<p>Hi, I’m a high school student currently enrolled on an early college program for my senior year. My family is low income (~$37k and going down), hispanic, and I’m planning on applying to the QuestBridge program this year. They connect high achieving low income student with top colleges. Now, not taking chances into consideration since my scores and extracurriculars are not that great (though I’m working part-time as an IT intern), I would like to hear your opinions about which of their partner schools have the best computer science/engineering programs/curriculums, since, thus far, I think I’ll be majoring in computer science or something very related (math/science is my hard and I’m taking CS classes in my community college).</p>
<p>So please share your thoughts about these schools, and please list the top 10 in your opinion:</p>
<p>Amherst College
Bowdoin College
Brown University
California Institute of Technology
Carleton College
Colorado College
Columbia University
Dartmouth College
Davidson College
Emory University
Grinnell College
Haverford College
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Northwestern University
Oberlin College
Pomona College
Princeton University
Rice University
Stanford University
Swarthmore College
Trinity College
Tufts University
Chicago University of Chicago
University of Notre Dame
University of Pennsylvania
University of Southern California
Virginia University of Virginia
Vanderbilt University
Vassar College
Washington and Lee University
Wellesley College
Wesleyan University
Williams College
Yale University</p>
<p>Now, I know Stanford, MIT, and Caltech might the top, but my chances of getting in are kind of slim. I’ll like to have more options. I’ll give preference to schools on the West since I believe being closer to Silicon Valley would be easier to land internships and jobs and also relocate since I’ve already know that that’s the where I need to head since IT jobs on my area not the best. Any information would be appreciated.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Update: Sorry if posted on the wrong section, just saw the math/computer science section. Oops.</p>
<p>Yeah I know but I get to decide which to apply to, max is 8, so I’m looking at my options based on their program. Now, if I don’t get into any of the good CS program ones I still plan on applying to Duke, Georgia Tech, and maybe some UCs … (If they give me waivers.)</p>
<p>I have a friend who got into Pomona through of the program, not full ride but with decent aid, but I would rather to go to Pomona than to my local university or even UF. Especially since it’s on California.</p>
<p>Are you a California resident? If so, UCs (and CSUs) will likely be good with financial aid, but if not, they will likely be too expensive (UCs do not cover the $23,000 additional out-of-state tuition with financial aid grants). Run net price calculators on the web sites of various schools you are considering to see what their financial aid is like for you.</p>
<p>For CS, look in the course catalogs and schedules to see if they offer the following junior and senior level CS courses:</p>
<p>algorithms and complexity
theory of computation
operating systems
compilers
networks
databases
security and cryptography
software engineering, project course, or projects incorporated into other courses
electives like graphics and artificial intelligence
hardware courses like digital systems and computer architecture</p>
<p>No, sadly I’m I’m a Florida resident, and wow that’s a lot of money. I guess I can scratch them out of my list then …</p>
<p>Do the rest of public 4-year universities in other states don’t help you pay the out of state tuition? I guess I see myself only applying for private ones then :/</p>
<p>And thank you for your lists of topics to lookup for. I know that good schools have at least 1 class under each category.</p>
<p>Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Stanford University
Princeton University
University of Pennsylvania
Rice University
University of Southern California
Yale
Chicago
Brown University
California Institute of Technology</p>
<p>I agree with ClassicRockerDad’s list, except for Chicago. It may be a great school overall, but its CS program is nothing special. </p>
<p>We had a guy on my current project with a CS degree from the University of Chicago, and he was pretty bad. His contract wasn’t renewed when it expired, which almost never happens here.</p>
<p>Pomona does not have engineering, but it does have CS.</p>
<p>The CS course catalog has a lot of courses, but many of them are marked “alternate years”, so you have to be careful to catch desired courses when they appear, because you may not have another chance to take them if you miss them.</p>