Comp Sci is so competitive that if you get accepted to half those schools then consider it a lucky day. Most everyone has a 3.8+/2200+ resume… The top 25% will have near perfect stats. Get accepted, see how the scholarships play out, and then make your choice. If you still think you’re a lock, then tell us why?
Did you forget Oakley, one of my faves? And Qualcomm?
Agreed, she’d be a fool to turn down a Trustee, they are treated like gold at USC, I know from personal experience, and I wasn’t one of them.
USC’s Viterbi was just named one of the Top 10 engineering schools in the country, My son #2 is a CS for games major at USC and loves it. Son #1 just graduated from Marshall, which is one of the best business schools in the country, I am amazed at how well-prepared he is for the business world. If business and CS are your interests, it would be hard to turn down the Trustee,
We are actually in the same quandary here with son #3. He just found out today that he got the full Cornelius Vanderbilt scholarship. He is also in a running for the Trustee at USC. However, my son isn’t so confident that he will win the Trustee. He doesn’t think he did so well in the interview. Honestly, it might be easier for him if he doesn’t get the Trustee, because what a tough decision he is going to have on his hands! But, oh, to have such problems! We are so blessed.
For the life of me, I do not get the appeal of Wash U. We live near St. Louis. To be fair, my sons had no interest in Wash U because they don’t like the midwest and couldn’t wait to move. I’m sure for others it is a dream come true, though, To each his own,
Qualcomm was founded by Viterbi who received his degree from the USC engineering school. The list is only a partial list of companies established by USC business alumni.
Oakley Sunglasses was founded by James Jannard, alumnus of Marshall.
News from the Computer Science Department at Viterbi…
Association of Computational Fellows has named Drs. Kevin Knight and Daniel Marcu as new fellows. It is only the second time in the history of the association two fellows were named from the same department. In 2013 Dr. Jerry Hobbs received the ACL Lifetime Achievement Award.
A team from USC Computer Science was awarded the Ten Year Impact Award from ICNI.
Princeton Review named the CS Games/SCA Interactive Media major as the No. 1 games major for both undergraduate and graduate programs. It was named No.1 last year as well
Take the time to view faculty awards for professors in this major. It is impressive. I do not know if there is another engineering school that has a professor who won an Academy Award.
Viterbi and Marshall offer a dual major Computer Science/Business Administration. The degree is from Viterbi, but classes are taken in both schools.
If you get the Trustee scholarship, I’d go with USC. If you don’t, I’d prioritize which university gives you the best financial aid package, and then choose for fit. If the universities all give you similar FA packages, then just choose for fit. You’ll get a fine education at all of the above schools.
“I have very little family income…” – a Trustee would be more practical.
However, if you’re dead set on majoring in computer science, I’d suggest that you go for Berkeley. There’s a reason why it is one of the top schools for comsci and why their comsci graduates, along with Stanford grads, are the highest paid in the entire nation.
http://www.networkworld.com/article/2169992/data-center/top-20-colleges-for-computer-science-majors-based-on-earning-potential.html
http://www.payscale.com/college-salary-report/best-schools-by-majors/computer-science
The entrepreneurial ambiance and atmosphere at Berkeley is highly emphasized as it is closely following the successes of Stanford. Lots of startups, close to SV, access to high level research, brilliant job placement, well respected in the IT community, etc, are some of the benefits that Berkeley provides to their students and graduates. These are very helpful points to people who are bent on getting into the IT world.
I’d also like to add that one shouldn’t take any school for granted. You never know what admissions will do and getting a Trustee Scholarship from USC is nothing to take lightly. I honestly felt, and still feel, that getting a full scholarship to Vanderbilt was easier to achieve – not that I take Vandy lightly. It is, indeed, a great honor to get accepted to Vanderbilt, let alone get a scholarship. But, in order to get a full scholarship from Vandy, one is judged by his application and one essay. At USC, one has to make the first cut from among 50K applications and then go through a second round and interview in person. My son and I still have our doubts that he secured a Trustee and he’s a legacy.
If your family income is as small as you say it is, you should be able to get the Blue and Gold scholarship for the UC campuses. This is a need-based scholarship. It should cover all of your tuition at any of the UC campuses, including UCLA and Berkeley.
http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/paying-for-uc/glossary/blue-and-gold/
Thank you for all the help guys!
My daughter is at Cornell and loves it, but I want to caution you about relying on AP courses to finish early (as was mentioned by an earlier poster). She is in the College of Arts and Sciences, and while they take your AP credits, you can’t apply them toward your major requirements or toward your distribution requirements, only as electives. But if you’re going into the College of Engineering, it may be different.
That said, Ithaca is truly beautiful, if very snowy, and if your family income is low you won’t have loans in your FA package. This has been a huge blessing for us. Our FA package included transportation costs, but since we only live 35 miles away, I can’t speak at all to how much they would help with travel to/from CA.
If OP’s EFC is almost zero, it doesn’t really matter if he/she wins USC’s Trustee scholarship since the net cost of attendance will be the same w/ or w/o the scholarship.
My daughter is also freshmen at Cornell and loves it. We turned down USC’s Presidential, in-state UCLA’s Regents and Berkeley for Cornell full pay.
They get paid the most because they’re in the part of the country that pays the most for CS grads. If someone from another school moved to the SF/Silicon Valley area, they’d get the same pay as Stanford/Berkeley grads.
@2018dad , It matters a little. 1, Scholarships are permanent, EFC can vary from year to year, 2, Some schools meet “need” with loans. So, even if the family isn’t expected to contribute much, the student could be saddled with loans instead of being debt-free with a scholarship.
I won’t argue with you on that.
But you would have to agree with me that it is much, much easier for Berkeley CS grads to secure a position in SV than those grads of the schools enumerated by the OP.
That is why I seriously think that if you are dead set on majoring in CS, you need to consider other factors related to the support of your studies. There’s a dominating entrepreneurial culture at Berkeley CS that help their students/grads propel their goals to become the best in the field. And, there’s a much easier access to SV coming out of Berkeley. Such culture and atmosphere do not dominate at those schools enumerated by the OP.
Thank you so much guys. Ironically, I just got accepted to WashU today, the day after I essentially decided to cross it off my list 
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^ Congratulations on the multiple acceptances you now hold. There’s no doubt WashU is a fantastic school. But it isn’t a powerhouse for computer science and IT. It doesn’t provide as much opportunities as Berkeley does, for CS. Think about the future and integrate that in your decision-making.That’s crucial.
OP. I have no horse in the race…but, if you are deciding among the schools posted for CS (especially since you pay in-state rates) I would strongly recommend UCBerkeley…there is no other school that comes close to Stanford and its MAFIA that dominates Silicon Valley/Bay Area other than Berkeley…
…it is at the college level with your classmates working out problem sets and all-nighters and parties that you will make long lasting friendships and connections to future work colleagues and startups…
…this is what gives you the “advantage” over the other schools…
Here’s a partial list of Berkeley startups, in case the OP wanted to know.
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/4414348/Berkeley-Startups/
http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/XRG/startup.html