<p>Netanel - I’m not dismissing your programming experience; in fact, I said that it’s valuable. But it’s not a hook, because deep programming experience is really common these days. It’s quite shocking, actually.</p>
<p>All I’m saying is that you’re interested in some very tough reach schools, and your biggest hurdle (and biggest opportunity) is your SAT CR/W scores. Look at the CS admission stats for the top 10 schools in this thread. Go for it, by all means, but raise those scores and get yourself some matches.</p>
<p>It actually does, but I’m much less familiar with CE than CS. All the very top CS schools are also top notch for CE, but there are definitely changes below. I do know that Georgia Tech would rise significantly, perhaps to just beneath the obvious stars. </p>
<p>As a general rule of thumb, look for schools where the CS department grew out of Electrical Engineering rather than from Mathematics or Cognitive Science, or some other independent path.</p>
<p>Netanel, I went back and bolded your post #82, just to keep the thread on track with your thoughts as they develop. I am appreciating a thread where parents and student are listening to each other.</p>
I’m just tossing UCSD and UCB into the mix if you’re considering the UC system in California. UCB is ranked very highly and so are UCLA and UCSD which have strong CS programs (I’m familiar wih both since I had kids who were CS majors at each) that are ranked at the same level by USNWR. San Diego’s not a bad place to live either!</p>
<p>There are a number of UC schools that would be excellent choices. Our family has reluctantly dropped them from consideration (for our junior son) because we’re afraid of what might happen to out-of-staters over the next few years due to the CA government problem. If finances aren’t a concern, definitely good selections.</p>