Hello! I’m currently a junior in high school, and I have been very much stressing about colleges recently. I wouldn’t consider myself an A+ student, but somewhere around 3.0-3.6. I have been very interested in Computer Science or similar majors, and I have been struggling to find somewhere with reliable programs. I’m not a contender for UC Berk, UCLA, CalTech, and similar colleges, so if somebody could point me in the correct direction to schools that I may have a considerable chance of admission with good programs, it would be appreciated. I have seen SJSU, UCI, UCD, and some others but I don’t know much about their programs. I am looking for a 4 year in California (although I am also looking at some out of state, but not seriously considering, like Ohio State, U of Washington, etc.). Thanks in advanced.
EDIT: I do have considerably high ACT scores, and multiple extra curriculum. I will probably be applying to 2 or 3 UC schools, even if I don’t have the best chances, because I assume those have the better programs/most funding. (I know those don’t guarantee admission, but it helps)
CS at the UC’s and top Cal states are very competitive.
You would first need to figure out your CSU/UC capped weighted GPA at the end of Junior year:
https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
Have you taken the SAT and/or ACT yet? This will also be important especially your SAT Math/ACT score. You should also consider taking some of the SAT subject tests but especially the Math 2 since this is recommended by many of the UC’s.
UCD offers their CS major in the College of Letters and Sciences and also in the College of Engineering. A slightly easier admit into the College of L&S and you can read about it here:
http://www.cs.ucdavis.edu/undergraduate/
If your UC/CSU GPA is below a 4.0+, you should target UC Santa Cruz (another very good CS program), UC Riverside and UC Merced.
SJSU’s CS program is highly competitive and on par with many of the UC’s, but Software Engineering may be an option instead.
I would concentrate on the Cal states which have good CS programs. San Diego State, Cal State Long Beach, Cal State Fullerton, Cal Poly Pomona to name a few. Unfortunately all these schools programs are impacted, so they will competitive also so your chances will be dependent upon your CSU/UC capped weighted GPA and test scores. Cal States except for SLO (another extremely competitive CS school) admit by eligibility index and major.
https://www2.calstate.edu/apply/eligibility-index
You can use this link to determine which Cal States offer CS that is not impacted which will make them an easier admit:
https://www.calstate.edu/sas/documents/ImpactedProgramsMatrix.pdf
For Privates, again depending upon stats, I would include Santa Clara University.
Happy hunting and best of luck.
it is hard to give you much more without your stats. 3.0 to 3.6 is a huge GPA range. I don’t want you to burn time investigating schools that are really unlikely.
Assuming a 3.3 and 28 ACT - Chico, Cal State East Bay, SF State. Sac State would be my primary targets. You probably won’t get much merit aid from CA privates so, plan to pay full tuition. Another thing to consider is a program called WUE which offers CA students big discounts at many public colleges in other Western states. UNR, Boise State and Oregon Inst of Tech are 3 with solid CS programs and a net cost that is close to a CSU.
Here’s a link to the full list. - note though not all schools offer the program for all majors.
http://wue.wiche.edu/search_results.jsp?searchType=all
If you are closer to 3.6 GPA and 30 ACT - UCR, CPP SDSU and CSULB would probably be doable.
Do you have a preference for the school’s size or any specific ‘must have’ attributes (like a football team to root for, a college town, a big urban center with lots to do off campus, beach or mountain proximity)?
Yeah, doesn’t need to be a huge school but I want to be a part of a college, rooting for teams, clubs, the whole deal. My GPA will end up closer to 3.4-3.5 I hope. I’m not wanting to go to some no name school. Price is a factor but I’m looking for ideas of schools regardless of price. Thanks for the help!
Then UCR, CPP SDSU and CSULB are all probably out of range. - worth an ap but less than a 50/50 proposition.
The other CalStates and WUE schools I listed above are all worth investigating. Like SJSU, Sac, SF and UNR and Boise are large schools in metro areas, they all have clubs, frats, sports, etc but, are largely commuter environments - meaning most people leave the campus area when they are done with their classes. This is true in varying degrees so, please check them out before just ruling them out. Boise is a lot like Sacramento - with a much better football program. Both campuses are adjacent rivers, there is great biking and skiing a fairly short drive.
Chico and UCM are both smaller and more isolated from big city. My oldest son just graduated (business) from Chico, so I do know quite a bit about the school.
Chico is a very traditional college town environment, the colleges is surrounded on all sides by the campus, which has been there for more than 100 years and features - lots of brick, a natural creek and old Oaks… 90% of the students live within a couple of miles - there are lots of clubs and such but, a decent basketball program and believe it or not, a few years ago, they were the national champions at wakeboarding - no football, though. As you may have heard, weekends are lively around campus. CS students are recruited by all the Silicon Valley big names. Note though, their coursework is very rigorous - so they see less nightlife than most other majors.
UCM is built away from the town of Merced and is all new. All the buildings, grounds and dorms are new and very nice.
Lots of students live in the area but, it doesn’t have the critical mass Chico does. Academically, it is very good, and companies like Facebook and Google recruit CS grads here too.
Talk to your parents about doing some more tours… they will help you rule things in and out. If you like SJSU, check out Sac SF and UNR but, OIT isn’t worth the drive. If you think a smaller school or college town might work best for you - Chico, UCM, Sonoma and even OIT.
LMU and USD are two privates that may take you but, they will be expensive.
My son’s friends who are at Chico are loving it and very much enjoy the college experience there…sports, college spirit, the whole bit. Very much worth checking out both for the school environment and the very good CS programs.
Another vote for Chico here. You may also want to consider Arizona and Arizona state
My boyfriends twin is currently in the computer science program at Cal State San Bernardino and loves it. He’s also going for their specialty cyber security program. I’m not sure if you’d be into that, but I’ve heard nothing but good things about their program. They are also affordable since they are a cal state school and you are very likely to get in with that GPA. However…I live in the local area and it is quite dangerous, so walking around town at night is definitely a no go, so if you plan to live nearby the school, is choose any of the surrounding cities instead. They seem to have a lot of events going on there too.
I know i’m a bit late, but my sister went to Chico state. I visited it myself.
Just wanted to chime and and say I think it’s an awesome college town that you can have a great experience and education at - but that can happen almost anywhere honestly lol