May I ask which high school in Wake? I ask bc my child also is at a competitive Wake HS with similar stats so I’ve been following the thread to see what folks are saying. Feel free to DM me if you don’t want to post publicly.
If you are interested in working in tech in CA and want to add a reach, I’d add Cal Poly. CS is VERY competitive, but it’s not holistic. It’s an algorithm based assessment. Your stats are strong. Normally I would say you wouldn’t be in the running due to your lowish SAT relative to their CS pool. They won’t be using them for any applicants next year though. From out of state, you might have a slight advantage over in state. The COA is much better than UCLA and UCB. According to LinkedIn, the top 4 employers of CP CS grads in order are Amazon, Apple, Google, and Microsoft. One of my son’s friends interned at Salesforce, Amazon and Apple and now works at Apple. Just a thought if you’ve considered the west coast.
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Cal Poly Tech or Cal Poly Pomona?
https://www.cc.gatech.edu/about/facts
In 2016, GaTech’s average computer science grad’s starting pay was $93,000.
Of course California and West Coast universities are going to place the best in FAANG and Tech. Schools within 300 miles of NYC also place the best in the financial industry.
Top universities help with the first job. Grad school also matters, especially for business and law. Hopefully you’re in good shape with UNC and NC State. Purdue could be fine as well. Check out their school site on CC for Class of 2025 admissions. Their OOS cost of attendance is in the low $40s.
They’re both California Polytechnic State University. In general, when people don’t specify, they’re referring to the original San Luis Obispo campus. The Pomona campus was an expansion campus in the 1930’s and they spun it off into a standalone. It’s a solid school in it’s own right, but you’d have better safety/match options. It has a bit more of a commuter feel. I was speaking of SLO, also my son’s alma mater. He attended from out of state as did his friend I was referring to. His friend chose CP over a direct CS admit at the University of Washington from in state.
Where Most Employees at Facebook, Google, Apple and Other Top Tech Companies Went to School | Entrepreneur does not list a lot of Ivy League colleges.
Also, the G out of FAANG is known to recruit at dozens or hundreds of colleges. It is only because some prestige colleges start out with stronger students that those colleges may be overrepresented there after passing their (somewhat difficult) technical interviews (which are basically run like standardized testing on various CS areas). But those from many other colleges can also apply and be interviewed. The two A companies out of FAANG also appear to have a strong local college preference.
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Actually, not exactly.
One is California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.
One is California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.
Ahh, duly noted! 
I wonder if CPP’s mascot is the Bronco because they already had horse motifs from when they were an extension campus of SLO?
Also, rumor on the street is that Governor Newsom wants Humbolt State to be the third Cal Poly. Will they be the Colts? 
The CSU system and Humboldt State University were already considering making HSU another polytechnic campus, before the governor’s recent announcements of support.
HSU’s mascot is the Lumberjack, but some there want to change it.
I think it’s time for a little life lesson. Everyone is chasing the FAANG companies and one can get there from NC State. But let’s say you got into a, what you deem, a more prestigious school.
So you come out making $75-95k working in SF or Seattle ? Where will you live ? Will you be ok sharing a bedroom with another guy when you are 25, 26. Buy a house maybe when you are 35….maybe.
Or if your graduate NC State, get a job in Raleigh or Charlotte at 65k. Live by yourself. Buy a house in 3 years.
Don’t forget the largest tech companies are well established. The kids starting there today are unlikely to become stock option millionaires. They are going to be spending $4k on one bedroom apartments instead of $1500.
Is it any wonder that schools, like UC Santa Cruz, are asking professors to let kids room in their homes?
NC State is wonderful for tech. But the degree is so employable you could get a cheap degree elsewhere if you don’t like NC State. UTK. Alabama. Arizona or Arizona State. Purdue, UAH, U of SC. When you are 40 you’ll look back and realize how smart you were not to fall for college reputation ‘marketing’
Getting that ‘prestigious’ degree comes with expense. Companies pay what they pay, typically regardless of where they hire. But if they hire in Seattle or San Jose, yes they’ll pay more. But you won’t save more.
Example. My son is at Alabama studying engineering. His summer intern roomies are Ga Tech students, a year ahead of him. They all make 19.50 an hr. I worked for the same company. I have an MBA from Arizona State. My intern hire team came from UC Riverside, UCLA and Dartmouth. We all started at $64,992 (in 1998). So what you deem as prestige has some truth but it’s vastly overrated in most cases. And today companies are doing more internet hiring and less campus hiring so your resume will be evaluated by an AI program. Your total return, a large part being how little you spend on school, should be, in my opinion, a bigger part of your equation, especially given the employability of your degree.
There’s lots of tech in Raleigh, Nashville, Atlanta and more. And you’ll likely have a better chance at building wealth and living a lower stress life.
Congrats - you’ll have lots of opportunities. Choose one…whatever it is…for the right reason, not because you are chasing a perception or headline.
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I largely agree with your post. Expenses in The Bay and LA are high. That said, the salary range you posted is nowhere near what west coast, major city SE/CS majors are making. My son has multiple friends who are SEs. They all make over $150k. The ones close to $150 stay in those jobs, underpaid for the market, because they have options in startups.
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But are they making $150K starting - or with experience - and they’ve moved up. There’s no guarantees.
Few, I imagine but I could be wrong, are starting at $150K. That’s the exception, not the rule.
These aren’t mid-career guys. They’re all 2 years out. My son is a ME also two years out. He makes 20% more than what PayScale reports as the 90th percentile for mid-career MEs. Granted, none of these guys are working for mom and pop companies. They are all in competitive positions.
Well the OP is computer science - and yes it’s higher than ME. However, if your son’s subgroup is 20% more than the 90th percentile on payscale, I say a big congrats (he’s killing it) - but no one should assume to be in a similar spot - exception more so than the rule.
All I know is - I was born in the wrong era and studied the wrong things (that I know) - these kids are making more than most ever will in a year.
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College Scorecard may be a more realistic source of median pay levels by college and major, although it is limited to graduates who received federal financial aid.
For CPSLO at College Scorecard | College Scorecard , median pay two years after graduation by major:
| Major (Bachelor’s Degree) | Median Pay |
|---|---|
| Computer Science | NA |
| Computer Engineering | $93,964 |
| Mechanical Engineering | $74,038 |
No doubt there can be some with $150,000 paychecks. But they should not be seen as typical.
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My son pinches himself every day. He loves what he does, he works with great people, and gets paid very handsomely. He never takes any of that for granted. He is absolutely an outlier.
The SE/CS guys though are not exceptions. They have large friend groups and know very well how their compensation packages stack up. The well funded startups and top tech firms like Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon, Salesforce, etc. have to pay for SE/CS talent right now.
@ucbalumnus, the only CP grads are my son and his friend at Apple. The most germane line for CP is missing though as the OP wants to study CS.
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From College Scoreboard for CS
HMC $147K
Stanford $137K
Pomona $129K
UCB $125K
Remember these are median numbers, two years out, for students that received federal aid. It is not self reported.
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Note that all of these are under $150k.
Indeed, but they are median numbers and represent all types of jobs and all types of GPAs. All of them are well over the $75-95K hypothetical @tsbna44 was suggesting.
Again, these guys are certainly above the 50th percentile, but by definition there are just as many above those numbers as there are below. They are not rare. My son, that’s a different story.
I also don’t believe it’s a function of their schools per se, but where they work. Take a student from a school with a much lower median for CS and plunk them in that environment and they’d make similar money.
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I was looking at starting salaries - perhaps I was off but I had looked up a few schools of varying ranges when I came up with that.
Here’s a weblink.
My point - right or wrong - was to say - there are no guarantees but what you spend is important and where you end up geographically can greatly impact your earnings - and going to a high cost of living / high pay city may not be the smartest thing.
That’s in essence the point I was trying to make.
Thanks
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