I still think RIT should be a school you consider. Down the road in Rochester, NY is the University of Rochester which is a Top 30 something school (overall) if “Top” numbers are of interest, but RIT is also very good at producing CS grads who get hired in jobs they like and his stats should put him as an ideal candidate. UR would be iffy for acceptance. RIT has a year of work experience required during the 5 year program (4 years school, 1 year work). UR is more typical.
Look into UMN Morris.
You don’t need this planner. You can get all the info you need right here, by asking questions.
If your son wants Comp Sci, and has 1400 SAT and a 3.2 GPA with A’s in AP Comp sci classes, your cheapest option is going to be in-state public schools that have comp sci as a major. You’re in Georgia, and he’s not going to get into Georgia Tech or U Georgia, but he may get into Georgia state for comp sci, or another 4 yr public college in Georgia for comp sci. It really doesn’t matter much, because comp sci is in such demand that he’ll get a job no matter what, and after the first job, all they care about is work record.
If your goal is that he get his college degree as quickly and cheaply as possible, then what he should do is as many AP, dual enrollment, and CLEP as he can that he can get credit for at the target school. First look at all the public four year colleges in Georgia that have comp sci and that he might be able to get into. Then look at what CLEP and AP classes they would accept. Then have him choose his AP classes for next year, with this in mind, and also plan for which CLEP exams he could do that will fulfill gen ed credits at the target schools. There is a website called modernstates where he can watch the lectures for the course, and then download a certificate that will pay for the CLEP exam at any nearby school. He could do CLEP over the next two summers, and AP next year, and possibly enter the 4 yr state college with over a year’s gen ed credits, and graduate in three years or less.
If for some reason he cannot get decent scores on the AP, or the scores he needs on the CLEP, then the next option is community college with some comp sci, that has an articulated transfer agreement with a 4 yr state college that has comp sci, so that he could do his gen eds there and basic comp sci classes (community college is ridiculously easy, and usually half the price of state 4 yr colleges, so a bright, dedicated student could take 6 or 7 classes a semester there and do well), and then transfer to the 4 yr college for his last 2 yrs. If there is a 4 yr state school that has comp sci near you, he can get the degree for cheap while living at home. BTW, for the community college component, he can go year round and between CLEP, AP, and 4 semesters of community college (summer, fall, spring, summer) he can be done in one year and transfer to the 4 yr college for his last two years.
But if you’re looking for the full, 4 yr college experience at a mid tier private college that is giving discounted tuition (“merit” aid) to try to attract paying customers, I suggest that you look for schools with acceptance rates of over 60% that have comp sci, in places where he is willing to go, that are known to give discounted tuition. His SAT is far above the usual SAT for such schools, and his comp sci grades are good, so they might give him substantial merit aid. You can research on here whether the schools you identify are giving good merit aid. It might bring it down to a total cost of attendance of 120K for 4 yrs, but it’s still going to be a lot more than the AP/CLEP/dual enrollment or dash through community college route into 4 yr state school within commuting distance pathway outlined above.
This may not be the best route for his social development, but it would be the cheapest, quickest way to a 4 yr degree in comp sci and gainful employment. This is how many, many people have gotten through college quickly and cheaply, because life and financial circumstances demanded it.
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I think that families get in trouble for not taking ownership. For example, you will know certain things - does your son want a large or small school, urban or suburban. Greek, sports, etc. How important are they?
Secondly, he wants computer science - is that a definite so you are ok with a tech focus school or that could easily change to a liberal art - so you want a more generic school.
Now you google a list of computer science. For example:
https://www.niche.com/colleges/search/best-colleges-for-computer-science/
You can narrow now based on your other criteria.
You’ll want to develop 3 lists - I’d recommend at least 3 per list but you’ll want to study (and hopefully visit) more. But safety, target, reach. You don’t give any stats so it’s hard to know.
But for example - and this doesn’t apply to you - if you want a smaller school not caring of the geography, without sports, your list might include:
Reach - Rice, Dartmouth, Tufts
Target - Lehigh, RIT, Brandeis
Safety - Dickinson, Dennison, Denver
You could even get granular to what part of computer science do you want and do they offer it.
If it were me and my kids future - I’d take ownership of the process and all the info is out there.
If your son wants a big school with sports, etc. and money is a factor - you can easily find cheap schools/big scholarships, etc.
Some schools run 3 year programs - such as Purdue - but not for all majors.
Your best to research yourself…and ask for help as needed. Too many people entrust another and get burned.
Thanks for detailed response. I must say that cost isn’t our major factor. Cost is covered for any in state and most out of states for that matter. We’ve been looking more at out of state and consider GA state as the “safe” school. Open to start at GA state then transfer to other school last 2 years. Considering TAMU, Purdue, NC State, RIT, NC State, Auburn, Clemson to name a few.
Other concern is kid is borderline ADD. We think a smaller school will fit him better but he does like bigger schools (like TAMU which is enormous).
Large schools can be made small or may have small departments.
Why would you plan to transfer ? Hopefully you find the right schools up front.
What is his gpa weighted and unweighted, act and how many AP classes will he have ?
So you think small-mid, geography open, and $$ don’t matter. As for ADD, half of college students are…way too many medicated kids …way too much stress on everyone.
Oh, so you don’t need him to get through school quickly and cheaply. You’re in the better position of wanting the best school setting for your son. I think you might do well to start a thread like, “Comp Sci schools for smart, B minus student”. I have a feeling that you will get a lot of good answers to a thread like that, not to mention that others will learn from it, too.
No, you don’t need a college planner. And this guy’s business model of collecting your FAFSA info and kid’s stats, seems a bit odd, makes me kind of nervous.
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3.2 GPA, if unweighted, is more like B+ than B-.
If weighted, then unweighted GPA is much more useful and relevant to people outside of that high school, since no one else knows what that high school’s weighting system is.
NC State is notoriously difficult for OOS applicants to get admitted to, especially for engineering and CS. A 3.2 GPA will almost certainly not be high enough. I’m guessing Purdue will also be a difficult admit. I’m not sure about the others.
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3.2 for CS will require significantly less selective colleges, even with a 1400 SAT. CS is currently the most competitive major out there.
In addition, while “a large school can be made smaller”, it’s true for some majors that have typically smaller classes due to the format requiring direct interaction (foreign language, English) or the fact fewer students are interested or find it doable (philosophy, classics). CS will have classes in the hundreds, depending on the university could even be 300, 400, 500… Colleges with CS classes of 40 and under will be rare so you’ll have to ask specifically about that.
Another way to make a large university small is through the honors college but the 3.2 GPA prevents that option. LLCs may be available, especially STEM LLCs so look into it.
I’d recommend you look into College of Charleston, UAlabama Huntsville, UNC Charlotte, unc Wilmington, GMU, plus private colleges like Roanoke, Drake, Muhlenberg, Loyola Maryland, Drexel, perhaps AU since it’s outside the field they’re mainly known for.
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Borderline ADD and getting out of college as quickly as possible with a BS in Computer Science are not necessarily a combo that go together. Better to have him take the full four years, get a real education, than have some third party find him a way to speed through…
Just my opinion. I know kids who have had to do the “college on speed” plan but there were usually extenuating financial constraints (which it doesn’t sound like you have) AND some ace organizational/planning/focus skills.
Sharing your FAFSA- uh, no. He doesn’t need that in order to figure out how “aid sensitive” you are going to be.
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Does he like Georgia State? If not, there are probably better alternatives than Georgia State then transfer after two years. In addition to your initial list, and Myos1634’s excellent list I would add U Dayton, DePaul, Stevens Institute of Tech, and UT Dallas. Those schools are in a range of sizes, should be reasonable admission chances, and excellent for CS with good job placement.
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As I posted above. Sharing your FAFSA info is a huge red flag to me. I would never do this with someone trying to help me with admissions. Actually, I wouldn’t do it at all. Your finances really aren’t relevant to this college selection process at all…especially since you say you can pay for college.
If you want a college consultant, find one who knows that your finances should be one simple question “how much can you pay annually for college?” That’s really way more important than any of the FAFSA data anyway.