Not sure how the early cycle will go for my child but he is interested in studying computer science. He prefers a smaller school setting but we have applied to a few public universities to keep his options open. We are working our regular decisions list and would like recommendations for some good universities in reach and zone for him. He has applied to WPI, Case, Purdue, UCLA, UCB, GTech, Rose-Hulman, UIUC, MIT.
What’s your budget? What is your home state?
We know we will not get any aid, so budget is not a consideration. Home State-KY
For a truly smaller-school setting, professors from these colleges appear to be the first to have actively inititiated and designed a model CS curriculum for liberal arts colleges:
Williams
Swarthmore
Hamilton
Amherst
Vassar
Washington & Lee
Colgate
Allegheny
Bowdoin
(Information from the Liberal Arts Computer Science consortium.)
Most of the above colleges would fall into a selectivity range in the top half of his current choices. For schools more similar to those already on his list, consider the University of Rochester and RPI.
Sounds good. We will look at your recommendations. U Roc and RPI are on his list. Seeking advice where he can get good internships/grad school and job offers. We did not research many of the Liberal Arts school as we thought good engineering schools-public and private might be the way to go.
So you are OK with full pay of $50-60k a year? That opens things up. Check the computer science majors forum if you’ve not done so already to see more posts on the subject. http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/math-computer-science-majors/
Definitely take a look at Harvey Mudd College, in Southern California. It’s a science-rich small college, within the Claremont Consortium, so that the students aren’t in as much of a STEM-only bubble.
Olin College of Engineering is another small outstanding engineering school.
Since many schools have CS programs, another approach is to find schools that appeal to other preferences on your son’s list (e.g. urban or rural? preference for any particular geographic location?) and then look at their CS programs.
Thanks for the link and help.
Yes, he does have a strong CS/engineering theme in his current choices. It’s worth noting, however, that in terms of preparation for graduate school in science or engineering, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to surpass a liberal arts college such as Swarthmore.
A friend’s daughter did CS at Swat and is now in CS grad school, so I agree with the above comment. But if the OP’s son doesn’t like the vibe of Swat, it’s not a good match.
Older D did CS at Tufts (L&S, not engineering), and is now working at a BigName Silicon Valley company. Same deal about fit applies.
We’ve looked a lot at computer science in a LAC setting (my son is a prospective CS major and wants to attend an LAC). Some strong LAC programs not in @merc81’s list:
Carleton (this is aguably #1 among LACs for CS. Right up there with Swarthmore)
Oberlin
Grinnell
Brandeis
U. of Richmond
U of Puget Sound
Trinity University (TX)
Denison
If your kid has strong stats, some of these schools offer substantial merit aid even if you don’t qualify for any need-based aid (particularly the bottom 3). You should also check out this thread:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/18830066/#Comment_18830066
Oh, and Harvey Mudd, is, of course, excellent but a very tough admit (though not any tougher than MIT!)
Take a look at Santa Clara U. Ideal location for CS, good CS and math departments, engineering programs, 5400 undergrads, 3300 grads, NCAA D-1 sports, … , did I mention the location? There’s a lot to like.
If money is no object, and he wants small classes with strong STEM and strong CS focused curriculum, Rose-Hulman would tough to beat. They have kids getting summer jobs at Microsoft, Google, Amazon, etc.
Good luck!
Yes he is looking at R-H very closely and liked it when we visited over the summer. Few more days to hearing from them! Please let me know if you have any other stats on R-H --student life, Prof. student relations, you
Sorry my comment was left incomplete. You already mentioned about jobs.
R-H students are very serious about their studies, based upon our visit to campus. They work hard, but realize that their hard work is going to be rewarded with plenty of job opportunities on the back end if they apply themselves.
Lack of female students is a bummer if you have a Son planning to attend.
Hope some others will chime in on their impressions of R-H. It is a solid, solid education.
Thanks so much! Let’s see what his R-H early application outcome is. He loved the school and the personal attention he would get–I am just not sure about the diversity compared to other schools.