I live in Texas and want to major in Computer Science. I have heard that the program at Rice is rigorous but not super supportive. Are there other universities I should consider? I am looking for a small to medium private university with strong Computer Science.
Where did you hear that about Rice?
Also you would need to be a lot more specific about what you want for us to be able to suggest any schools.
What is your budget? What is your GPA? SAT/ACT score? Do you want to go to school in a big city, suburbia, rural area? What other things are you looking for in a college?
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What year in high school are you?
I heard it from 2 current students at Rice. My parents are willing to pay for a private college education for me. I would like to go to school in a big city/ suburb of a big city. My GPA is a 3.9 and my SAT is a 1580.
Are you a high school senior? Are you in the top 6% of students in your class?
Please make a “Chance me/match me” post. The template helps you include information that we need to better guide you.
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Senior. I was thinking of ED Rice till I heard this.
Thank you. Will do.
If you plan to ED anywhere, you need to get going! Some of those applications are due not that long from now.
What would be your problem with an ED application to Rice? Your GPA and SAT score are certainly within range.
Since you want a big city…UT Austin could be on your list. Are you top 6% in your class?
I would visit Rice, and make an appointment with the CS department, and ask to speak with a student ambassador. Go see for yourself.
There are many schools that could be good - both private (an RPI, WPI, Case Western, Rochester, Denver - really a ton) but whether or not they meet your support needs you need to thoroughly investigate. And then there are publics that may work too - a Colorado School of Mines, as an example and there are other similar.
It’s really a tough thing to answer. Where do you want to be geographically? Weather, etc.
Ultimately, I would thoroughly research each school. Often times, the experience of one student isn’t the experience of another. Sometimes one has to ask for help/support - it doesn’t just find you, etc.
So I recommend reaching out and not just doing a tour. Have them provide you kids you can talk to.
Good luck.
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This student is a HS senior. If they plan to apply early decision anywhere…they won’t have time to visit
A half dozen colleges between now and when applications are due to be sent in.
@Andran is now the first time you have given any thought to colleges? If not…where else have you considered yourself. That might help us help you.
Many of the very best universities for computer science are not private. UC Berkeley comes to mind. It is generally ranked among the top 4 or 5 in the US for CS (along with MIT, Stanford, CMU, and UIUC – the last of these also not being private). The University of Washington and U. Wisconsin are also very good for CS. UT Austin is also very good and very well ranked for CS.
The last of these brings up the obvious issue: One of the very best universities in the US (and therefore in the world) for CS is for you an in-state public university. There really are not very many universities that are higher ranked for CS than UT Austin, none that are enough better than anyone will care once you are one month into your first job, and none that are safeties or even likely for pretty much any student applying as a CS major.
Stanford has a bit less than 8,000 undergraduate students. However it also has a huge campus (bicycles are a very common way to get around) and more than 9,000 graduate students. I do not know if you would call it “medium” sized. MIT only has a bit less than 5,000 undergraduate students. However, it also has just over 7,000 graduate students and a lot of research going on around campus (eg, there are a lot of research associates and other employees working on much of this research, along with professors and students). To me MIT feels larger than you might expect for a school with less than 5,000 undergraduate students.
The reaches might be easier to pick out compared to a safety. You need to make sure that you apply to at least one and preferably two safeties. Depending upon your rank in your high school, if you are auto-admit for UT Austin it might be a safety for overall admissions, but my impression is that it might not be one for acceptance into CS as a major. Your guidance counselor would know this far better than I.
Rice, Stanford, MIT, and CMU might be worth applications. None would be safeties. They might or might not fit your “small to medium size” preference. UC Berkeley and UIUC and U of Washington and U of Wisconsin are all very large. Georgia Tech is pretty large. After this list, other than maybe or maybe not Princeton, Cornell, or Harvard, I have trouble thinking of any school that I would attend over UT Austin in-state for Computer Science. I expect that others can suggest other schools that you might consider.
One thing that I might add: If you are seriously undecided at this point, assuming that you are in your senior year of high school, you might want to just not apply ED anywhere. If you apply EA and RD to various schools, this would give you quite a bit of time to see where you are admitted, see what each would cost, visit some schools, and get a sense of which school is right for you before you decide where to attend.
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OP doesn’t need to ED and OP has time.
You wouldn’t want to bind yourself given this concern anyway.
ED is a choice, not a necessity - for anyone.
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Until you heard…what? I must have missed something.
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I believe OP is referencing this from an early post:
I have heard that the program at Rice is rigorous but not super supportive.
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Do you know your class rank? Class rank is the most important admission credential used by Texas public universities.
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I don’t think OP is looking for a public and especially a large public, etc.
How about Southern Methodist University in Dallas? If you want to stay in Texas.
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Thank you. I will try to do this before the ED deadline.
Thank you. This is very helpful. I have toured some of these schools. Weather is not a big deciding factor to me. I dont want to be at a college where I have to take 2 flights or be at a college where I would get lost.
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