Do you think Princeton is super “preppy” or is that a stereotype? As in mostly private school/boarding school kids who dress up for class 
My kid is very relaxed type, public school/big on diversity (kids in our HS wear sweats and tshirts every day, sometimes flip flops!) And they are definitely exposed to kids from all socioeconomic backgrounds which is nice. But if I’m thinking stereotypically then love adding Princeton as it’s not too far.
Adding both of these to explore maybe when school in session to get a good feel of vibe. Thank you!
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What does closed major mean?
Anyone who thinks that hasn’t been on campus in a very long time. Thrift stores prevail over Canada Goose and there is a strong “you do you” attitude on campus.
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Thanks, I admit I think of Gilmore Girls when I think of Harvard, Yale Princeton etc and definitely haven’t been on campus in ages, never in session.
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Thanks. As I mentioned, I was hoping for non-state school ideas. I would have appreciated a more open minded response than “my Princeton grad thinks everything else is garbage.”
Maybe someone else can chime in with some more constructive feedback.
Much to my wife’s chagrin, my kid always wore torn T shirts, some from high school.
Now that he will be going into work, he relented, and agreed to wear non torn T shirts.
Princeton is a very chill place.
There are pockets of preppiness of course. But I have seen little of it.
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I didn’t say he thinks everything else is garbage. There were a ton of public schools on his list. Austin, 3 of the UCs, our instate public, uiuc etc. He left some out only because he was already running a list that was 17 long. There wasn’t a name he could take out to put a LAC in. Indeed there were other state schools that would have gone into the list before a LAC would have gone in – e.g. GT. UW etc.
He just thought the LACs wouldn’t serve his needs.
Princeton, more than any school IMO, has put a lot of money where their mouth is and they’ve worked very hard on improving access to kids that would not have been able to attend 20 years ago. It shows.
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It means the size of the class is more or less fixed.
The size is not fixed at Rutgers or UW Madison – it means anyone above a certain gpa in a given set of courses can declare CS. Then the class can be any size in theory. The resources don’t scale elastically. They can’t hire 30% more faculty this year if 30% more kids declare CS.
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I’ve commented on this thread so can’t official moderate but I’d suggest the two posters discussing Princeton take it to PM so the OP’s thread isn’t hijacked.
That is actually good to know! Really appreciate your suggestions. Very helpful. I can ask him to look at these two and then pick no more than 2-4 reaches. While noting my concerns about Penn, Duke, CMU, MIT.
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Broadly there are three buckets in CS – theory, systems, and applications (AI/ML etc)
Just to be sure Princeton leans theory. And it is pretty good in systems. Less so in applications.
CMU and MIT are strong in all three areas.
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CMU certainly has a reputation for being stressful and not very student friendly. Admission to their CompSci program is a hard reach for just about everyone, and with their STEM gender equity policy it’s even harder for males. I think their mid math SAT is… wait for it… 800. On the plus side, the university has incredible resources, it is strong in many disparate fields ranging from musical theater and design to business and engineering so students can get exposure to other fields, and its location in Da Burgh is pretty good.
Case Western’s CompSci program is not in the same league (USWR #65), but the school is more student friendly than CMU, they encourage and facilitate double majors/minors, and the campus is pretty nice. Once you omit students who continue at the same school for their masters, CWRU’s grad school admissions are on par with CMU, at least for Engineering (we did not research CompSci). It is, however, about an hour farther from you than Pittsburgh. I have always considered Case and Cleveland to be lesser versions of CMU and Pittsburgh.
While on the subject of Pittsburgh, don’t dismiss University of Pittsburgh. It is a reputable school and they have a cross registration program with CMU, so your student could attend Pitt and still take some classes at CMU (the campuses abut each other in the Oakland neighborhood). Though a pretty big school, the campus feels manageable and students don’t have to do cross country marches to class, a la MSU. They have honors programs for all majors, but students must apply separately to them.
Why isn’t Purdue on your list? It is strong in CompSci, and it is relatively inexpensive even for OOS. Was it too far?
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Purdue - yes it seems on the far side (though Ga Tech and UT Austin were in consideration, they too are only accessible by flight but not ruled out entirely just yet). Unless it’s like top of line (better than UMD and Penn St it doesn’t make too much sense to go further than driving distance). That’s the thinking at least.
I may keep Pitt in consideration until chance for actual visit - we just walked through so hard to get a good sense of campus.
Based on your original post, it appears that UMD College Park should be the front runner. I assume that your student is doing all he can to improve his chances of admission with demonstrated interest, essays, etc.
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Couple more reaches ? UVA, Tufts
Not related to CS but here good things about both.
Many on here tout Vassar as a reach and an easier reach for males. It has music but doesn’t appear to have a pep band.
Stevens, as a safety/match, has a band. Strong placement.
Good luck.
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It all depends on what your son wants to get out of his CS experience. He can study CS anywhere on your list, have a nice college experience, and be very employable. If he’s looking to be a serious computer scientist with a very deep understanding of theory and math, then it’s worth adding the reaches you’re considering especially CMU and MIT.
I have one at CMU SCS. It is a very math heavy program - like getting a specialized math degree really. My kid loves it, but it has to be what your kid wants. It’s rigorous, to be sure, but my student has never indicated the place is a pressure cooker. Several D3 sports and theatre are also excellent at CMU.
I’d drop Chapel Hill and Northeastern (friends who have a son at Northeastern refer to it as ‘a high priced Drexel with a poorer Co-Op program’).
GA Tech is great and he can apply EA. Case, WPI, RPI, and RIT are worth examining.
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I’ve hidden several off topic posts. Take it to pm please if you want to discuss anything other than the OP’s post.
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I have read some complaints on Reddit. I have no way of knowing their validity, but I know several students who’ve been hired by firms I work/have worked at, plus a couple of kids from our social circle, and they all had positive experiences at Stevens. The CS program isn’t as rigorous as some of your other choices, but kids have good outcomes. Especially those seeking Wall Street jobs. I think their President is doing a great job in improving the school’s profile.
Back to the other schools on your list + suggestions mentioned upthread…
I really don’t think you need the likes of Pitt. Not that there’s anything wrong with it, but you have comparable or better likelies/safeties on your list already. Plus you have UMD as your instate option, so I don’t really see a need to add other OOS publics beyond what you already have on your list.
You can add another reach like Princeton, but I feel your safety/likely/match list is already robust and well rounded.
CMU - very math and theory heavy. If that’s not the direction your kid leans, it’ll be stressful. Otherwise, not.
I agree with this.
Good luck!
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