Our DS is applying to schools, but we want to make sure we haven’t overlooked anything!
3.5 GPA, 1260 SAT, smart student, grades could be better!
Has applied to Rose Hulman, UIUC, Clemson, U. of Tenn, Purdue, U of Wyoming. Some great schools on the East Coast, but he doesn’t want to go quite that far from home. (Wyoming residents)
Others that we’ve missed that you recommend?
Utah would seem an obvious option to add.
There are a lot of great CS programs. With that GPA and SAT, UIUC, RH and even Purdue are probably all reaches. UIUC especially since it’s a top 5 program. Best chance to get in there would be a CS+ program through Liberal Arts.
Other schools that have decent programs are Wisconsin (both in their own CS school and Liberal Arts), Minnesota (easier to get into ), Denver gives good merit money, Miami (OH) gives merit but not sure about that SAT, East Coast try RIT, Maryland is ranked but again not sure for those grades but as a school it may be easier to get in.
If close to home is desired, how about CO Mines? Look at Naviance, if available.
Maybe Gonzaga, Seattle U. Santa Clara would be a reach even test-optional, but worth a look at the CS in their math dept/arts & sciences.
Like mentioned above, University of Utah would be a good option as well as University of Minnesota. However, University of Colorado Boulder is a great school nearby that would be a good match school for your son, however, you would have to cram to get that application in.
Excepting your son’s current geographical limit, RIT would make a great fit.
Ooh, Gonzaga, good idea! Forgot, he has applied to Mines too, but the price tag is a worry for us.
He has been accepted to RH, but his top choice is Purdue. I’m concerned he may not get a spot, and if he does, I’ve heard they have some “weed out” types of classes that might be crazy.
Will recommend to him the others you mentioned above, thanks!
Do you think it’s “better” to study CS in an engineering school or a liberal arts type of program. Better in terms of quality, post-grad options, what employers are seeking?
It depends on the specific schools / departments.
Being an engineering-based program versus a program in a liberal arts college or division of a university is more likely to affect the non-CS degree requirements. For example, engineering-based programs are more likely to have additional requirements in non-CS science and/or math. General education requirements may differ as well.
But if you want to know the quality of the CS education, take a look at the actual upper level CS offerings at each school / department.
CS requirements whether in Liberal Arts or Engineering are all the same. It is the other requirements that differ, so it’s really only based on personal preference at that point, so no advantage either way. It’s usually just a B.A or B.S. in CS.
Re your comment about weed out classes, any CS program in engineering will have definite weed out classes like Physics, Calc 3, Linear Algebra, Chemistry, etc. Some of those crossover in the Liberal Arts as well, so just be prepared. Some schools will allow those to be taken at a community colleges but some don’t. I don’t recall what RH criteria is but they are heavily Engineering so there will be weed out there for sure.
My daughter is in CS in an Engineering program and she chose applying to that over Liberal Arts only because her interests aligned with that. She was not interested in the humanities at all. My son is following the same path. They will take the normal gen ed requirements but not the extra humanities or foreign language requirements required. But the CS curriculums are identical.
“Weed out” really should only refer to situations where there is a later admission process to the major (or progression requirement within the major) that requires a high GPA or competitive process.
So whether Purdue will subject the student to a “weed out” process depends on whether the student is directly admitted to the CS major, or is admitted to a status other than as a declared CS major. If the latter, please see the following for competitive secondary admission requirements:
https://www.cs.purdue.edu/undergraduate/codo-requirements.html
Weed out meaning courses. Certain courses are unfortunately set up so that some kids just can’t hack it and they wind up changing majors or at some schools they don’t meet the requirements to declare the major. You usually can’t graduate from a program without a minimal grade in each class in your major. I wasn’t replying to her question in terms of applying to the major at a later date but more so as staying in the major period which she referenced by “weed out classes”.
Purdue is mainly an engineering school so if someone isn’t prepared for the Engineering Calculus, Physics, etc they are in those courses with Engineering majors who will be setting the curve. CS at Purdue is not in Engineering, it is in it’s own school, so those courses may be especially hard for those students. It’s also a very competitive major there so hard to say if he meets the criteria to get in or not or what his background is. This year is a crazy year in any case so anything goes really. Hopefully he applied EA there because they do say for CS there that is the best chance for someone to get in.
In most cases, remaining in the major requires C grades and/or a 2.0 GPA (at least in major-relevant courses).
Yes, there are some situations where remaining in the major requires higher grades or GPA, but is this common for CS (as opposed to nursing)?
Missouri S&T?
Good question. I just looked up my daughter’s program. To remain in good standing in CS at the end of each semester you need to maintain an overall term of 2.3 and in the major a 2.5, no failing grades, no grade below a C- in any CS course, any math course and any course considered a technical or external specialization elective and some other things.
If you don’t meet those requirements they can kick you out of the program or give you an academic warning. Any math or CS class below C- has to be retaken.
I learned something new. 
Note: This is not Purdue, so obviously requirements are different at every school.
I also agree on RIT
Colorado-Boulder, Utah, Arizona, Arizona State, and Oregon State are all in the western half of the country, appear on CS rankings, and have GPA/SAT scores that fit the bill, per their CDS.
The concern would be application dates - it’s pretty late in the game to be looking at anything with essay, recommendation, or other requirements.
If he likes Purdue and Clemson, Virginia Tech seems like an obvious one to add, sharing a lot of the same positive attributes.
Agreed that both CO Mines and CU Boulder would be pricey; Colorado State, however, is a WUE school and could be worth a look. Utah, as already mentioned, has great CS - many of the same virtues as Boulder, but much more affordable. There’s the WUE discount, or the path to residency after the first year.
The Nevada flagships are also WUE schools with strong CS. If he wants a more urban experience (although his list doesn’t imply that he does), Portland State has a great CS department also. Oregon State is also a WUE school, as are both U of Montana and Montana State.
Totally forgot about the Arizona’s. A lot of kids from our Midwest school apply to ASU (which has a great graduate CS program) as a big safety for CS because they offer a lot of $. I know my son kept getting marketed by U of A which also offers a lot of money but that may have just been if you applied by a certain date and again not sure what the grade requirements are.