College suggestion for computer studies

College Search & Selection
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Hi, Can some one suggest colleges to study computer science for students who don’t have high SAT or 4.0 GPA. Lets say for students with 3.5 GPA and SAT of 1240 and like to study computer science in a college where teaching is good and students can catch up. Thanks

2

UNC Charlotte

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3

Need more details.
Year in HS?
Home state?
College budget?
College size preference?
Geographical preference?
Unweighted GPA?
Any Honors/AP/IB or DE courses planned or taken?
Highest level of Math that will be reached by Senior year?

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12th grader now in NJ
Budget - below 50 k
College size preference? None
Geographical preference? NJ,PA,NY,CT,VA
Unweighted GPA? 3.5
Any Honors/AP/IB or DE courses planned or taken? None
Highest level of Math that will be reached by Senior year? Calculus

5

Allegheny, Roanoke.

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6

Go to community college and take your required science an math courses there. Best way to ease in and get your bearings. Avoid being weeded out.

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Can you be a bit more specific , what additional science and match courses are required, Isn’t high school math and science enough? when you say “avoided being weeded out” did you mean for college admission?

8

Apply at Rowan. It’s a solid school and has good placement for their grads. It’s definitely under budget. TCNJ is another to look into. Rutgers is a hard admit but definitely try. UDelaware could meet your budget with merit awards. Good luck!

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Thank You misty. Rutgers New Brunswick vs Rutgers newark, any insights you have?
If we get in to Rutgers newark, is that a good choice for computer science studies?
University of Delaware we didnt consider m is that an "ok " school. I heard mixed reviews

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I don’t know how good Newark is. I’m not up on the cs world and have only heard great things for medical related fields in Newark. (I’m health care) I know a handful of UDel grads who had good experiences there but not cs specifically most were nurses, education or financial. They are really good at placing financial and business because Delaware is a financial, pharmaceutical hub and DuPont is right there. Best thing would be to look at the course breakdown for each school and see what appeals to you. Drexel gives merit and has the co-op program

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The schools listed below are mostly small to mid-sized with a good proportion of CS majors (with the number used as a proxy for the strength of the department). For the two Connecticut schools, although their percentage of Bachelor’s in CS wasn’t as high, they had larger numbers of students getting a Master’s, which I took as an indication of good depth in the department. They’re all classified as residential campuses, unless noted otherwise.

  • Allegheny (PA )

  • Arcadia (PA )

  • Christopher Newport (VA)

  • Clarkson (NY)

  • Drew (NJ)

  • Hood (MD)

  • Manhattan (NY)

  • New Jersey Institute of Technology

  • Ramapo (NJ)

  • Randolph-Macon (VA)

  • Salisbury (MD)

  • Siena (NY)

  • SUNY Polytechnic (classified as a commuter campus, but 65% of first year students live on campus)

  • U. of Bridgeport (CT)

  • U. of New Haven (CT)

  • Ursinus (PA )

  • York (PA )

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12

Towson or Frostburg in MD. Coworkers son went to Frostburg and got a job lined up during senior year and top secret clearance by a few months after graduating (process happened throughout senior year) and now in cybersecurity- location was key- close to both Baltimore and DC.

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Anecdotally, last year it seemed like it was harder to get into NJIT for CS, than into Rutgers NB.

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14

That suggests that you look at the various NJ state universities that offer CS. The SUNYs in NY may be within budget even as a non-NY resident.

Minimum high school preparation for studying CS includes math through precalculus and (for engineering based CS major programs) high school physics and chemistry, plus the usual high school subjects (English, history, etc.).

In college, a CS major will take (if not taken while in high school with credit accepted by the college):

  • CS: introductory sequence specified by the department, including programming, data structures, and computer systems, plus upper level courses on various CS topics.
  • Math: calculus, linear algebra, discrete math, probability theory. Engineering-based CS major programs may require multivariable calculus.
  • Non-CS science: Engineering-based CS major programs typically require physics and often chemistry or other science. Non-engineering-based CS programs may or may not require non-CS science beyond general education requirements.
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I didn’t clarify in my earlier post, but if a school on my list has a sticker price of over $50k, I included it because I suspect you would receive sufficient merit aid to bring it within budget. If a school asks for your academic stats on the Net Price Calculator, it is likely to include the minimum amount of merit aid you can expect from the institution.

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16

Perhaps you can expand on what you mean by “catch up”. In what way(s) do you feel that you are behind?

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Thanks Austen, Just curious, how did you come up with this college list, what was the criteria used.

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Thanks for the information. I never thought of them even though I heard the name Towson. I will do some research

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Also try UMbC - their gpa is higher but since it tends to be a backup for students - people decline it. Umbc - CS is really strong and good internships in the area like APL. School
overall is good and students are happy. School tends to be on quieter side.

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20

@badgolfer ,As you may know computer science is not for everyone. Many kids in high school I talked doesnt want to do it. My specific concern was if we go to a school like say Upenn , the kids who come there are high SAT, high GPA and they may already have a good exposure to coding and other stuff, which gives them and advantage and the kids who are really trying to enter the field and study hard feel neglected and may get demotivated.
Whereas some lower tier colleges do care for the well being of all students and will give additional avenues to clear doubts and get better understanding through off hours meetings with professors . One college rep I met said they even encourage, task students to form groups and help each other . Thats what I meant by “catch up”. I want the student to feel comfortable in the campus, talking to professors, clearing doubts and feel empowered and motivated to succeed. This is my concern as a parent. Hope this makes sense.
On that note one college rep told me the smaller campuses (like for example remote campuses of penn state) is better because there students can have more interactions with professors after class.