a truly intellectually curious, independent somewhat rebellious student who has had to blaze his own learning path multiple times? Stats and background:</p>

<p>White</p>

<p>Parents income between 150-200k. </p>

<p>Mother is Gtown and Hopkins, extended family is mostly Stanford alum.</p>

<p>2360 SAT (one sitting, 800 Cr, 800 M, 760 W- because essay only 8 out of 12) at age 15</p>

<p>11 APs: 9 5s and two fours. (Stem exams: 5s on CS, Chem, Physics C, and 4 on Calc BC w/ AB subscore 5- self studied that one). </p>

<p>Did four math courses through CTY to escape boredom: Number theory, Prob and Game Theory, Honors Trig & Precalc, and Calc AB). </p>

<p>National Merit Semi Finalist</p>

<p>Only 3.92 weighted GPA mostly due to taking 9 courses at once in and out of school to escape boredom, and struggled to remember all requisite assignments. </p>

<p>Final AP CS project he wrote over 3,000 lines of code, creating new version of 'Settlers of Kataan'. </p>

<p>Marching Band 3 years, awards but not state ranked (tuba)</p>

<p>Robotics awards and Nationally ranked team, two years, tons of leadership there, hundreds hours programming. </p>

<p>Tutors math via Honors Society
Writes Book Reviews for MENSA</p>

<p>Profoundly gifted and extremely motivated independent learner but not super -high GPA. </p>

<p>Numerous other awards. </p>

<p>How many schools will get over the fact that he doesn't have a 4.0 and will care more about the exceptional class rigor and having one of the highest SATs and APs of any applicant they come across? The college board data on his SAT and AP scores show a true outlier of a student.</p>

2

<p>Out of these schools, it’s probably less important where he attends but that he’s not bored when he gets there. In addition to the CS curriculum, what are the rest of the courses he’ll have to take like? Do they require the same level of commitment as the CS courses do? Also, consider the extracurricular CS events at these schools. What are the CS geeks doing as a group for fun? What else do they spend their energies on besides the classroom? I’d suggest that this child might be better off at a school where the top kids know how to have fun and make fun of themselves.</p>

<p>A second concern, which of these schools will you be able to afford? Have you run the net price calculators? The GPA might hurt you a bit with money. I doubt it’s going to have much effect on admission; your child is not so very different from a lot of the top kids who attend these schools, and the AOs are used to looking beyond GPA.</p>

3

<p>Great tips, thanks for the quick reply. We live in Northern VA, so VA state schools are most affordable. The fun outside the lab activities are really important to him. Band and Spanish are huge for him. He loves the tuba almost as much as programming and so big band programs like OSU, Va Tech, UVA are attractive, especially because tuba scholarships are pretty common. His tuba instructor (current GMU music prof and retired Air Force Band) has former students all over receiving scholarships so that might help. He’s really good but not state ranked in Tuba. However, most colleges have a shortage of kids who want to play tuba which puts his skill set in demand. </p>

4

<p>sounds like a TJ kid. with his ECs, then, he should be even more attractive.</p>

5

<p>He could try for Stanford/MIT/Harvard, but a tuba (or other) scholarship from UVa if it was a decent amount of money would be mighty enticing. Does UIUC offer tuba scholarships?
The tuba might help him get in to Stanford as well (though they have a scramble band, like UVa; do they value tubas so much)?</p>

<p>Probably can get good merit money from Rice. Maybe even one of Duke’s full-tuition rewards (and no, Duke CS isn’t at the very top, but frankly, you can probably go just as far with it as with CMU/Cornell CS).</p>

<p>Merit money would depend a lot on the execution of the essays and recs.</p>

<p>Any career/geographic preferences/career ideas yet?</p>

<p>Is cost an issue? Without merit money, you’re likely close to full-pay.</p>

6

<p>It is also a reach, but Harvey Mudd sounds like it might be a good fit for him. He would not be bored, and there are a lot of profoundly gifted kids with a strong interest in STEM. His SAT Is look great – he would need a couple of SAT IIs (including Math II), and also they need a recommendation from a humanities-type teacher along with the obvious ones from a math/science teacher. My D got in with a 3.7 UW GPA last year (but it is easier to get in for girls). She had test scores similar to his (2380 superscore, and 800 Math II and 800 Lit). She absolutely loves it.</p>

7

<p>Does your son consider Cal Tech? I know a student like your son went to Cal Tech and was happy. He went to a special high school like TJ and got Cs in English or history courses because he did not care for grades. Very outstanding in math and science researches, high stats in SAT and APs.</p>

8

<p>I think he should consider Caltech. The Facebook ex-CTO went to Caltech and graduate with 4.0 in CS. For some students, it’s the school to be challenged.</p>

9

<p>Depends on how important tuba is to him.</p>

<p>He can be challenged at any good CS program. Actually, any decent CS program with a grad school, as they will certainly have classes that challenge him.</p>

<p>Oh, and USC would certainly give half-tuition. Possibly more.</p>

10

<p>Your son sounds quite brilliant. I really hope that colleges are able to look past the GPA. Like others have said, as long as he goes to a good CS school, he should be challenged. He may not be challenged though even at top programs, since he sounds like he is truly gifted. I would also add Umich and Princeton to the list. Umich has a great CS program, a large marching band, and a solid spanish department. Princeton has a fairly strong CS program too, plus your son would likely be challenged in his non-cs courses due to the competitive environment. </p>

11

<p>@Miw140:</p>

<p>Any good CS program with a grad school will be challenging enough.
Mastering college-level subjects while in HS is impressive. Grad-level CS classes are something else.</p>

12

<p>@PurpleTitan I’m sure it will be challenging. There is a slim chance that he may not find it challenging though. Some people are truly gifted and pick up on difficult concepts with ease. 3,000 lines of code for AP CS program? That’s amazing.</p>

13

<p>The big question you, as the parent, need to look at, if you have not already:</p>

<p>Can you afford all of these schools? Check the net price calculator at each school to get an estimate of need-based financial aid. Some schools also have merit scholarships, though these are more available at less selective schools.</p>

<p>The other question is, has a 100% sure thing (for both admissions and affordability) safety been put on the list?</p>

14

<p>Is Cornell and Columbia(SEAS and the College as both offer CS) on his list? </p>

15

<p>It honestly doesn’t matter where he goes, I think what really matters is what kind of curriculum he wants.
The top schools are quite different when it comes to the specialization, I personally follow the computer science academia, this might be objective but I believe University of Washington produces quite a lot innovative /fashionable research, and their undergraduate program has a lot of focus options.</p>

<p>Second option is Carnegie Mellon, I know a student who has around a 3.6-.8 weighted/unweighted GPA and was able to get a six digit job after he graduated. Besides the money, CMU has one of the largest CS departments in the United States. They have minor programs in Machine Learning, Neural Computation. According to the student classes are based on bottom-up projects, students create a program through out the course to learn the content in the class, he mentioned about making artificial intelligence for chess in his freshmen year and making his own operating system in his junior year, and much more. Another thing to note is that they also let students teach the classes to give credits to other students, which is quite peculiar. Lastly he mentioned how the out of class activities were fun, according to him there are social opportunities such as parties and clubs whom most are supported by the school, nothing too crazy, and mentioned that the students work very hard when they need to.</p>

<p>Sorry for a long post but I hope this gives some direction.</p>

16

<p>Note, however, that starting salaries for CS majors at all the top CS programs right now are good.</p>

17

<p>How low is the UW gpa? </p>

<p>He should look at each school and delve into the department structure, they may be in the engineering dept or not, so he can think how that affects the experience and the curriculum requirements. He can read over the major requirements, the graduation requirements first so he can get a feel for the differences. Different programs are structured very differently. He can look into dept philosophies–I know when my kid’s dept was founded in they decided to go for a balance of theory and practice after looking at the few existing depts where Cornell was very theoretical and CMU was very experimental. He can look at the research experiences undergrads are getting. All that is something to consider and learn about but he may not really know at this point his preferences. He should also think of what else he wants in a college and consider the total environment. Does he prefer a tech school, large public, medium with liberal arts strength, etc.</p>

<p>In the end I sort of agree it doesn’t matter where he studies CS so much at that level, so I would have him concentrate on all the factors of what will make him happiest and give him opportunities for growth. And of course look at any cost constraints and if you want to try to get merit money not all the colleges offer it.</p>

18

<p>It’s hard to say which school is best for an intellectually curious student. These are all great schools. To find the best match for him, he needs to look at more than just academics. What do students do for fun? What is the diversity of the campus? What do students do off campus? Is there a lot of drinking and smoking? Though these are all great schools, they are all very different from one another, so make sure he researches and visits schools :)</p>

<p>Also, a 3.9 weighted GPA with 9 AP classes is really really bad. Though he’s a bright student, it seems as if his UW GPA would be somewhere in the low 3.0 range. What is it?</p>

19

<p>I reread that the GPA is weighted and not unweighted. That might be a slight problem.</p>

20

<p>What is his class rank? U of Texas doesn’t care about GPA but they weigh rank and test scores heavily. I went to a program yesterday for parents of seniors considering UT honors. They have greatly expanded their undergraduate research opportunities. CS falls under the College of Natural Science which has several honors programs including those that cross over into other colleges (such as Music). 80% of the spots for incoming freshman go to state residents but if your son’s rank is good, he should fare well in holistic review. </p>