<p>Another explanation for a large difference between RH and the others (if there actually is one) could be that RH grads may be more likely to move to California/NYC for work because they are slightly more recruitable. Pure conjecture on my part. </p>
<p>But I agree that if the grads from these schools stay in the IN/OH area there it is unlikely that there’s actually that much difference in starting salaries they are offered.</p>
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<p>I don’t buy this even if your dad is a real-estate guy…if you don’t graduate from high school in the state you want to attend college in, they are going to look at you very suspiciously. And I don’t see how you spend 50/50 time in each place if you are attending high school in one or the other. Not enough days off in the year to do that, unless you are home schooled. Plus… there are only 365 days/year, you MUST spend more than 50% of your overnights in one state of the other. And lying about this can get you in a world of trouble, so don’t do it.</p>
<p>Have you considered Michigan Tech?</p>
<p>Yes most of the posters are correct. Avoid LACS for CS except you are offered a full ride like @ Carleton, Grinnel or Rose Hulman, then again those schools are unlikely to give you a full ride.</p>
<p>As for Rose-Hulman, the school does not have the funds to offer that much financial aid to students, thus giving students no choice than to pay out of pocket or take out exuberant amount of loan. But the CS degree there is quite good. It usually ranks just a little below schools like (MIT, Cal-tech, Carnegie, Stanford, Case western etc), And yes, their graduates are scouted by the best companies, thus giving them a higher starting salary than schools like Ohio and Purdue. Its called alumni-net-working for those doubting this possibilities. Private schools usually have an edge over public’s when it comes to stuff like this.</p>
<p>In all, Your list of Ohio and Purdue is fine. Just add two privates there like (Case Western and Carnegie)…ie. if you have the grades. Their financial awards are usually quite great that will turn out great, if your award letters from Ohio and Purdue are less favorable.
Best of luck to you.</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids & @Ctesiphon:</p>
<p>Those were only CS major bachelor grads that I compared (though OSU labelled theirs “computer science/engineering”). The average starting salaries for CS major bachelor grads were different for the different schools.</p>
<p>It could be because more RH (and PU) grads end up on the coasts or in big cities (because they are more recruitable, as @ormdad put it). There isn’t going to much cost of living difference between IN and OH (or even IL). </p>
<p>Again, another difference may be that a relatively greater percentage of RH and PU CS majors get the high-paying software jobs (like at software giants like Google/Facebook/Microsoft) and a relatively greater percentage of OSU & IU CS majors get lower-paying jobs (like sys admining or QA testing).</p>
<p>Any particular company is generally going to pay new grads in the same position roughly the same salary, but there’s no law that says, because company A pays their newly-graduated software developers X, company B will will pay their newly-graduated software developers X as well, and certainly, the salary will differ depending on your role.</p>
<p>I don’t know how it is in engineering, but software is very skills-based, so how much you get paid is very much dependent on your coding skills (and employers don’t rely on an accreditation like ABET). So it’s crucial to examine the CS curricula of the schools you’re considering.</p>
<p>Taking a step back, I think the average salaries are higher at RH and PU simply because RH and PU have higher quality kids in CS. In part, this may be due to the rigor of the curriculum (making them high quality). Also maybe because kids who are attracted to programming challenges and are willing to work out hard problems in their own without help from others would be more attracted to CS at RH and PU than at IU and OSU (where you may have more kids who are in it because they think it pays well).</p>
<p>Just a conjecture.</p>
<p>I’ve heard that in UIUC CS, in some classes, they cover the material twice as fast (so twice as much) as a “regular” school, which means that if you graduate from there, you will have to have been pretty darn good.</p>
<p>There is some variation in how quickly schools’ CS departments cover material. You may be able to do a comparison by looking at one school’s frosh/soph level CS courses for CS majors and comparing how many courses or credits are needed at that school versus for other schools’ CS courses that cover the same concepts. You can also compare the depth of coverage of topics in junior/senior level CS courses as well.</p>
<p>I agree that Michigan Tech is worth a look if you can learn to love the snow!</p>
<p>@Hanna, they are public, no? Is this because you think merit/fin aid is easy to get there? It could be, actually.</p>
<p>BTW, Michigan Tech’s average CS major starting salary is $66.2K: <a href=“http://www.mtu.edu/career/about/pdfs/CareerServices_AnnualReport_Jan27.pdf”>http://www.mtu.edu/career/about/pdfs/CareerServices_AnnualReport_Jan27.pdf</a></p>
<p>Just a general heads up that almost all of these salary surveys suffer from low response rates. Do not rely ‘too’ heavily on them. In CS, you will have great control over your recruit-ability depending on how hard you are willing to work (and how good you are). An OSU student who busts his hump on projects and internships learning as much as he can will come out with many options and a starting salary comparable to the ‘average’ from higher ranked programs.</p>
<p>BTW, is your PSAT score good enough to be in the running for national merit? Denison has some big (full-tuition) scholarships, and the Carter was for NMF. Don’t know how good their CS department is, however.</p>
<p>Yes, Michigan Tech is public. I mention them because they are excellent, they are small, and the OOS sticker price would still be about 1/3 less than Rose-Hulman even without any fin aid.</p>
<p>Ok guys well it looks like my financial aid situation is a little different than i first thought, EFC of $37,000. I’ve been talking to my parents and with the loans i will have to take out to go to Rose, it looks like I will not be going there. And yes, when I was comparing the starting salaries of Purdue/OSU to Rose I was comparing just the CS degrees, which is why I would love to go to Rose…however I had not considered that many people with these high salaries moved to Cali/NY for jobs…I would think that with the high cost of living that the salary would pretty much be the same when compared to a lower salary in OH/IN. As far as where I want to work after college, i really dont know and haven’t thought that far ahead. But, to any people that have been to OSU or Purdue, what type of companies for CS recruit there? Big companies like Microsoft, Google, etc? And @intparent, about the 50/50 living situation I am pretty sure I can get in state in OH/IN but I will look more into it since many seem to be skeptical. and @PurpleTitan I don’t believe I recieved any award for PSAT, my scores were higher compared to many of my classmates if i remember correctly however I didn’t get a letter or anything so I wouldn’t think I stacked up to the best, unfortunately. And I think Michigan Tech’s OOS is a bit too high, I think I’m just going to apply to Purdue, OSU, CMU, and Case Western and hope I can get a good price for the privates. I have considered the Honors/Scholars program at OSU, does anyone know anything about those? Seem to have small class sizes with undergrad research…I just like the idea of small classes, are all like this? or just the select “honors” classes? You have all been extremely helpful and I want to say thank you again! 
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<p>They’re even less well-known than RH outside the Midwest.
YMMV.</p>
<p>Also, we don’t know the OP’s financial situation. RH may provide more aid (and they’re not stranded up in the UP). MTech does provide merit money, though.</p>
<p>Personally, I’d apply to all 3 of UIUC, UMich, and CMU as well as RH (and maybe others; maybe Northwestern and UChicago as well; those 2 would be fairly generous with fin aid if you get in) with Purdue as a safety (choosing IN as in-state; maybe IU as a true safety) and decide after the fin/merit aid decisions come through.</p>
<p>If you want to know class sizes, try looking at each school’s on-line schedule of classes. That can also be used to check how frequently each course listing in the catalog is offered (e.g. every semester, once per year, once every two years, …). There is often a trade-off you have to make (small frosh/soph classes but fewer junior/senior offerings, or larger frosh/soph classes but more junior/senior offerings).</p>
<p>@PurpleTitan I’m sorry, were you referring to Case Western? If so then I’ll knock that off my list, it looks like OSU and Purdue are higher in the rankings anyways. Don’t really wanna go to UChicago, so I’ll try UIUC, UMich, CMU, and Purdue/OSU as safeties as you suggested. and @ucbalumnus thanks I didn’t know that I will check those out when I start applying.</p>
<p>@profamous: Northwestern in Evanston north of Chicago. Run the NPC there.</p>
<p>And Case does give quite a few merit awards. Not sure if it’s enough to be affordable. If you are in their top quartile by stats, it might be. Might be worth applying to there.</p>
<p>The thing is, if fin aid at RH likely isn’t going to be good enough, then they probably won’t be at UIUC/UMich/CMU either.</p>
<p>Miami(OH) also give merit aid: <a href=“http://miamioh.edu/admission/merit-grid/index.html”>Scholarships | Costs and Financial Aid | Miami University;
Can’t say I know much about CS there, though. </p>
<p>What state are you going to HS in, BTW?<br>
What state did your parents file taxes from?</p>
<p>a final comment, OP. you said earlier about “Rose-Hulman…i hear that most professors know students personally and are not just a number…i obviously wont get this experience in large universities such as OSU and Purdue.”</p>
<p>You’re right. Students with that attitude won’t get to know their professors. </p>
<p>However, if they made a point of going to their profs’ office hours, walking them to their next class, asking what they’re working on, you’d be surprised how readily some profs at large state unis will talk to you and get to know you. College is so much about what YOU do. Students come often to college in reception mode. The best students come prepared to engage and interact. Is this harder to do at a flagship rather than Rose? </p>
<p>It is if you believe it is. Professors don’t often go out seeking students. We expect students to seek us out. It’s called maturity, and we’re trying to engender it in you.</p>
<p>@PurpleTitan I will look at Northwestern. And I was just looking at UIUC/UMich/CMUs prices and I think you are correct, aid will not be enough. So once again I am back to OSU and Purdue options. And funny you mention Miami because if i chose to go there I could live at home because its only about 20 minutes from where i live. And with my current GPA and ACT a possible full ride, or at least a very very generous scholarship. However the reason I am straying away from Miami is because it is typically known as a business school and CS is well, not on par with OSU and Purdue…I go to a high school in Ohio and they file taxes in Ohio as well. However if I choose to go to a school in Indiana then they can move to our second residence there to get in state tuition if need be, as they are planning to move there anyways.</p>
<p>Another thing to think about re class sizes is taking less popular subjects. If you’re at a UIUC or OSU with a huge department, you’ll have a number of choices for your electives. If you want the experience of some small classes, the tradeoff may be taking some more esoteric classes instead of the ones all your classmates are interested in.</p>