OOS COA at Purdue is $40-42K depending on dorm type.
1 Like
I have to agree with @VirginiaBelle about UNC. Itās possible, but being from Wake with CS, itās uncertain. I donāt think Wake uses Naviance, but check with your GC about acceptances from your school for CS. I think NCSU is more likely and is an amazing in-state option. What is your budget? Sit down with your parents and run the NPCs for each school. Will your budget allow you to live on campus? What experiences are you looking for in a college (vibe, size, opportunities)? What do you like about RIT? If you let us know what youāre looking for, we may be able to suggest other schools to add to your list. Donāt discount UNCC; their location in proximity to tech and banking offers great internship opportunities. They have some great research going on; being a big fish in a small pond can lead to great LORs and research opportunities 
https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article250394596.html
1 Like
Amateur admission counselor is a stretch for me 
! However I do have family and friends in North Carolina and have seen and heard this play out a few times. Same thing happens at Georgia Tech which is our in state option. Similar in-state admission percentage with lots of kids like the OP waitlisted especially this year. Itās like UNC in that is not a very big school, has a smaller freshman class for a public institution, and has to take a balance from all over the state. And you throw in an impacted major 
I would not count on an admission as a safety. Always plenty of head scratchers!
2 Likes
Also something to be aware of: UNC has announced a plan but then paused it about moving to an admissions-based program for computer science. Losing the direct admit to the computer science program or limiting the people who can declare the major would be another factor.
Okay, yeah so I donāt really know what to āresearchā in a college. What should I do? I know you mentioned running the NPCs, looking at size and opportunities and such but what else is there to do? If you could give me a comprehensive list on what to look for in a college, then that would be greatly appreciated.
Also, would I not get a full-ride to ASU? My stats seem much higher than the threshold.
Go visit some of the campuses near your home. Do you like big or small? Urban vs rural? What do you get excited about when you visit? Labs and facilities? Beautiful architecture? Strong sports? Greek life?
Then look for vibe - collaborative or competitive? Hands on learning or more theoretical? Are coops important to you or not?
What does the four year plan of study look like for schools on your list? Do you want room for lots of electives or are you happy with lots of required courses?
1 Like
ASU has a scholarship estimator at https://scholarships.asu.edu/estimator
Note: āNational Scholarā is National Merit Finalist or College Board National Recognition Program.
2 Likes
I must say, my view of this is the complete opposite. If you donāt want to be at a safety, donāt put it on the list. A safety has to satisfy two things. It must me a guaranteed acceptance and it must be affordable. Beyond that, thereās nothing that says it has to be your last choice. As a matter of fact, if you find a school that is a guaranteed admit, is absolutely in your budget, and is a perfect fit, you can apply to that school and no others.
6 Likes
what they said. Another thing of importance: career services.
Iām most familiar with mid Atlantic and southeast schools, so Iāll leave others to comment on ASU. Do some soul-searching so to speak and let us know what youāre looking for in a school, and weāll be able to come up with some additional school options to research.
1 Like
However, the OP wrote previously:
Thatās the problem. The OP needs a more solid understanding of ābetter.ā That statement, in and of itself is a microcosm of what is wrong with college admissions today.
4 Likes
Better would mean a greater yield in high paying jobs, campus recruitment, prestige, reputation, status, and the surrounding of highly intellectual peers.
Again, thatās a problem. Many of those terms are nebulous and some can be at odds with one and other. For example, who determines āprestige, reputation, and status?ā How, if at all, do those relate to āhigh paying jobs and campus recruitment?ā
Taking that one step further, do you know how many TAs the āprestigiousā institution will employ and what the ratio to full time faculty is? Do you know the salary median and range for your expected major? These are searchable things in government databases. The results might surprise you.
Searching College Scorecard, essentially the only source of non-self reported salary data, even with the limitation of who it tracks, is pretty revealing. The average Mechanical Engineering salary at Georgia Tech, certainly perceived as a world class engineering school, is $70,000. Michigan Tech, a school I can guarantee youāve never heard of unless youāre from the upper Midwestā¦$71,000.
Sometimes you find the things you think are related arenāt. You have to dig deeper, or you can take the blue pill and stay in the Matrix.
8 Likes
Prestige, reputation, and status is determined by the publicās knowledge of the institution. For example, Harvard and all the ivys are the top universities and the public knows that they are. High paying jobs like FAANG companies (referring to top CS jobs in this case) come to these highly prestigious universities. Once again, for example, a FAANG recruitment officer would choose Harvard over NC State. But I completely understand where youāre coming from, could you please provide me with the resources to figure out the average salary for each school, determining my fit, and other important info?
1 Like
Would they? Do you have a source for this? The data is a little old, but would it surprise you if I told you that NC State is #13 in the list of top feeder schools to Silicon Valley and that there is one Ivy in the top 25, Cornell at 15? (That list is from 2017 and isnāt controlled for institution size.)
3 Likes
The most recent survey I can find is from SHL in 2020. I descending order, the top schools for Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Google are:
Stanford
UCB
CMU
UCLA
MIT
USC
Cornell
UIUC
University of Washington
NYU
Again, not controlled for enrollment.
Same survey, top 10 tech companies:
University of Washington
UCB
Stanford
Texas
USC
ASU
CMU
GT
UCLA
UIUC
2 Likes
Gotcha. I looked at this website: [Top Feeders to Tech] and NC state isnāt even on the list. So where is this information? Could you please provide the source?
Iāll link the article below.
The issue with your article is that itās LinkedIn data and they only harvested the top 2 employers. Notice though who is 25th, behind 16 state schools? Harvard.
You can replicate what they did on a school to school basis on LinkedIn. Search for the school. Once in, select alumni. Then select computer science under what they studied. I like to look at the top 10. Leave out jobs related to the school because most of those show up from student jobs.
Iām in no way advocating for NC State. Iām simply trying to get you to take the red pill and open your eyes. That said, the top 10 employers for NC State CS grads in descending order: SAS, Amazon, IBM, Microsoft, Cisco, Amazon Web Services, Google, Red Hat, Fidelity, Facebook.
There will be regionality to these with companies closer to schools more heavily represented. For example, San Jose Stateās top CS employer is Apple and SAS and Red Hat arenāt in the top 5.
2 Likes
You are a formidable candidate. Georgia Tech is the obvious high reach on your list. It would be for anybody. Iād say itās followed by Purdue as a reach, maybe a high match. You are in state for NC so your chances are good there, I think.
As already stated, you should look into RPI and WPI. U Maryland too. Those are in the broader match category, or maybe low reach. I think NCSU and RiT are safeties (especially NCSU) but these days, you should look for more of those.
1 Like
Not sure how you came to this conclusion when I discussed two schools. The others are good matches, but you should always have solid safety schools.
1 Like