Developing a College List for CS

College Search & Selection
1

So, I’m currently a junior and therefore beginning the long-dreaded college application process. I am looking to major in Computer Science and am hoping you guys can give me some suggestions on where to look.

UW GPA: 3.88 in basically all honors and AP classes (will probably decrease slightly after I get a B or B+ in BC Calc this semester)
Currently taking 5 APs, 1 honors, and 1 “extra” class just for fun (prob will have similar schedule as senior)
36 on ACT, 800 on Math 2, 760 on Bio subject test, 5’s on all 3 APs I’ve taken so far (Chem, CS Principles, World)
Participation in several debate/public policy and engineering clubs, plus volunteering
Leadership titles in 3 clubs, able to show “impact” in at least one
A couple of titles in team-based engineering comps and regional debates, likely will get a state-level CS award later this year
Fairly weak summer activities (online courses in math and CS, will probably work this summer)
White female from CT

Obviously, I’m looking for a school with a strong CS program, but I’d also like it to have a number of other solid programs (including non-technical) in case I later decide to switch majors (maybe business?). I’d prefer a medium or large school in an urban or suburban area. Prestige is less important to me than rigor. No geographical preference but want to stay in US. Coed but fairly good for women in STEM. Not particularly interested in party schools, but I could probably manage if a school was otherwise a good fit. Strong internship program would be a plus.

I’ve been very impressed by Northeastern’s co-op program and by the sense of community/dedication to service at BC and many of the other religiously-affiliated schools I’ve seen. I haven’t visited yet, but I’m very interested in Northwestern as a reach.

Thank you in advance for the suggestions

2

University of Washington in Seattle. University of Texas–Austin.

3

Have you talked to your parents about what they will contribute to your college costs? If not, do so before you start making your list, so that you can run the net price calculator on each possible college to see if it is likely to be affordable.

Note that admission CS may be significantly more selective than the school overall for many schools, including the two named in reply #1.

4

http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/2114377-2019-the-best-computer-science-schools.html

5

^^^ I would like to note that University of Washington- Seattle it is VERY hard to get into CS direct admit. I know a lot of girls through a national computing group, and for even for the very high stat people, some did not get direct admit. Everyone says that if you do not get into UW- Seattle for direct admit for CS, not to go there because it is extremely competitive to get into the major otherwise.

6

@ucbalumnus You bring up an excellent point about the selectivity of CS departments v. the school overall. Where might I find specific information about the selectivity of specific departments? Do I just have to compare the overall reputation of the school v. the department and guess from there?

Also, I plan on having the “money talk” with my parents relatively soon, but I figure that a few days before Christmas is probably not the best time :wink: In the meantime, I can tell you that my sister is currently going to an OOS uni with significant merit, although she committed to the school before she got all of that aid so it may not have been essential to her attendance. I know, I should probably have begun talking to them about this before now…

7

@equationlover yeah, I just checked out the website of UW-Seattle and they mentioned that next year they were going to significantly increase the % of the CS department accepted as a direct admit versus “regular admissions.” However, they also made very clear that the majority of the direct admit spots would be going to in-state students in the future (even more so than now), so I assume my chances are fairly slim and I definitely wouldn’t count on being able to transfer into the major via the “regular admissions” process.

8

I think that you should include U.Mass Amherst on your list. They have a very good CS program.

Also, find out what your budget is. Then run the NPC on schools that you are considering.

9

Do you prefer a smaller private school or want the resources of a large public program?

If you want co op look at
GaTech, RIT, Case Western Reserve U, Purdue as well as Northeastern.

Purdue is interesting in that it has strong co ops and a number of different degrees, look at data science, CS and computer engineering.

Purdue, CS is not in the college of engineering, but computer engineering is there.
and GaTech is the same, they offer computer engineering under engineering and CS including Media in the College of Computing.

CWRU offers EECS like MIT and Berkeley, but not as well ranked. CWRU also offers data science degrees
and very strong co op programs with west coast firms. CWRU is interesting because they have a lot of professors studying the intersection of Medicine and CS, so medical records, imaging, bioengineering applications that are software related. Also CWRU has Think Box which is an entrepreneurial maker space that joins up software engineers with hardware engineers and also helps students file patents.

In CS, though, co op often is not needed, as summer jobs are plentiful, if you work
hard at applying on Indeed, and so most students can get a job after graduation for now.

10

If you are open to the west coast, check out Santa Clara in Silicon Valley, which is also Jesuit and service-oriented like BC. (A number of high-stats applicants were deferred this year, though perhaps they will be admitted RD.) SCU has both CS and CSE.

Just yesterday, someone posted that SCU’s Carnegie classification has now changed to doctoral, which means that in the near future, USNews will rank SCU as a national university rather than regional. This will raise its national profile, though obviously Silicon Valley is already aware.

11

Lots of good suggestions already. Northeastern’s CS+X combined majors are very appealing if you want to combine CS with other interests. The curriculum front-loads the CS so that you’re prepared for co-ops. You’d likely get merit and honors with your stats (guaranteed merit if NMSF), with the caveat that merit and need-based aid do not “stack” and their need formula isn’t super-generous for most financial profiles.

What I would ask is, what do you want with your CS? Do you want to be a “renaissance person” with a strong liberal arts foundation? (Look at Tufts, Pomona, Stanford, Cornell A&S, Grinnell… and the women’s colleges that have strong CS either in-house or through consortium partners - Smith, Scripps, Wellesley, Barnard). Do you want to be an “a la carte renaissance person” - i.e. you have diverse interests but also areas of complete disinterest, such that you want a very flexible/open curriculum that lets you be “pointy”…? (Look at URochester, Brown, Hamilton) Do you want a pre-professional vibe with opportunities in business and entrepreneurship? (Northeastern, USC, UPenn, Northwestern) Do you want a STEM-focused school? (MIT, Caltech, Harvey Mudd, RPI, GT, etc.) Within STEM, do you want a heavy core in lab sciences and higher math? (Mudd and Caltech, especially.) Do you want an “open door policy” school with complete freedom to choose/change majors? (Rice, Case Western Reserve, Pomona/Mudd/Scripps, Stanford, UChicago, Northeastern, and others already mentioned plus most other LAC’s) Do you want STEM-with-topnotch-exit-plan? (Cornell Engineering - CS can be in engineering or A&S - particularly comes to mind) There’s also the tiny-and-project-based option of Olin, which is not to be overlooked if you would enjoy that experience.

You would be a great candidate for Rice. Their applications went way up this year because of their announced boost in financial aid to match the most generous elites in the country (i.e. comparable to Stanford) but you’re very well qualified - the important thing is to show strong interest and be able to articulate “Why Rice” in a way that shows understanding of what they have to offer. The residential college system is one of the best-engineered social experience for undergrads in the country. It’s in the museum/med center district of Houston, so a very nice area of a large city with tons to offer. CS is top-notch, and there’s a business minor available to undergrads in any major. I’d suggest running their NPC as a benchmark.

I’ll also plug the 5C’s, even though I mentioned them already. There’s not a lot in terms of overt business studies, so maybe that’s a weakness (and in that case look across town at USC which has terrific CS-business crossover and phenomenal entrepreneurial opportunities), but the consortium leads the country in gender-balanced CS education, and offers high-qualify academics across virtually all other subjects as well. Scripps can’t formally be considered a safety, with an under-30% admit rate, but I’d call it almost-a-safety for you, and it offers full access to the Mudd CS major without requiring the rest of the Mudd STEM core, which can be a big win if your non-CS interests run more toward the humanities, arts, and social sciences. (Same goes for Barnard, with its full access to Columbia’s course offerings, and Wellesley with MIT cross-registration - the 5C’s and Barnard/Columbia are far more seamless/integrated than Wellesley/MIT, but then again MIT is MIT and Wellesley’s own offerings set a strong baseline before you even add cross-reg into the mix - plus you can add business through Babson.)

My sense is that your academic profile qualifies you for the very most competitive schools, but that puts you up against applicants with borderline-superhuman EC’s, whereas your EC profile is in the “strong human” range. For Caltech/MIT, being female helps so you never know - I could see you getting in, but one never knows. For the schools where women don’t have an advantage, like Stanford, it could be a little tougher to stand out, but depending on essays, etc. I think you have a chance just about anywhere. So, getting your list down to something manageable is a matter of refining exactly what you’re looking for a bit more.

12

Although co-op is a prominent feature of the curriculum at Northeastern and a few other schools like Drexel and Cincinnati, many other schools do have optional formal co-op programs that engineering and CS students may do.

Even when there is no formal co-op program, it may be possible to DIY such a thing at some schools if the withdrawal and readmission policies are favorable for doing that, and the important courses for your major are offered every semester or are not in a strict sequence so that being a semester off will not add extra semesters of school.

13

Perhaps Carnegie Mellon?

14

The University of Michigan has a very strong CS program and it a very well-rounded school. If you decide to veer from CS there are a number of other engineering and liberal arts programs to choose from.

15

https://www.ivyachievement.com/computer-science-rankings/

Many charts and tables.