I have not visited any of these campuses, so I really have no idea what they’re like aside from internet reviews, and I don’t know anyone who could properly compare these schools for me? Sorry in advance if this is posted often aaa D:
I’m worried about being out of place as an Asian girl, because I know Lehigh/Colgate have reputations as quite white schools, and RPI is known for being mainly male? Also, I have never found anyone able to tell me how prestigious the Lehigh IDEAS program is, particularly in comparison with the other colleges I got into?
Above all, of course, I’d like to go somewhere I can get a good job from, even if it means attending larger classes/having to work harder/be a minority in some way. (Yet I’d prefer if the party scene was not super dry :D)
How does cost and debt compare?
I am fortunate enough that cost is not really something I have to take into account, but Colgate, Lehigh and RPI are all between 50-55k, and Rutgers is about 11k (instate student).
Tentative academic interests?
You will be employable with a CS degree from anywhere.
What do you want in terms of campus life?
Colgate is the smallest. Cute campus, strong academics but tiny.
Lehigh, I loved for my D. Midsized. Gorgeous campus. Great programs. Bit of a rep for being a party school and heavy into Greek life but the university is looking to change that.
RPI was high on my D’s list but she wasn’t happy about the ARCH program. (You may want to visit each schools sub forum here on CC and read through some threads).
Rutgers, big state school. My D’s favorites were all big flagships. She liked the energy of the big schools, facilities, etc…I know nothing about Rutgers in particular though.
There’s a big cost difference here. Even though your parents are able to pay that much more, what could that extra money be used for? grad school? Other siblings? The economy is rocky right now so if you don’t have a strong preference, take your cheapest option.
Right, CS, in your title!
Yes, it’s true that the male:female ratio at RPI is 2:1. That’s actually a good thing. I know it’s counterintuitive, but research shows that young women are actually safer and are treated better on campuses that have more young men than women. See the link below for details. There’s been lots written on this topic, so google can lead you to other articles and books.
RPI has 2000 women undergraduates, so there are still lots of other women around for friendships, socializing, etc. - almost as many female students as the entire student population at Colgate. Since this appears to be a concern for you, I suggest that you contact the Admissions office and ask them to put you in touch with some women who are currently students there. Talk to them to see what their experience has been and how they like it there.
It’s worth noting that RPI would like to change the male:female ratio to 50:50 and has set a goal to do so.
Has RPI sent you a statement of financial aid? Because they badly want more female students on campus, you are valuable to them. You can contact them and appeal for more money. They have merit scholarships available, so need is not the only factor.
https://money.com/college-gender-ratios-dating-hook-up-culture/
For $11k, Rutgers Honor College. The honors program has great perks. Rutgers is a great school and very diverse.
Colgate is beautiful, and they heavily stress diversity. I don’t think you would be out of place there. Campus is very rural, cute little downtown - I stress little.
My niece visited RPI before the shut down. She’s a NYC girl and was turned off by, what she felt, was a very nerdy, 100% STEM focused study body. That may work for you, but if you change your mind at Rutgers you have a ton of options.
Lehigh and Colgate both have the work hard, party hard rep from what I hear. All are great schools, but for that money differential I think Rutgers Honors is a bargain.
D is a current freshman at Colgate. She is declaring her major end of sophomore year and it will be CS and plans to double minor. We are Asian and live 30 mins away from the school. Send me a message if you have any questions and I’ll try to answer them for you or have my D connect with you.
Just a quick background on D. We live in a suburban area known for strong school district and mainly white population. Its a small school but the minority are mostly Asians as most of the parents are in the medical/healthcare field just like me. Anyways she applied to only 10 schools within NYS- Columbia(denied),NYU(WL), Colgate, Clarkson, RIT, RPI, StonyBrook, Binghamton, SUNY Poly and MVCC. She got in from all with presidential scholarships with the exception of Bing(odd really). Visited only 3 campuses- Colgate, RIT, Bing. Three factors for our decision is FA, school size/student population and academics. D doesn’t feel the bigger schools although runner up was RIT. Colgate was top choice for her. Great FA award, great academics, beautiful school, right school population, even greater alu
If none of them stands out from the others to you, you might as well go for Rutgers, because $156k to $176k is a considerable amount of money that could be useful, especially in uncertain economic times.
Even if one of them is a little better than Rutgers, is it $156k to $176k better, particularly in the context of your family’s household finances (do your parents have enough for their retirement or any younger siblings’ college costs?)?
You may also want to compare the course offerings in CS in each school’s catalog and schedule.
Also, if you are not in direct admit to CS, check if there are admission processes to get into the CS major. Rutgers requires at least a C grade in prerequisite courses according to https://www.cs.rutgers.edu/academics/undergraduate/admission-to-the-major . RPI requires a 3.0 GPA in prerequisite courses according to https://science.rpi.edu/computer-science/programs/undergrad/bs-computerscience .
Thank you for all the replies!! This helped narrow down my choices, and I think RPI might not be the school for me.
Just to clarify about my parents’ finances: we are fairly well off and thankfully the pandemic has not changed our financial situation. My parents will be able to retire just fine, don’t worry! They prioritize education and want me to go to the college that will best prepare me for a job. Side note: I do not qualify for financial aid, but I did get some merit from RPI for about 10k for the first year.
It’s good to know that a CS degree from anywhere is employable, but would there be any difference in salary based off of where I attend, or is it more about how good I am at CS?
Currently I am leaning towards Lehigh and Colgate. Lehigh because I would like to be not too far from cities, and Colgate because of how beautiful the campus seems. The smaller class sizes are a pro as well. It’s nice to know that greek life doesn’t dominate campus life because joining a sorority isn’t really my thing.
When it comes to Rutgers, I am a direct CS admit! Whew! The whole small class size thing also applies to Rutgers Honors Program, but going to such a large college is a little intimidating to me as someone attending a pretty small high school.
As for RPI, I am not a direct admit to CS so thank you for that info!! As a computational biology admit, and someone who wouldn’t want to be in a too STEM-y campus, I am definitely not as interested in RPI. (Now wondering why I ever wanted to be a computational biology student to begin with, what was I thinking…)
You can read a bit about Colgate and its environment in these articles:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/morganbrennan/2012/12/19/americas-friendliest-towns/
https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_4546120
Your other top contender, Lehigh, offers a seriously top-notch computer science program that should merit strong consideration of that school as well.
RPI, as you’ve learned, derives its core identity from its notably tech-focused history and curriculum, and may not be for you as you have described your preferences.
Woah just found out that you can @ people on CC wow I know so little about this website
@merc81 Thanks for the articles! Hamilton looks like such a cute town ;-;
Also I didn’t really know that CS at Lehigh was that good? I feel kind of guilty for preferring Lehigh/Colgate to RPI when RPI is supposed to be better for CS but it helps to know that!
To be fair, RPI engages in some world-level projects in computer science:
https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/New-RPI-supercomputer-is-among-world-s-fastest-14888357.php
This aspect, it would seem, may strongly appeal to some potential students.
Nonetheless, for undergraduate study, Lehigh offers an excellent computer science program.
@merc81 Do you happen to know how much rigor varies between Lehigh and RPI? Surely classes must be quite difficult at RPI if it is such a great CS school? That’s a little intimidating
Lehigh’s campus is really nice. One of the nicest I visited. I really felt everyone I came into contact with on the campus was welcoming. have you done any admitted student zoom meetings? I’ve been on numerous with Lehigh. The deans, professors and everyone has gone above and beyond to answer any questions…they have tons of zoom events. you should check it out.
@Luckyjade2024 I keep missing the zoom meetings because I’m very forgetful and my sleep schedule is a bit weird right now, but I’m planning on attending one of them this Sunday. It’s good to hear that people are so friendly there and that the campus is nice! People online are so critical of college campuses for no reason and I’ve read some posts that made the staircases at Lehigh sound like a trek up Mt. Everest
@lofihiphop. funny…i kept hearing about the stairs and when I got there I couldn’t believe that would even be a complaint. The stairs are no big deal. the campus is really nice.
they are hosting an all day event on Saturday from 9am - 10pm …it’s called decideapalooza
everything from dorms, activities, majors, parent info sessions etc.
i was torn and after doing all these online events, it became clear that Lehigh is a great fit. I feel everyone is extremely welcoming.
also a few of my professors emailed me and set up one on one Q&A
ps…not into Greek life…probably doing theme housing like STEM (no greeks)
they also have Lehigh after dark Thurs-Sat until 2am …so always non greek events on campus
@Luckyjade2024 yeah now that i think about it i actually know someone that visited the campus and they just described it as vertical? maybe they just didn’t like the vibe of the school and that influenced their opinion of the campus
woah i think i’m going to try to check out decideapalooza then, thanks for letting me know about it! now that i think about it i really should have been going to more online events in general whoops
also it’s so nice that your professors emailed you?? sometimes professors give off such an intimidating vibe aaa
i knew about Lehigh after dark but never really thought about doing any theme housing, but the arts alive or stem ones seem pretty comfy actually