@LaughingGekko2003 UTD is a good school and is pretty liberal with its scholarships especially for NMF, but from an academics perspective would it be better than TAMU?
I am considering them as target since students from our school have had pretty good outcomes at both UIUC (~40% acceptance in CS) and UM.
I am giving this serious thought. My only hesitation has been the cost. While my parents have offered to pay for most of Riceās COA (they will not pay 100% for any school, they want me to borrow some money to keep me committed :)), I want to weigh my options should I get into UT for half the cost.
Check UTDās Computing Scholars Honors Program
http://cs.utdallas.edu/computingscholars/
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You should not apply ED to a school unless you can afford to attend. An undergraduate student can borrow only so much money on his/her own ($5,500/year if you are dependent on your parents). If large loans are involved, the parents are also responsible. It sounds like an RD application would be better for you to Rice although the admissions odds would be lower. Federal Student Aid
One thing I love about USC is that they do not have ED. (Nvm- you edited your comment about USC)
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Does USC still give the Presidential 1/2 Tuition Scholarship to all NMFs that are admitted?
Can you get your parents to do an NPC to see what it says? If theyāll do 1 get them to do Princeton and if it comes back as full pay youāll be full pay everywhere and will have to rely on merit.
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Not sure if all NMF get them. Ask @CADREAMIN Apply early for that opportunity. (I think by Dec 1) for all merit consideration. They have 1/4 tuition scholarships as well.
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As an NMF, you get a full ride scholarship. Their CS program is pretty good but I would consider TAMU to be slightly ahead for CS.
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@eyemgh I just think that what is the āunicorn uniquenessā of USC Viterbi is the network, the combinations, and the student orgs/community. If you have another school in mind that you consider better than USC, Iād love to hear about it. 
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Thereās a long list of schools that meet those criteria. Certainly theyāre different in other ways, some for better, some maybe not, depending on your perspective.
For most analogous to the things you mentioned, Michigan, Stanford and Norte Dame come to mind. Certainly there are others. General school loyalty is strong at all regardless of major. A large part of that is athletics not academics though.
For CS in particular, discounting the influence of size, because you can only meet so many anyway, I think HMC, Pomona, and CMU are all great.
For pure power of academic/business network, itās hard to beat MIT.
For school clubs, especially ones that parlay academics into real world experience, Cal Poly has amazing student resources. Thereās a reason Bill Nye said the term CubeSat is synonymous with Cal Poly.
Iāve left MANY out, not as a slight, but just because I donāt know them all.
So, good network, good student orgs and good academics, yes. Unicorn Unique, no.
That does not mean you shouldnāt feel itās the best fit for YOU. Only you can make your perfect ranking algorithm.
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Iād also question why you have Princeton on your list. What are you looking to do with your CS degree once you graduate? What other interests do you have besides CS?
Yes as long as they designate USC as their first choice with NMSC before May 31.
They also have full tuition Trustee scholarships. Guide to USC scholarships.
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I donāt see salary info for CS at SLO ā listed at N/A ā while Berkeley is at $125,388. I looked for electrical engineering and Berkeley is at $128,868 and SLO is at $79,647.
This is a great starting point to compare outcomes. Does Cal Poly have a list of outcomes produced by the CS or Engineering departments? Berkeleyās is listed here The grad school list out of CS is quite impressive. Just over half are getting PhDs so thatās paid for.
Not sure how we got onto a CP vs Cal discussion. In any case, here you are.
Some schools list CS āComputer and Information Sciencesā on College Scorecard. That is the case for Cal Poly. At 2 years they average $120K.
EE is a different story, because some schools hybridize EE and CS. There are only 3 schools in the nation where EEs earn more than $100 at 2 years, Cal, MIT and CMU. At all three they are hybrid programs. That is the influence of CS and not indicative of actual EE salaries.
Comparing disciplines that both schools share and where CS does not pollute the data reveals the following: ME; CP $74K and Cal $75K, BME CP $73K and Cal $63K, Civil CP $73K and Cal $71K.
Itās good to know that these arenāt always comparable. Thatās why I like department lists of outcomes and UCBās are fantastic.
I doubt youāll find comprehensive career outcomes at UTD or A&M either. Maybe Rice or UT. Itās important to also see how many alumni are responding to surveys. If outcomes exist Iād like to see them because my kid is also considering STEM.
The problem with these is that they are self reported, typically biasing higher. Still, all data is biased somehow.
Probably the biggest determining factor in wage is where the job is at. Thatās part of why CA schools have such high wages.
I use College Scorecard, but try to take into account itās shortcoming in the data. It only tracks students that had Federal grants or guaranteed loans.
Also, as mentioned earlier, if more grads work in CA ot the upper east coast, salaries are higher. Thatās not necessarily a reflection of those schools, but most CA recruiting is at CA schools.
Lastly, some programs, MIT in particular, place a lot of engineers into finance. That will also skew the data.
There is no perfectly clear picture.
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Math is of interest, so something to do with AI
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What I meant by my parents not willing to pay the entire amount, they would pay Rice COA - 5,500, which is what I would need to borrow, this is their way to keep me engaged.
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