college selection - engineering CS

Parents Forum
1

<p>hi , my daughter is a senior in HS in India ( she is a US citizen) during the A levels ( Cambridge International curriculum)
She wants to do engineering, preferably computer science and is shortlisting universities.
She loves Stanford. but that would be a reach given her scores.
Her SAT ( 800 M, 610 CR, 670 W) and ACT composite (33)
SAT2 ( 750 math2, 750 Bio, 720 Chem)
She has good EC .</p>

<p>What are some of the good engineering schools she can consider ?
What are some safeties. She prefers West coast - CA mainly, but not limited
to this .
thanks for all your help. This group has been very helpful.</p>

2

<p>Some state schools - UCLA, UCSD, UC Berkeley, CalPoly San Luis Obispo</p>

<p>Some privates - CalTech, Harvery Mudd, USC</p>

<p>The above schools are pretty selective and wouldn’t be considered safeties.</p>

<p>Pay attention to the final cost since the privates could be less than OOS tuition at the UCs if she gets grants from the particular school.</p>

3

<p>West Schools I like in Computer engineering/Science:
USC – excellent program for women in engineering
Cal Poly
Cal Tech – Very intensive</p>

<p>Very underrated Safeties in computer Engineering that I really like:
Oregon State Univ
Western Washington Univ (limited offerings but very good at what they do)
Univ Of Utah maybe a little inland and a culture shock but very solid program)</p>

4

<p>If you’re NOT limiting to the west coast, I’d make sure you look at MIT, RPI, and RIT. In Washington state, UWashington has a great program–that is also known for being very hard to actually graduate from (lots of people flunk out of it and end up majoring in something else). </p>

<p>If the SAT scores are from her first time around, she may be able to improve them. While Stanford is a reach now, it could be a possible–although of course their admit rate is low.</p>

5

<p>I would bet that San Jose State, in the heart of Silicon Valley, would have the resources to have put together a good computer engineering program.</p>

6

<p>tops in CS:
UC Berkeley (but imo better for grad students for various reasons)
MIT
Stanford
Carnegie Mellon</p>

<p>In California look at Harvey Mudd, UC Irvine, UCSD</p>

<p>Easier to get into, but not on the west coast:
RPI, WPI, Rochester Institute of Tech., Case Western, Rose Hullman, Illinois Institute of Tech.</p>

7

<p>Most good west coast programs are covered above. Just want to add a few other good ones in other part of the country.</p>

<p>UIUC, Cornell, GT, UT Austin, UMich.</p>

8

<p>Rice U in Houston</p>

9

<p>Here are rankings for:
Computer Science (Graduate):
[Rankings</a> - Computer Science - Graduate Schools - Education - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-computer-science-schools/rankings]Rankings”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-computer-science-schools/rankings)
Computer Engineering (Undergraduate):
[Undergraduate</a> Engineering Specialties: Computer - Best Colleges - Education - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/spec-doct-computer]Undergraduate”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/spec-doct-computer)</p>

10

<p>Stanford, Berkeley, UCLA, Canergie Melon, Georgia Tech, UIUC</p>

11

<p>Thanks everybody. You have all given us a good list to go through and short list.</p>

12

<p>Another West Coast school that she might consider is Santa Clara University. It has a very solid program in computer science and engineering and many students do internships with Silicon Valley tech firms that are located nearby. Here’s a link to SCU’s Computer Engineering Department website:</p>

<p>[Santa</a> Clara University - Computer Engineering](<a href=“http://www.scu.edu/engineering/cse/]Santa”>Department of Computer Science and Engineering - School of Engineering - Santa Clara University)</p>

13

<p>I second the University of Southern CA. My S is in EE there & very happy. I’ve read/heard good things about the WISE program for women. There are a lot of international students at USC, as well as many from Hawaii and a pretty diverse student body. They are pretty generous with merit aid as well.</p>

<p>Loyola Marymount University is somewhat smaller but I believe they also have an engineering program but VERY small. They’re also located in LA–lovely campus. </p>

<p>Purdue is also known for its engineering school.</p>

14

<p>I second Santa Clara University. It’s also in the bay area and has a very well regarded engineering school. In the most recent US News…it’s engineering program was ranked 19th for schools which award the masters as their top degree. SCU has no teaching assistants, and class sizes are reasonable. Advisors and accessibility to professors are excellent. The school is quite beautiful…new learning commons (library), business school building and aquatic center in the past three years. VERY well maintained campus. Reasonable size 4500 or so undergrads. It’s a Jesuit school but is very ecumenical. DD is an engineering senior there this year.</p>