My son goes to a specialized HS in NYC. He got a 800 on the SAT math, 720 reading. Took once. GPA unweighted 95. Has multiple AP classes with mostly 4s, will take math 2 and physics SAT tests in a few months. We are looking at Maryland, Pitt, Toronto, Queen’s University in Kingston. On the list are WPI, U of Rochester, McGill, Purdue, Stonybrook, Washington University in St. Louis, GA Tech. We’ll look at some but not all. We are relying on merit aid as we’ll not get financial aid. ECs decent, not stellar. Wants more of a city school, not rural. (I know Purdue is rural.) Any other suggestions? He won’t apply to all the above but that’s his list so far. Thank you all.
How much can you afford? Are SUNYs within that limit?
Because competitive merit scholarship “admission” information tends not to be available, any college for which a competitive merit scholarship is needed should be considered a reach.
Because of the popularity of CS, most colleges at the state flagship level of selectivity should be considered more difficult for admission to the CS major than the general admission information may suggest. Some may admit to the school (or to a pre-major status) but not the major; in this case, check very carefully what the college GPA or other criteria are to get into the major.
How about University of Alabama?
Look at the US News and World Reports rankings for grad schools in math and CS. Forget Washington U in St Louis- I checked and its math dept far below UW’s, where son went. Fine for premed types, though.
Purdue, like many large campuses, is a place onto itself. It is in a city, not rural. Consider many flagship U’s. UW-Madison and UW-Seattle, Michigan, Minn, Illinois (although that school is among the cornfields) and many others among the top twenty for math and CS.
A reason to check out math depts.- CS students take a lot of math (some courses will be crosslisted among the two depts.). Also check on the ease/difficulty of getting into the major. Difficult at U Washington while a recent article about U Wisconsin spoke of the huge increase in CS majors and adding staff to accommodate student needs.
Check on courses required and available related to the major. Different schools will have different focuses. Be aware that admissions can be based on more than just perfect math scores (his reading is good as well). Admissions be not be major based- meaning he is competing with possible English majors as well.
Now- noting your need for merit aid. Many of the best schools will not have it, especially for OOS. They either don’t have the funds or do not need to offer merit aid to attract top students. You will need to figure out priorities and what is worth compromising. Look at other financial aid- grants, loans. Look at overall costs- transportation, room and board et al.
Remember that top tier public flagships have honors programs with students who also get perfect test scores, good grades et al. One can find one’s academic peers in those schools. When you look at the US… rankings you can see general groupings- ie rank 50 is not the same as 20 while 10 or 15 are not too different from each other. When places recruit they do look at these schools.
Coming from a HUGE city you need to get used to the fact that most large cities will seem small to you. It is the campus that matters. UW (Madison) has a large campus with plenty to do on and around it. Most students will be busy studying and socializing on their campus- no time to utilize the city the school is located in. Be immersed in the college experience.
College is a total experience. Look for a good fit. Consider transportation costs and culture. You and your son will need to make visits to determine size, city, campus variables that may/may not appeal.
You need to realize that your son may be a good student but so are thousands of others, all in competition for college spots.
You list several Canadian schools. Is your son a dual citizen? if so he would qualify for the low Canadian tuition rates. If he is a dual and was born outside of Canada he would qualify for in-province tuition at McGill, currently about US$3600/year.
The University of Utah is worth a look. Campus on the edge of a decently sized city, with good public transit and airport. Great merit aid (including 30 competitive full ride scholarships per year) and the ability to get instate tuition rates after the first year, bring the cost of tuition fees room and board down close to $20K or so even without merit.
Queen’s is not known for CS. Kingston is a very small city.
For other Canadian schools, look at Waterloo (it’s extremely competitive for CS) and UBC.
I really like Santa Clara University. It’s in San Jose, CA, right in the center of Silicon Valley. They got a $30M donation to build out their STEM programs a couple of years ago. https://www.mercurynews.com/2017/06/02/santa-clara-university-gets-30-million-gift-to-build-out-stem-campus/
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A few knowledgeable CC members have posted these two links, which provide longer lists of high quality computer science departments.
just a note that basing your choices on grad school rankings immediately rules out any liberal arts colleges, many of which do really well in teaching and job placement.
I’d suggest University of Alabama, University of South Carolina, and Ohio University - all give great merit aid.
Purdue is lousy for merit for out of state applicants.
Job placement- so many different types/levels. Regional? National? Type of work? Be wary of percentages since a school with very small number can place high percentages compared to a large school with many more options in classes et al. where students end up doing so many different things- from grad school to small area companies to the big players. So many variables.
Bottom line- be sure the overall school is a good fit. People do their best when they are happy. and that includes location, campus and other nonacademic variables.
If he’d be interested in a co-op experience (5 year program, 8 semesters of tuition) … investigate Northeastern in Boston. With very high stats, there is possibility of merit scholarship.
On their website, Purdue offers Ntl Merit Finalists $500/yr total, but for NMFs Alabama offers 5 years tuition, 4 years housing, $3500/yr stipend, $500/yr books, $2000 study abroad.
Thank you all, I’ll look at the schools mentioned. I should also note he’s not a big fan of NYC, too crowded, too dirty. (His words, though I agree.) He’s like a city but not like NYC, just not the sticks.
2 in more urban settings that often offers a lot of merit is UT-Dallas and Alabama-Huntsville.
Merit aid is almost non-existent for OOS kids at Georgia Tech.
The fact is that so many elite students attend college in their home state due to finances. One reason flagships exist and have honors programs.
Usually it’s hard to beat the value at your flagship state universities. So it’s good that you have Stony Brook on the list. With such high stats, there may be big scholarships available at privates too. For example, maybe Case in Cleveland. Ask the hight GC (Guidance Counselor) for more ideas based on history from prior students.
Is there a reason RPI is not on his list? Both RPI and WPI offered my kid merit money.
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