So my kids’ cohorts are/have been to several of these reach schools in last couple of years, or are currently attending (plus MIT and Caltech for reference). CMU has been tough for a few of them particularly as it less cooperative than many of these schools (collaborating on problem sets for example was discouraged) - one kid loved it, one persevered, but really didn’t love it. But it is definitely intense, and your student should go in wanting that environment.
My daughter is currently double majoring in CS at Duke, I do not see it as a pressure cooker to nearly the degree of CMU or a MIT/Caltech. She has a pretty great work/life balance. See those at Cornell, GA Tech in same boat. The student we know at Chapel Hill isn’t CS, but will warn that Greek life does seem to be a pretty big component of the social scene - the overall number isn’t high, but she felt she needed to rush - take the anecdote of one for what it’s worth.
Purdue’s been mentioned by a few - make very sure your student likes that location. Two kids we know transferred out in the last couple years, not because of the program, but because of the location.
Have you considered Rice? Probably easy flight to Houston and several students have really loved it there.
Varies by college. A prospective CS major should consider each school as to whether it has sufficient faculty and offerings in upper level CS courses to keep the student interested, and whether there are capacity issues (common at many of the more selective state flagship universities, but also affecting some of the more selective LACs).
I have seen Amherst mentioned as a liberal arts college with a strong CS program. And according to the 5 consortium website, Amherst students may be able to participate in UMass’s Minuteman marching band (source). Plus, as part of the consortium, students are allowed to take classes at any of the other schools, which would almost surely cover any subject he was interested in studying.
This is just not true in CMU SCS. And it gets propagated too often on CC. I just asked my kid, a current CMU SCS student, about this. The response is as follows: There are some classes that don’t permit collaboration on assignments, but most do. Within those classes that do, it is VERY collaborative. Some classes assign students to groups for the entire class either because it is designed to be collaborative or it is a very difficult workload and they want the students to work together. Most classes are naturally collaborative.
However, for a popular subject like CS, the courses may be full with students natively attending the school, leaving no space for cross registration students to take them. A student considering Amherst may be thinking of taking CS courses out of UMass’ larger CS department, but should check how full the UMass CS courses of interest tend to be. If they are always full, then the cross registration access may not be as easy as what one may assume.
It is absolutely true that it is less cooperative than many of these schools. As you stated, some classes do not permit collaboration - that is not the norm. Perhaps the fact that some classes did not permit collaboration did not bother your kid, but it absolutely bothered ones I knew there. At MIT, I never had a class not allow collaboration. Some classes at CMU specifically state no collaboration, I never said no classes allow it - I said it’s less collaborative than other similar universities.
At my son’s school, I think the early classes did not allow collaboration. The later ones did. The first CS course is where they have the most honor code violations across the whole university. Probably because kids don’t fully understand what is allowed and what is not.
Just to clarify for the OP who may be considering CMU SCS. Some (not many) classes don’t permit collaboration on assignments. That means they want you to do your own homework. I believe this is because they want to make sure everyone gets the concepts. It doesn’t mean you can’t talk to other people or seek help from the profs and TAs.
Agree that Rice might be a great fit, depending on what OP is looking for re: band. CS will be tough of course, but with a less intense vibe than several of these other reaches. For the right student, the MOB (Marching Owl Band) is awesome. Mostly non-majors and designed to be irreverent and fun - completely different from the intensity of many competitive marching bands. If you are looking for a musically rigorous atmosphere that will force you to work hard and improve your skills, MOB is probably not it (though some of the members do play at a very high level). If you just want to hang with other people who like playing instruments and have fun, it’s perfect. D22 loves it, but then again she generally hated HS band, so YMMV.
Penn has work hard/play hard reputation but it’s collaborative too. Like most students there, my Penn kids like the challenge and enjoy working hard; they don’t mind spending hours doing homework. Even in first year, C1 never had any trouble finding study groups or helpful peers. According to C1, SEAS is even more collaborative than the College; reportedly, all C1’s SEAS friends had great experiences.
C2 has already been assigned a SEAS cohort, a group of peers with whom to attend social events and engage in friendly competitions with the other cohorts. I do think Penn is aware of the pressure cooker reputation—though I would argue students are more self-competitive than outwardly so—and try to minimize stress through intentional community creation.
Also, the Penn Band is so fun! They’re a spirited, inclusive group that livens up any event. Definitely visit any colleges under serious consideration and talk to students and recent alumni. Student reviews on Niche are also enlightening.
+1 for the Penn band. Though the speech police have long since killed their clever jokes and jabs (spelled out on Franklin Field), they’re still entertaining.
For a safety have you considered RIT. A decent drive away, but could also fly. Their coop program is really good and they are known for their CS degree. They are also heavily invested in the arts and even though they dont have a football team, there is the pep band for all the hockey games!
GT is definitely not considered a pressure cooker by DS or his group of friends. Some kids might find it as a pressure cooker but I am sure that is true of any college. Many of DS friends are taking quite a few hours and still have plenty of time for extracurriculars they enjoy. Most have been quite successful in getting an internship or co-op. DS says there are a few tough classes but the grades are curved so much that it is not an issue to keep a high GPA.
Programmer here. I’m seeing a lot of OOS schools on this list. For a degree as ridiculously employable as CS, there’s no benefit to paying triple the tuition for an OOS school. UMD or UMBC are more than enough to get you a job, bordering on overkill. Most CS graduates go into corporate IT jobs and spend a well-paid career never doing a math problem. In computers and tech, prestige is meaningless. 100% of your credentials that increase your salary will be learned on the job. In fact, after about 3 years experience, employers don’t even ask where you went to school.
Understood but college is about more than just getting a CS degree for me. It’s about continuing to develop your interests and passions in other areas too and to “find your people” at a time of huge transition, especially at a big school. Which is why music/band is important. UMBC doesn’t have that - it’s largely commuter. And UMD unfortunately is not a sure bet. I’m not even sure I can call it likely or safety. Maybe match. Privates are pricy. Maybe if our in state flagship was a sure bet, that would be different.
btw rutgers is a commuter school.
likely umd is also a commuter school.
you either need to go to the boondogs like penn state or pick a pricey private where most kids are from out of state for it not to be a commuter school.
neu used to be a commuter school.