Can you please recommend a Computer Science college for me?

College Search & Selection
1

Hello everyone,
I’m a rising junior in high-school somewhat interested in CompSci. It looks like something I can probably do, but I should mention I’m not diehard set on it. I’m actually undecided but compsci seems like something I can do and I’d rather not take classes that will go to waste by doing ‘undecided’. It seems to me that if I go to a LAC that then I’ll have more issues with transferring than necessary so for now, let’s just say I’m definitely stem and definitely compsci. If things change, then I’ll cross that bridge.

I have a real low psat of 1150 first time and 1120 on the second time. For the past few weeks I have been going slowly and carefully through Python courses on the internet given by a popular college, class by class very carefully. I’m up to about the 8th class and each one is over an hour. I’m able to handle it and I think I can do this.

My unweighted gpa is in the 3.55 range. My school is very small, about 10 kids per grade and offers very few AP courses. It’s rated within top 40 private schools in the state so it’s about (maybe slightly harder than) average as far as rigor scale.

For junior year, here’s my schedule:
Great Books I Honors
Western Thought I Honors
Pre-Calculus Honors
Physics with Lab (Honors Option)
Spanish III Honors
Logic II
Physical Education and Fine Arts Requirements

For senior here’s the plan:
Great Books II Honors
Western Thought II Honors
Calculus AP
Human Anatomy & Physiology with Lab
AP Spanish
Rhetoric II
Comparative Worldviews II
Physical Education and Fine Arts Requirements

Now to my point; I want to study Computer Science but my finances are bad. My parents are in the slightly above 100k level but their expenses are high due to high mortgage and private school for all the kids. Our calculated EFC is 56k but clearly no where near possible since there is no savings according to them except for 401k which can’t be touched. They want a college that will be in the 10k/yr area but will struggle to make it happen if it’s slightly more.

Now the hitch; I have been partially paralyzed since the end of freshman year and have been recuperating so they are worried about my safety as I’m very fragile and weak. I don’t require any medical needs anymore but I’m just scrawny so easily muggable. I was thinking as my first choice about Rowan University but their crime rate seems a bit high, I don’t know??? I prefer in state NJ in order to save money, and merit scholarships seem impossible for my low grades.
Here are some other thoughts,

TCNJ might be too expensive? lower ranked than Rowan
NJIT unsafe, don’t qualify for the safer honors college area
Rutgers I probably won’t qualify for compsci
Seton Hall too expensive
Stevens too expensive, probably won’t qualify for compsci
William Patterson unsure
Montclair State unsure
City College CUNY might be too expensive? OOS
Stony Brook probably my reach and preferred but probably too expensive because OOS.

I’d rather avoid going community college and soften my rigor level to then have to transfer. I’d like to do all four at one place.

Any help much appreciated.

**Edit my parents are currently paying approximately 15k for my older sibling who is 2 years ahead of me in college (attending this fall). Currently paying 10k for me in high school and planning to continue alotting 10k for me in college. Another 10k to my younger sibling 4 years younger than me.

2

Our older kid goes to Ramapo College . Perfect place for you. Great campus. Beautiful dorms. Most classes in the main building. Very good business, computer science and nursing majors. Very safe. You need to get at least a 1200 SAT to get any merit money though. Next suggestion for you would be Montclair State or Stockton. Ramapo is more selective. Freshman can have a car on campus too. Check it out.

3

There are some large merit scholarships that you may qualify for with your 3.55 GPA (not in NJ, though), but you would need a higher SAT or ACT score than what your PSAT may predict. You may want to try practice tests of both SAT and ACT to see which one is higher for you and do some more test preparation on those aspects of the test where you have room to improve.

4

@njdadjets I had never heard of Ramapo. I just did a little research and it is actually better than NJIT according to the startclass.com comparison. I checked their entry gpa and sat and I think I can get in. I did some research on what a 1200 psat tends toward by prediction and historic results and it is a 1300 on the sat. Allowing for a gray area, I am still better than average if I can hit that 1300. I’m just a bit hesitant because I’ve never heard of Ramapo so perhaps it might be difficult finding a job that would want to scout a graduate there. Montclair on the other hand, I think is more recognized and is only 20 minutes from home compared to 30 for Ramapo. Montclair is about 4k cheaper/yr with all being equal. The determining factor will be aid so yeah I will be putting Ramapo on the list, Thank you.

@ucbalumnus will be studying khan academy sat courses for free online on my spare time, thanks for the help.

5

You’re in NJ and never heard of Ramapo?? It has a good reputation and won’t impact finding a job- it’s a beautiful campus. My son will be going to Rowan, and I’m an alumni. I don’t think Glassdoor is a particularly bad area - it was nicer than many schools we looked at! With the new Rowan Blvd, there is more to do on campus and I think less reason to wander off campus. The problem being in state in NJ is it’s hard to get aid. TCNJ’s max award is $6k.

6

@NJWrestlingmom nope never heard of Ramapo haha.
With the bit of research I’ve done on Ramapo it seems a very nice school. With regard to finding a job I think what I may do is get my undergrad from Rowan or Ramapo and then go to higher calibur school like Stony Brook, Lehigh, or Penn State maybe. I don’t doubt that you’re right, I may be able to get a good enough job from Ramapo, but I’m kinda of wondering why these other schools’ starting salaries in Computer Science is just so far more.
Ramapo - 42700
Rowan - 47100
Penn State - 78091
Stony Brook - 61110
Lehigh - 78100

For Master’s degree from respective schools, the average goes up by about 5,000 for each of the above.
So if I go to Ramapo and then instead of getting my master’s from Ramapo, I get it from Lehigh, the change of increase is:
(78100+5000) = 83100 for a master’s from lehigh
as opposed to 42700+5000 = 47700 for a master’s from ramapo.

So the investment would earn me perhaps 35,400 more?

7

Where did you find the starting salaries broken down by college name and degree?

8

@austinmshauri
Lots of googling and also [here](Top 25 computer science colleges, ranked by alumni earnings | Network World)

9

You have no money to invest with. With no college savings,a fairly high EFC, and just ok grades and test scores, none of those schools with higher salaries are going to be choices for you. I would stop focusing on Python and focus on standardized test prep instead.

10

@intparent
I guess I wrote something incorrect somewhere to mislead you so I apologize for the miscommunication. I never said I was going to apply to Lehigh, or Penn State. Which school are you saying I should not apply to exactly?
I did say I was going to study the free khan academy SAT prep course, but there are 16 hours in a day so I WILL be continuing my Python studies as well. You’re posts are funny, er I mean informative keep them coming.

11

@slimmy maybe look at your community college for SAT prep classes. Raritan Valley had one for $500 and it was very helpful. We weren’t in a position to spend thousands on a private tutor like a lot of my son’s friend, but the course was well run and did improve his score a few hundred points.

12

Those aren’t starting salaries, they’re early career and mid career median salaries. Some grads earn more, and some earn less than those ranges. A variety of factors can affect that. Where students get a job after graduation and how long after graduation the info. on “early” career salaries was taken could affect those numbers. Stony Brook is a commuter school, so if students get jobs in or near the City after graduation, salaries will be higher than students who get jobs in less urban areas.



You can only borrow ~$5500/year on your own. With the $10k/year from your patents that gives you a budget of $15k. Stony Brook is $30k/year for OOS students. It won’t be affordable. Look for colleges in your home state and work on bringing up your test scores.

13

@austinmshauri
Those are early career salary ‘averages’. You wrote that some people earn more or less dependant on a variety of factors, that’s correct and it is all encompassed within that average.

You say that I can borrow up to 5500 for the first year and aprox 10k from my parents so that’s a budget of 15k, that’s true but there is also institutional grants, merit-aid, and scholarships which I will be working on at the end of my junior year. Further, there are plenty of other avenues for meeting the required cost-of-attendance. I have other sources up my sleeve.

You should know though, Stony Brook is not 30k, is actually 42548 (including fees+ R/B) for out of state students for atleast one year before I get a waiver to be considered a NY resident. I know a person in a similar stats as me with a net-price of 24650. I’m not saying I’ll get the same, it can be more/less but for what Stony Brook is (an excellent CS school), I do plan on applying and seeing the result. I can get my application fee of $65 waived so I WILL be applying. Whoever doesn’t atleast try, is not motivated. Nothing to lose.

If you or anyone else can suggest more schools that I should consider applying to, I’d appreciate it.

14

@NJWrestlingmom
SAT prep courses at a local CC sounds like a good idea, thanks!

If you or anyone else can suggest more schools that I should consider applying to, I’d appreciate it.

15

What are your math scores. For CS admissions…that is an overwhelmingly an important fact.

16

I like math so far and have been in honors level. Typically in the B range.
My teacher in sophomore year gave me the go ahead to do honors pre-calc this fall.
I see that I have to go into as far as Calc-2 and Linear Algebra for an undergrad, so I don’t think that’ll be an issue.

17

@Austinms - The average starting salary for Stevens CS graduates for the class of 2016 was $83,100. The highest was $190,000. The 20 year career average salary for Stevens alumni (all majors) was $124,000 (Reference, Payscale “What’s Your College Degree Worth”, 2016 survey).

The outcomes report can be found here:

https://www.stevens.edu/sites/stevens_edu/files/files/Career/Class%20of%202016%20Outcomes%20Report_Final.pdf

18

Maybe you should check into Elizabathtown, a kid I know graduated from its CS program got into Google.

19

@engineer80 Thanks for the info about Stevens but I’ve dropped it from my list. Too expensive to attend, that’s the hard facts. Aside from the bad things I’ve heard about the professors there and the slightly bad location it’s in. The main factor though which is indisputable is it’s just too expensive.
But hey, if anyone out there can afford it and wants to go there, more power to you.

20

@slimmy - Have you applied to Stevens and gotten an acceptance? Stevens students - 97% of them - receiver substantial non-loan financial aid. If you are simply looking at the “sticker” tuition listed in the catalog, that is not what your actual cost of attendance will be in general. Typically, Stevens students average more than half of the tuition and fees covered by scholarships. Before you dismiss a particular school as “too expensive”, you really ought to see what the final offer of financial aid is (you should do this for all the schools you are considering). With respect to the faculty, instead of listening to second hand hearsay regarding the professors, why not take a campus tour and sit in on a couple of classes (again, you should do this at all the schools on your list) before you make that determination? The faculty comprise some of the most world renowned experts in the fields they teach, and the opportunity to learn from them is something you won’t get at the vast majority of universities. Stevens is not a place to party for four years, you have to work hard, and in my experience having attended Stevens and two other universities the students who complain about the faculty anywhere are those who didn’t put in the requisite work in their classes and in turn didn’t get the grades they expected. The fact that Stevens’ graduates have the tenth highest starting salaries and the sixteenth highest mid-career earnings of all United States institutions of higher learning attests to this. Finally, have you ever visited Hoboken? Hoboken is called the “jewel of the Hudson River Gold Coast”. It is a gentrified, sophisticated, city that has one of the highest per capita incomes of all New Jersey municipalities. Stevens itself was recently ranked as the fifth safest campus of all in the United States, and the safest in NJ. Hoboken is a very safe city, it is by no means “slightly bad” in any sense of the word (in contrast for example to Newark, the home of NJIT, which truly is a bad location).