@Alezzz, for now, you can look at the stats for both schools and see what percentage of the CS student population pursue graduate schools and which schools they are getting into for post grad. If he will be looking into PhD in the future, he needs to protect his undergrad GPA, and get involved in research still while undergrad. Those are the type of opportunities you need to look for to make sure he will succeed. Chances are, he will not be allowed to do internships in the US, but he can certainly pursue research.
Some other places where he might get automatic merit for stats are Arizona State (excellent Honors program, near Phoenix and somewhat easier to get to from abroad than Tucson), U of New Mexico, and University of Alabama-Huntsville (very good for tech in general). I am not sure of the deadlines (some may have passed) but you might want to research them as alternatives. Also, I am not sure of the level of support that each offers, but your son might be able to get up to full tuition at Huntsville and variable tuition discounting at the other two. Good luck!
Can somebody help me to understand value of CS degree from Wooster. Probably that is most difficult thing for me. With big U is more clear, I graduated from U myself. But little LAC is something that I haven’t analogues in my country.
Does it possible after Wooster to be admitted for graduate programm in MIT or Princeton? Does it possible to get job in Google? I understand well that depend from student himself also. So please estimate that student is really strong. Will that be enough?
@Alezzz, in general, yes. But ask the CS department at Wooster where their grads have gone for a PhD. Look to see what their faculty specialize in. The drawback to a LAC is the limited number of faculty in each department.
Liberal arts colleges in the USA vary a lot in quality. Wooster gets a national liberal arts college rank of 67.
So thats not super strong but still OK. The student body is about 2000 undergrads, so quite small.
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/college-of-wooster-3037
Wooster offers a Department of mathematics and computer science.
They offer pre engineering, which is largely math and physics with the option to attend Case Western in the last two years, another larger university up in Cleveland.
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/college-of-wooster-3037
In computer sciences , its very competitive to get into a PhD program but not as hard to pay full cash price for a masters program in computer science at say Georgia Tech, which accepts most of the applicants, if you pay cash or maybe a large school like U of Illinois or Purdue U.
. MIT has not offered a terminal masters in computer science in about ten years, they only offer fully funded PhD programs. They tend to accept students with masters degrees already in their home country, so a lot of international students come to MIT, and students from Ivy schools, top ranked programs like Carnegie Mellon, and west coast schools, as well as the very top student from public schools and some LACs,
I would ask Wooster directly–Where do your Computer science graduates get jobs and where do they go to graduate school?
I do know Case Western, about 50 miles north of Wooster. I would say Case Western is better known than Wooster and will occasionally get students into top PhD programs but not as often as you might think. Students we know in physics got a reject at MIT for instance, and he had lots of Case faculty calling MIT, but still could not get in. He could get into graduate programs at U of Michigan and Cornell U and U of Cal Santa Barbara, and UIUC, so all pretty good but not ranked number 1 in physics or computer sciences .
So for computer sciences the top schools in the USA are Carnegie Mellon U in Pennsylvania, Berkeley, Stanford, MIT and U of Illinois, U of Maryland, U of Texas and Georgia Tech. I think he would have a greater chance to get into those very good graduate schools from U of Arizona, because of its well known strengths in computer sciences.
U of Arizona is a ranked top 50 in the USA computer science graduate program. Its rank matches Dartmouth College, Arizona State, North Carolina State, Texas A&M. All are well respected for CS, but not the tippy top programs.
U of Arizona seems to me to be a more sure for an international student like your son, as its a known name in Canada, Europe, and the USA, as well as Asian countries.
Tuscan is a very nice city, and in the event he does get a work visa,
there are thousands of jobs in nearby Phoenix Arizona. U of Arizona also places students in Los Angeles jobs. While your son is Belorussian, I take it, he may, if he gets advanced education, MS or PhD be able to stay in the USA, as so few Americans want a PhD in computer science.
It turns out Microsoft, Apple, Google and other firms, hires all the PhDs in computer science that they can find. There is a huge shortage of PhD level knowledge in CS in the USA.
Here is the correct link for the 3-2 program at Wooster with Case Western Reserve U. Case Western will have more computer science classes and it might be a way to beef up the education at Wooster with more math and CS., to go to Case Western for two years.
https://www.wooster.edu/academics/areas/pre-engineering/
@Coloradomama Big Thanks! Your answer is very informative and usefull.
Here is a full list of Wooster’s 16 computer science classes-
http://catalog.wooster.edu/content.php?catoid=2&catoid=2&navoid=44&filter%5Bitem_type%5D=3&filter%5Bonly_active%5D=1&filter%5B3%5D=1&filter%5Bcpage%5D=3#acalog_template_course_filter
Compare this to other schools like U of Arizona, Arizona State. The larger schools have a lot more to offer because they have graduate classes that are open to undergraduates.
If your son has taken computer science classes, Wooster may be too small for him.
One more question please. Does it important in computer industry to have master/PhD degree?
I mean if my son instead of spending 4-5 more years to reach PhD in CS will just start to work in hi-tech with bachelor degree. And after 5 years he will be experienced professional in distinction from those who spent this time in classes. In that case can he be same level or even more competitive than CS PhD at real job market?
Or bachelor degree only will make him non-competitive for top jobs, independent from skills and experience? Does master/PhD degree important to be employed by top IT companies?
@Alezzz In the US, a student can get a job in CS with a Bachelor’s degree, provided their grades are good and they’ve had some summer internships. A graduate degree is not a requirement. However, they must be eligible to work in the US, which may not hold true for an international student with a student visa.
Employers must sponsor those who do not have US citizenships or permanent residency or some other qualification to work in the US. But there is no guarantee an employer is willing to sponsor, since they may prefer to hire someone who is already eligible to work in the US.
I think some posts were suggesting that a student continue graduate work to stay in as a student in the US? Perhaps a highly qualified student with a graduate degree may be more likely to get sponsored for a work visa in the US? Possibly. But nothing is a sure thing, especially under current immigration policies in the US.
“Perhaps a highly qualified student with a graduate degree may be more likely to get sponsored for a work visa in the US?”
Yes, that. Also more marketable across the world, IMO.
@PurpleTitan
Sure it’s clear that master is better than bachelor, and PhD is better than master. But I want to understand another thing. And I still don’t know in what country my son will study.
Let’s imagine that good CS professional came for job seeking in USA. With good skills, good CV, good experience in projects. But he have only bachelor degree. Have he chance to got job in Google, Microsoft, ect? Or bachelor degree will be red flag and no way?
Does bachelor degree only is blocking condition for TOP companies or not?
@Alezzz, it’s not the companies that are the problem, really. It’s whether he can get a work visa. Obviously they would rather sponsor the more critical talent. And those companies operate in many countries.