I’ve seen very little information on CS + Geography…I think it’s new this year, but I’m a freshman in high school right now and the CS + Geo program is probably my top choice for college. I was going to major in just CS, but I recently discovered the joint program with geography and now I’m intrigued. Geography has always been my favorite subject, but knowing that I won’t go anywhere with it in life I gave it up. In middle school, I came top ten in the nation for the geography bee and won other competitions.
I’m just wondering what it takes to get into this program in the future…are the admissions rates high? Is there anything in the geography aspect that will make me stand out over other applicants? Should I do the United States Geography Olympiad (I could qualify for international with ease, but is it worth the time?)…
My school doesn’t offer any AP Geography courses, but I could self-study AP Human Geo and AP World Geo…
As for the CS component, I’m taking APCSA next year and it will be my main focus throughout high school. Humanities have always been my strength, but I take STEM a lot more seriously.
it’s a brand new program so I dont think anyone has a lot of info, but the CS program is top notch and a couple of my friends doing GIS say good things about the geography program
anyways its a UIUC CS program so it will be incredibly competitive to get in. Focus on getting good grades and go for the extracurriculars if you feel like it
@literallymarx thanks. I’m OOS however, so that puts me at a disadvantage, right?
If you’re OOS, the main disadvantage is that your parents must have a LOT of money to pay since there’s no financial aid at OOS public universities. And UIUC OOS is especially expensive.
Start asking them whether they have a college fund for you, for instance.
College is expensive and financial aid has been severely cut since the 2008 crisis and states have slashed funds to public universities. It means that OOS students are primarily admitted to make up for the budget cuts and are expected to be full pay (= no scholarship).
Things are different for your instate public universities and for many private universities.
You may want to run the NPC on, say, your public flagship, the college nearest your home, UIUC, Grinnell, Northwestern, and Butler. It’ll give you an idea of how different your net costs can be depending on the university.
(public flagship: you get the instate discount, perhaps some state aid; Grinnell and Northwestern meet full need but low odds of merit; college nearest your home, if local, as well as Butler, are likely to include merit aid; UIUC: full OOS costs.)
Look at the “NET COST” line.
If they ask for an ACT score give yourself a 30 (= top 5%) and do the calculation again with a 32 (top 2%) to see if there’s merit aid variation.
Also, when you calculate your EFC, be ready because 1° it’ll likely sound unaffordable (it expects your parents to have saved money for you for 10 years…) and 2° it’s not what you’ll have to pay but the MINIMUM colleges will expect.
That being said, CS+GIS isn’t that rare, you can create the double major yourself easily at many universities.
@MYOS1634
I’m an only child so they will pay for all/most of my college; this will be even easier when my dad will reenter the workforce soon.
My flagship is University of New Hampshire…
So if I apply for CS + GIS at other schools it’s essentially like applying CS + X at UIUC? Does the GIS component make it easier for me? I’m under the impression that if I apply solely for CS I won’t get in, but the geo component (being my main strength and something I’m actually passionate about) will give me a boost.
Also, because UIUC has strong relations with Tsinghua University in China (the blueprint of the school is essentially the same), since my dad is a Tsinghua alumni do you think that will have any impact?
No, it won’t have any impact.
Even if you’re an only child, your parents may not have the massive amount it requires to send you to UIUC OOS.
You can borrow 5.5K for your freshman year to add to your parents’ contribution, if you have a job and save money that also adds money to the total, but it’s still a HUGE amount of money - 54K a year right now, likely to be closer to 60K a year by the time you graduate HS.
A family would have to make about 250K a year to pay that comfortably.
The average household income in the US is 62k a year.
@MYOS1634 Assuming income is between 150k - 200k, what would be the best way to pay it off…how much does an internship earn?