When I was at Clarkson (early 1980s), it was a different hiring scenario - more big companies in the mix (few startups etc). Two of the top employers were GE and IBM. At that time I know that Clarkson’s career center was top notch, but CS was still fairly new. Here’s some current info - http://www.clarkson.edu/cs/employment.html
If you tell us about what your son liked/disliked at Clarkson, we can help compare to other engineering schools. (Personally I have visited RPI and CWRU and Northeastern - DS was accepted at all three. I have also toured various other schools with both kids.)
Lehigh is not only competitive, but has a pretty big party culture that OP said they are trying to avoid. It is definitely a reach, not a match. I was going to second the recommendation for Manhattan College until the dislike of LACs was mentioned. I do think Stevens might be a good option. And RIT is probably a good match. Also, check out Rowan Unuversity. It’s engineering and computer science programs have been climbing the rankings. My S has a very bright friend that will be attending in the fall as a CS major. I work with some impressive engineers who graduated from Rowan. In NJ it is probably the best bang for the buck. I am not familiar with the social culture there however.
Your son sounds so much like my son who just graduated HS - stats are very similar, upward trend, etc. (luckily no family drama). He too wanted a non-party school and is studying Computing Security/Computer Science. He visited George Mason, Pitt, and RIT, and liked different things about each school. He also applied to University of Alabama Huntsville as a financial safety (not interested in the rah rah UA), but did not visit.
He was accepted at all 4 schools, and would have been happy at any of them. However, the tech school environment at RIT really fits him, and that’s where he’ll be going. It doesn’t hurt that his sister is a current senior at RIT, so he’s already familiar with the school, even though we live in Virginia.
George Mason might be a school he’d like - the location just outside of DC is really nice. It’s a little more laid back that Pitt.
For those concerned about options if he decides to leave computer science, several of the tech schools have great majors in other areas. I know that Stevens is good at this, and can speak first hand to RIT’s offerings, as my daughter is in the College of Imaging Arts and Sciences, not science or engineering. They also have a strong business school.
OK I have to chime in one more time since Univ of Rochester came up. Two of my kids attend(ed), both in engineering. It is a first class university with excellent engineering and beautiful campus. Our family loves this school and I recommend it highly. Possibly it is a reach or high-match for your son, and you have plenty of those (this is why I didn’t bring it up earlier.) But definitely worth considering and visiting.
I know you are considering RIT, another very good school. I know a bunch of kids at both and they are all hard working and smart. UR will have more humanities majors in one’s class (a good thing IMO), classic New England historic college feel, smaller student body. RIT is strictly tech, easier to get into, larger student body, and modern campus.
Being in the tech biz for a long time, I completely agree with @10s4life . Of course stronger math skills would be preferable, but if he has a real passion for technology, that will go a long way, especially professionally, where it is about getting the job done.
@Shiprock1976 I also attended CMU many years ago as an art student (like your wife) and everything I’ve read about Pitt in the last ten years is nothing like what Pitt used to be.
My DD is a rising senior at Pitt in CE with a focus on CS. It has been a great school for her. She is not a partier but has found things to do in the surrounding area and has been kept busy. She has had internships all 3 summers both in the Pittsburgh area and down in Texas. It has been both a good academic and social fit for her.
Skip the attention to the “party school” reputations. Larger schools can both be that and top notch for academics (UW-Madison comes to mind). Instead, have your son look at overall schools for their academics and other factors. Do pay attention to Greek influence as that could matter in his college lifestyle. There are so many good schools that offer good computer science. He needs to have an idea of which aspect of the field seems to appeal to him. He also needs to pay attention to math- several courses likely crosslisted in both departments at schools.
Instead of a scattershot approach here to getting suggestions from posters here he should be looking at schools that are a good fit overall. Too many options that are as good or better than ones listed and that will have equally good computer science departments for your son. Something for him to consider- which aspect of the field most interests him? Since he could easily change his major once he is in college and exposed to so much not available in HS his best bet is approaching the search in a more general way. Consider which of the business, theoretical or other fields that involve computer science most appeal to him in choosing where to go.
First start with basics such as which region he wants to be in college. Distance from home, weather, culture and so many other factors. Consider where he wants to be once he graduates. CS majors who end up at top tech places come from all over.
You do not say which part of the country you come from. You will find different answers based on the regional biases of posters. Strange to mention Purdue but no other Midwest choices.
There are many good choices out there for students with top and lesser stats. Start over and have your son look at college without attention to finding the best for computer science. Within his list of possibilities for overall fit he can rank them according to what they offer for computer science.
@pickpocket Thanks for the feedback on U of Rochester and RIT. We are going on another trip out there in Aug, so this time we will get to take a closer look. While we are there, S wants to try the “garbage plate” from Nick Tahou’s . I want to live so I will skip that one.
@postmodern I agree on the math skills. S has got some work cut out for himself. We are under no illusions where he stands. You make a good point on passion for technology being an important driver. I am thankful that S has that and natural curiosity in spades.
@MotherOfDragons Thanks for the tip on NC State. S was interested when I showed the school to him.
@GTAustin Thank you for sharing your D’s experience at Pitt. This site is a great resource!
@wis75 We live in the North East. Purdue is a geographic outlier for us. It’s on the list because we were attracted to the rolling admissions and general reputation. The selfish side of me, wants him closer than the Midwest but I won’t hold him back if he finds a good fit there or elsewhere. S himself prefers North East but is open to other areas but not the deep South or West. He is not sure what area of CS he wants to specialize in and wants to wait for college before deciding that.
I want to second @Postmodern on “getting the job done” is most important in CS … and it has never been easier to create great programs. Many excellent tools are free and there are targets everywhere (web, desktop/laptop, mobile, etc.). If I was the OP I’d have my son install Xamarin and create simple apps for iOS and/or Android.
@cameo43 We got one of their brochures at a college fair but we have not visited. I know other opinions may vary but the lack of name recognition and their heavy on-line program push is giving me some hesitation about putting it on the list. You said you visited there in an early post. What did you think of the school?
We were very impressed by Champlain. Would have preferred a more personalized visit, but due to travel plans, we ended up attending their Open House. I think the school is becoming a more popular choice – last year was apparently a banner year for applications, and they had 750 attend the Open House, which they originally expected they’d get around 400 RSVPs for. We got a good overview of their programs from the dept. heads. The cybersecurity and cyberinvestigation programs seemed particularly interesting to my D. We were told that many federal law enforcement agencies hire from their programs, as well as big name corporations. They are very career-focused, and they have what they call an “upside down curriculum” – the freshmen take up to 6 courses in their major area of interest, rather than mostly gen ed requirements as at most other schools. As a result, they have lots of kids in paid internships as early as sophomore year. We really liked the campus, and the spectacular view of Lake Champlain and the mountains from the library terrace was certainly worth the trip up three flights of stairs ; ) You cannot beat Burlington for a great college town ! And UVM is just a block away. Also – the freshmen dorms at Champlain are gorgeous restored Victorian mansions, and the rooms were generously sized. My D plans to apply.
@Shiprock1976 there are a lot of classes offered online at my uni; I wouldn’t cross a school off the list because they offer a lot of classes that way. Every semester I’ve ended up taking at least one online class because it is just so convenient. One semester it was intermediate spanish, last semester it was intro to computer science, next semester it is history of graphic design. While I prefer the in-person classes, the convenience (and often lesser cost) of the online ones balance that.
PS Champlain was not on our radar at all – we’d never heard of it before my D’s college counselor added it to the list of schools she thought she should consider.
WPI has “early action”. Round 1: November 1 application deadline; December 20 decision notification. It’s super nice to know before the end of the year that you have one admission in the bag. Having one WPI ('15) grad, I am really sold on the school. In the Midwest (realize it’s not your first choice) you could look at U Cincinnati, IL Institute of Technology, or St. Louis University (less selective than neighboring Washington U but still a school).
Maryland: take a look at UMD and UMBC. UMBC may be more lenient regarding the GPA. It has substance free housing. It’s on the list for our kid, who has a higher GPA, but lower SAT scores. Have you looked at University of Buffalo or Binghamton? May want to take a second look at Stony Brook. It’s a very good school for CS.
University of Delaware is another possibility as are VA Tech and George Mason. Univ. of Vermont also has a good CS program.
