<p>Are there any published list of top undergrad CS Programs? I need some kind of list to narrow my college search.</p>
<p>Oh if there are any experts can you give some idea?
Top Choices (as of now, without rankings) :
Princeton
Duke
Brown
Under Consideration:
Vanderbilt
Chicago
Cornell
Good schools, not very interested:
Hopkins
Penn
Emory
Safeties (sort of haha)
Lehigh
Wake Forest
William and Mary</p>
<p>Have you visited any of these schools?</p>
<p>Many of these schools are very different, so it looks like you’re just listing them based on prestige and not fit or anything else.</p>
<p>"I’m a high school junior this year. I want to go to an Ivy (Princeton first choice!) Help me out? Also safeties? </p>
<p>SAT I (breakdown): 2300 (770 CR 760 M 770 W) Will retake.
SAT II: 780 math II (taking chem and latin in June…retake MII?)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0/4.8W (max is 5, not possible in my school system because of required courses)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 3 (prob. number 1) out of about 350
AP (place score in parenthesis): Comp. Sci (5) US Gov (5) Calc AB (5) Calc C, World, English Lang. Physics Mech. Chem this year</p>
<p>Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Model UN-First year (not many Juniors left, should have position next year:
Math Team
It’s Academic (Quiz Bowl…alternate for TV team this year, captain next year guaranteed) Ping-pong club
NHS (should be some sort of exec. next year)
Science NHS (exec. almost guaranteed next year)
Mu Alpha Theta,
Latin Club (co-founder and board member this year, co-pres. next),
Tech Honor Society (Founder, pres. when it officially starts next year),
Leadership U (Kickass service and leadership program)
Hopefully Youth on Board (get on board of local organization)</p>
<p>Job/Work Experience: NSA High School Work Study (CS Research, not too much more info that I can give), basketball referee, internship at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab next school year</p>
<p>Volunteer/Community service: Altar Server at Church, Hospitality Minister at Church, sort food donations at church, and NHS/SNHS (will also be Mu Alpha Theta and Tech HS). I prob. have about 100 hrs right now.
Summer Activities: NSA (considering Vanderbilt PAVE…any thoughts?)
State (if domestic applicant): MD
School Type: Public (3 Ivies SCEA this year, two princeton (though with legacy and/or URM))
Ethnicity: White (1/16 Native American…if only that helped)
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: I actually don’t know…def. pretty high though (prob. 200+)
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): LOL I wish</p>
<p>What do I need to do to take the next steps? Thank you!"</p>
<p>===========</p>
<p>You say that your income bracket is $200k+ </p>
<p>Have you asked your parents how much they’ll pay each year? You won’t likely qualify for any need-based need, so will your parents pay full freight (about $55k per year)?</p>
<p>If you don’t know how much your parents will pay, ask them. If they’ll pay full freight, then no problems. However, if they won’t, then it becomes an issue.</p>
<p>A safety has to be affordable in order to be a safety.</p>
<p>Many state schools are perfectly good for computer science and engineering. This includes state schools that do not have a particularly high reputation in general, such as Stony Brook University and University of Massachusetts - Amherst. In Maryland, University of Maryland - College Park and Baltimore County should be good, relatively inexpensive choices.</p>
<p>Curriculum content wise, you are probably fine at any school ranked in the top approximately 50 for computer science of any of the common rankings, or has ABET accreditation in computer science and/or computer engineering. You also want to inspect course catalogs to see what junior and senior level computer science courses are offered, since some schools, particularly smaller ones (including some which have high prestige and reputation in general), have limited offerings in computer science.</p>
<p>However, more selective schools may compress more material in a given course (or credit units’ worth of courses), which would allow you to take more courses (either in or out of major). But the faster pace, particularly in introductory courses, may be more difficult or overwhelming for those without previous computer programming experience.</p>
<p>Where do I find the top 50 for computer science common rankings? I cant’ find them anywhere. It’s kind of strange that you found my chance thread…also, I am hoping to get a gov’t service full ride through the Stokes Internship Program. I live in MD and I am aware that UMDCP and UMBC are good options, but they are too large (and, as ridiculous as this may seem) not prestigious enough. My parents will pay wherever I go.</p>
<p>Prestige, which mainly matters in terms of attracting non-local employers to the career center for internships and first job out of school, is specific to the major when it comes to CS. For example, a non-local employer recruiting CS graduates in Atlanta will go to Georgia Tech over Emory.</p>
<p>Large size is also helpful when attracting non-local recruiters to the career center.</p>
<p>Of course, companies also recruit locally for convenience. Silicon Valley picks up a lot of San Jose State graduates.</p>
<h1>here do I find the top 50 for computer science common rankings? I cant’ find them anywhere. It’s kind of strange that you found my chance thread</h1>
<p>Finding your chance thread was easy.</p>
<p>Anyway…I don’t think the top 50 undergrad CS programs are in a ranking list. I think maybe only the top 5 are listed.</p>
<p>That said, UCB makes a great point that employers are going to go where there are good sized numbers of prospective hires. With your stats, you should have some good options…GT, Cal, UMich, UIUC, etc.</p>
<p>It appears that you may be Catholic, if so, look at Santa Clara as well…good location for recruiting for SV, and you’d likely get a huge merit scholarship. It might be a safety with your stats.</p>
<p>Thanks!
<p>When I went to USNews, they aren’t listing Computer Science, just Computer Engineering. However, I’m guessing if a school is strong in CompE, then it’s probably strong in CS (but maybe I’m wrong…lol)</p>
<p>USNews does list more than the top 5 online (the book only lists 5)</p>
<p>MIT
CMU
Stanford
Cal
UIUC
GT
UMich
CIT
UTexas
Cornell
Purdue
UWash
Princeton
Wisconsin
USC</p>
<p>If your goal is to work in CS in Silicon Valley, Berkeley and Stanford should be among your top choices. Santa Clara, UC Santa Cruz, and San Jose State should be checked to see if they are suitable safeties.</p>
<p><a href=“NRC Rankings Overview: Computer Sciences”>http://chronicle.com/article/NRC-Rankings-Overview-/124721/</a></p>
<p>These aren’t neccessarily undergraduate rankings but if we look at the new September 2010 NRC Rankings and use the eyeball test to average the R and S scores, this is what we get roughly…</p>
<p>TIER 1 (the low range for either R or S is within 10)
Princeton
Stanford
MIT
Carnegie Mellon
Berkeley</p>
<p>TIER 2 (the low range for either R or S is within 20)
UC Santa Barbara
Penn
Cornell
UCLA
UNC-Chapel Hill
UIUC</p>
<p>Tier 3 (the low range for either R or S is within 30)
Columbia
Wisconsin
Duke
Michigan
UT Austin
Georgia Tech
UC San Diego
Maryland</p>
<p>Brown, Rochester, Michigan State, U of Washington, SUNY Stony Brook and the University of Southern California narrowly miss the cut but they are all fantastic programs as well.</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids: I did visit Princeton, Duke, and Hopkins, with trips to Chicago and Northwestern planned for later this month. I like smaller schools with campuses (as opposed to being part of a city).</p>
<p>Check this out:</p>
<p>[Computer</a> Science College Rankings](<a href=“http://education-portal.com/computer_science_college_rankings.html]Computer”>Computer Science College Rankings)</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>After considering several sources, I found the top four to be rotating in positions:</p>
<p>Cal, Stanford, MIT, CMU</p>
<p>You then have Georgia Tech and UIUC which are also top rate.</p>
<p>
Your list is very top-heavy. Your stats are good but will not guarantee an admit at schools with a sub-15% admit rate. My recommended list:</p>
<p>Reaches (4-5) - Keep the top three (Brown, Duke, Princeton). They’re your top choices and decent in CS (esp. Princeton). I recommend applying SCEA to Princeton. Add one or two of the other universities you’re considering. Vandy fits best with the others, but pick your favorite(s). Any reason why Rice isn’t being considered?</p>
<p>Matches (1-2) - Rochester and Brandeis would be worth a look. Maybe Bucknell. Your “safeties” would fit in this category.</p>
<p>Safety with merit aid (1-2) - Look over [this</a> thread](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/52133-schools-known-good-merit-aid.html]this”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/52133-schools-known-good-merit-aid.html) and [this</a> thread](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html]this”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html) for ideas. </p>
<p>Add Maryland to your list. It’s a good in-state bargain and is excellent for computer science. It’s larger than you’d probably like, but you should qualify for the honors college with your stats, which will help.</p>
<p>That’s a total of 7-10 schools, a reasonable application list.</p>
<p>I will not go to Maryland. Sorry. Not gonna happen. 1. Too big. 2. A little too close (although NJ isn’t far, it has some separation). I have considered Rochester. Rice is a little too small (yes I’m very picky). I want a top heavy list; as a likely valedictorian, I feel that I can get accepted at some of these schools. I don’t know if you read my whole chance thread posted by mom2collegekids, but I feel that I have a comfortable shot at schools in the 20s</p>
<p>For a counterpoint to the more common rankings, you may want to read this page:</p>
<p>[Google-based</a> Ranking of Computer Science and Engineering Departments](<a href=“http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~remzi/rank.html]Google-based”>Google-based Ranking of Computer Science and Engineering Departments)</p>
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<p>Given the importance you apparently place on ranking, why exclude a school that is ranked higher in CS than all but two of your original list by one popular ranking, and will be inexpensive for you to attend? Plenty of students thrive at big schools, and living away from home really does not make too much difference whether your parents are nearby or across the continent (except that the latter is less convenient for you when you want to visit them).</p>
<p>I would not thrive at a big school.</p>
<p>I don’t know if department rankings for undergrads make any sense. For example, Berkeley CS is unambiguously better than Dartmouth CS from a research / faculty standpoint, but I doubt that there are very many students who choose Berkeley over Dartmouth even if their intended major is CS. I also doubt that anyone would look down at a CS major from Yale. </p>
<p>Quality of research is important for a student who intends to take very high level classes, but oftentimes research is very focused on specific areas. For example, JHU has a fairly small CS department but a lot of research is focused on Natural Language Processing. In that area it might be better than some departments that are larger overall.</p>