College Search - Computer Programming, Linguistics

College Search & Selection
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<p>I'm currently a sophomore in high school but I'd like to start searching for colleges a bit early. My main field of interest is computer programming, and I also have a strong interest in linguistics. Before I list my college ideas I'll list some info about myself:</p>

<p>School
[ul][<em>]4.0 GPA (which I plan on holding :P )
[</em>]All honors / AP classes (1 AP class freshman year, 1 AP class this year, 3 for junior year, and some senior year)
[<em>]2 years ahead in math (currently "Brief Calculus" as a sophomore)
[</em>]Tested out of Programming 1-2 my freshman year, into AP Programming 3-4
[li]PSAT: 206 (freshman, no preparation), 202 (sophomore, no preparation)[/ul]</p>[/li]
<p>Extracurricular
[ul][<em>]Highly involved with technology
[</em>]Programming casually since 10 years old
[<em>]Volunteered as a WordPress developer in 2008, built its theme editor + plugins and contributed code fixes
[</em>]Working as a web development contractor since October 2010 (I plan on keeping this until at least the end of high school)
[<em>]Dedicated cross-country runner since 6th grade
[</em>]Ran 2 half-marathons (every year since 8th grade)
[<em>]Teaching myself French (since 8th grade) and German (since freshman year); also supplementing my Spanish courses at school by learning on my own
[</em>]Involved in the "conlanging" (language creation in order to explore linguistics and cultures) scene for 2-3 years
[li]Volunteering as co-administrator / developer in several online communities, mainly UniLang (language learning forum) and ConPlanet (world creation / linguistics community)[/ul]</p>[/li]
<p>Awards / Achievements
[ul][<em>]School, District, Region Spelling Bee winner (2008, 7th grade). Placed 17th out of 27th at state (Arizona).
[</em>]President's Education Award for Outstanding Academic Excellence (2009)[/ul]</p>

<p>I know that I definitely want to work as a computer programmer / computer scientist. I'm very interested in Silicon Valley and what it has to offer, so I've been putting extra consideration towards California schools.</p>

<p>What I'd like to know, in a nutshell: What are some reputable schools which have strong computer programming / computer science programs and would be a good fit for me, given my current qualifications?</p>

<p>Some of the other search factors I feel most strongly about:[ul][<em>]Good language/linguistics program as well[</em>]Located on East or West coast[<em>]Strong college culture ("geek" culture?)[</em>]Urban and safe setting[/ul]The college search on this site and searches on other sites have recommended UC San Diego, UC Santa Cruz, Northeastern University, and Cornell as my best matches.</p>

<p>I'd love to hear anyone's opinion about these recommendations, or suggestions of other schools. Thanks!</p>

2

<p>[Computational</a> Linguistics @ Stanford](<a href=“http://www.stanford.edu/dept/linguistics/compling/]Computational”>http://www.stanford.edu/dept/linguistics/compling/)</p>

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<p>^ I agree. It does not get much better than Stanford based on your criteria.</p>

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<p>Hello. I am your new fan.</p>

<p>But seriously…I’m a CS/web kid too, tangentially interested in computational linguistics. Definitely check out Stanford (you would probably be a very competitive applicant). Gorgeous college-town-esque feel, but Palo Alto is a very interesting place to be in (culturally & given the proximity to all the cool tech companies), and very safe and quiet, &c, &c. This would definitely help when seeking cool internships and summer jobs in the Bay Area. All the cool companies are here!</p>

<p>Sorry, I get really excited about Silicon Valley. I live there.</p>

<p>Check out CMU too; has an excellent geek culture (and the kind of geek culture covering many different areas, so you’ll get CS geeks aplenty, but also science geeks, drama geeks, design geeks…my impression of the school is that they have a number of programs in which they are unbelievably good in, and the students are obsessives in the best kind of way in those fields). Pittsburgh is quite the interesting somewhat-urban setting (Palo Alto I’d say is more suburban, but obviously suburban in the cultured, affluent, epicenter-of-Silicon-Valley way) and has a low cost-of-living and is supposed to be family-friendly. I assume this also means safe.</p>

<p>These are both going to be reach schools for applicants (CMU isn’t so much of a reach overall but definitely is when you get to CS), but considering the devotion you’ve shown over the years and the clear interest you have in technology, you should definitely consider both. They both have excellent programs in your area of interest and I think you’d really like the school cultures, too.</p>

<p>Re: paying for college…I’d like to recommend UC Berkeley (still in close proximity to Silicon Valley; kids there have gotten excellent summer internships) but it’s quite expensive for out-of-state (which I’m assuming you are?) and the state of the Californian budget makes me wary of suggestion private-school-level tuition for a program that’s somewhat underfunded and shows it. classSizes++ && difficultyOfEnrollment++ (when it comes to classes, meaning it might take you extra time to graduate).</p>

<p>Cornell, RPI (likely will be a safety for you), USC, JHU also have good CS programs (and that’s what I’ve been researching), but I don’t know too much specifically about linguistics for them, so you might want to check it out. However: Cornell isn’t urban (far from it!); USC I’ve heard can be a not-too-safe area although they’re taking steps to mitigate this (remember this is anecdotal, and I definitely wouldn’t go so far as to call it “unsafe”). JHU is in Baltimore! Cornell & JHU are somewhat known for a pressure-cooker competitive stressful environment. Just a heads-up.</p>

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<p>Heh, all right, Stanford looks like it deserves #1 right now. The combination of computational linguistics + location (Silicon Valley) seems like a great choice. I’ll definitely be doing some research for this school. CMU looks very good as well.</p>

<p>

Haha, this made my day, thank you!</p>

<p>I have a second somewhat-related question: I’m getting mixed messages from teachers and friends about how important AP classes are to colleges. I’m planning to opt for honors English and US History in my junior year rather than their AP equivalents… is this a bad choice considering where I am aiming for colleges? Or am I just worrying too much?</p>

<p>I am choosing honors over AP for those classes so that I can dedicate more time to the AP classes that I will be enjoying (Calculus BC, Statistics, and Spanish) and to my extracurriculars—contracting especially—that are supporting my interests. I feel like balancing this way is the right way to go, but some people have told me that highly selective colleges make quick judgements based on AP class count.</p>

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<p>Stanford is an excellent choice. Rice is also good in compiler theory and might be a little easier to get into. It’s always good to have matches as well as reaches. MIT and CMU are the top two CS schools, but Stanford has better weather.</p>

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<p>You need to check out CMU; it’s everything you asked about, right down to the very comfortable urban setting, and the quirky/geeky culture. Oakland/Pittsburgh is a great backdrop, and CMU CS grads/grad students/staff/professors are all over Silicon Valley - it’s like a high velocity pipeline, back and forth; it couldn’t be easier. </p>

<p>You sound like the perfect kind of guy for CMU. But remember to bring money, they like that a lot. :frowning: If you can swing it, you can’t go wrong.</p>

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<p>Along with Stanford, Berkeley, and Carnegie Mellon, I’d say Penn.</p>

<p>I was interested in Linguistics some time ago and did some research on CC, here’s a post from a user who is (or now was?) a CS and linguistics major at Stanford on the relative strengths of the linguistics departments at various schools:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/5149511-post3.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/5149511-post3.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>It also looks like you have an interest in languages in general. Since you’re already self-studying French and German, are you planning on taking the SAT II or AP exams in these subjects? It would look very impressive to have high scores in these languages as evidence of your self-study. I can already tell schools will love your ECs, btw.</p>

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<p>

That’s</a> a great find, thank you!</p>

<p>

I hadn’t thought of this. A very good idea! I might take a shot at the French AP exam but I don’t think I’ll be reaching an AP level in German very soon.</p>

<p>

Good to know! Are there any especially attractive extracurricular areas in which I should do more, to make them even better?</p>

<p>All right, so currently the priority list is:[ol][]Stanford — Great school for CS + linguistics, right next to a very attractive Silicon Valley[]Carnegie Mellon — Strong CS school with a good geek culture[]MIT — Strong CS school as well, with a nice reputation. Boston rocks (I used to live near Worcester and trips into Boston were the best :D)[]Berkeley, Penn, Rice, Rensselaer, USC — Lower-priority (but still very enticing!)[/ol]</p>