<p>I was wondering if anyone knew of any good universities or colleges for majoring in computer science, computer engineering, or software engineering.</p>
<p>I mean, I know the big dog names, like MIT, Caltech, UC Berkeley, and Stanford, but there has to be others out there that offer good undergrad studies for these majors too, no matter if they are famous or not!</p>
<p>Case Western</p>
<p>What are your credentials (unweighed GPA, AP classes, class rank, SAT/ACT, SAT II, ECs etc…)?</p>
<p>UIUC is another one.</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon</p>
<p>Harvey Mudd, Rice, Cornell, RPI, Bucknell, UCSD as well as the ones already mentioned. Also, nothing wrong with Cal Poly and USC.</p>
<p>Take a look at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, MA.</p>
<p>Cooper Union, Rose-Hulman, University of Michigan, Virginia Tech</p>
<p>[RIT</a> - Programs of Study](<a href=“http://www.rit.edu/programs/program_listing.php?display=degree&loc=ugrad]RIT”>http://www.rit.edu/programs/program_listing.php?display=degree&loc=ugrad) </p>
<p>RIT, in Rochester, NY </p>
<p>[Clarkson</a> University: Undergraduate Programs](<a href=“http://clarkson.edu/engineering/undergrad.html]Clarkson”>http://clarkson.edu/engineering/undergrad.html)</p>
<p>Clarkson University, in Canton, NY </p>
<p>Best of luck in your college search!</p>
<p>@Alexandre
My unweighted GPA as of now is 4.00.</p>
<p>AP classes I have taken/am currently taking are World History, Calculus AB, Physics B, English Language and Composition. AP tests that I am planning to take through self-study by the end of this year are AP Chemistry and AP Computer Science. Next year, I’m planning on finishing up with Statistics, Calculus BC, Physics C, English Literature, Econ, and American Government.</p>
<p>I think I’m in the top 3% for class rank. On my transcript, it just shows me as #1, but there are multiple #1’s in my class.</p>
<p>My SAT breakdown from this past October SAT was 800 CR, 770 MA, 750 WR, for a total score of 2320. My junior year PSAT score is 235.</p>
<p>My SAT II scores include Math IIC, Physics, and Chemistry, which are 800, 760, and 760 respectively. </p>
<p>Extracurricular/Volunteer:
-Club soccer for 11 years; team captain of U16
-President of the DECA club at my high school (a business club)
-Vice President of Public Health Club
-Founder of a volunteer group for virus removal
-Community Service Leader for my region’s Tzu Chi International Charity Group</p>
<p>Work Experience:
-Calculus tutor (1 year)
-Physics tutor (1 year)
-Website designer (1 summer)</p>
<p>Awards:
-MVP on my club team
-1st place at school Chinese competition
-3rd place at regional Chinese competition
-I’m hoping for National Merit Finalist with my PSAT and SAT scores.
-Looking to studying to get a Java developer’s certificate (or other computer-related certifications) before applications time.</p>
<p>@everyone else
Thanks! I’ll look into those suggestions.</p>
<p>California Institute of Technology (reach)
Carnegie Mellon University (safety for Engineering, match for Computer Science)
Cornell University (match)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (reach)
Northwestern University (match)
Princeton University (reach)
Stanford University (reach)
University of California-Berkeley (match)
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (safety)</p>
<p>Others worth checking out:
Columbia University (reach)
Georgia Institute of Technology (safety)
Rice University (match)
University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign (safety)
University of Texas-Austin (safety)</p>
<p>CS!</p>
<p>I’ll be repeating many others: UIUC, RPI (safeties, I believe); USC (moderate); CMU, Harvey Mudd, Cornell (difficult to reach admissions). No one mentioned JHU, but it has rather good CS and is a fairly interesting school culture.</p>
<p>I’m a second-semester senior now, and I researched many of the above schools since I want to be a CS major (possible exploration/minor/second major in creative writing, communication design, HCI at some of them). I’d say CMU easily ranks with the “big dog names” you mentioned in your first post as far as CS goes, and on their website you can peruse the curriculum and course requirements for CS majors. I’ve heard really good things about the RPI culture from people who’ve visited (although I personally haven’t), and if you need financial aid, CMU considers RPI a peer institution and has stated that they will try to match a financial aid offer from RPI if both colleges accept you and there’s a difference in financial aid packages.</p>
<p>USC: great alumni network & school spirit. Harvey Mudd: the Claremont Colleges connection was something I quite liked because I didn’t want to limit myself to solely engineering/CS in my undergrad years, and you may like having similar options at HMC or another school that offers a wide variety of programs. JHU I liked because of the flexibility of the school in letting you explore non-major areas (from what I’ve been able to discern).</p>
<p>I’ve heard interesting things about Columbia’s CS but really haven’t investigated it thoroughly.</p>
<p>Engineering degrees are acredited by ABET. More than probably any other college field, what you study is going to be the same no matter where you go. As such there are really just broad tiers; a few premier schools like MIT and Caltech, good schools because they admit generally smart kids, and the next tier. I suggest you spend more time looking for fit; location, type of student it attracts, class size, etc.</p>
<p>How do the yearly tuition fees look for most of these large universities? I spot a LAC in this list too - Harvey Mudd. Is there a particular difference between majoring at an LAC vs. an university?</p>
<p>Also, can someone clarify a bit on what (reach), (match), and (safety) mean?</p>
<p>The concept of “reach”, “match” and “safety” addresses selectivity, not necessarily quality. A reach school is one that rejects most students of your calibre, a match school is as likely to reject as it is to accept a student of your calibre and a safety school is one that accepts most applicants of your calibre. </p>
<p>It is always good to apply to at least 3 matches and 2 safeties just ot make sure you have ample choices. </p>
<p>Once admitted, set those concepts aside and focus on the universities that most closely match your needs.</p>
<p>Oh okay. What kind of a difference would there be between majoring in computer science at Harvey Mudd (a liberal arts college) vs. universities?</p>
<p>No difference. Check out the coursework and compare.</p>
<p>These all seem like fair targets. How would these universities rank financially? My financial situation isn’t the best, and I know I’m going to need to rely on loans or financial aid for most, if not all, of these recommendations. Which ones have more financial aid programs, etc?</p>
<p>The private universities on my list meet 100% of need. The public universities are not good with aid, but given your stats, you have a good shot at getting merit scholarships, but apply as early as possible as those tend to run out quickly.</p>
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<p>I feel that you give away quite a bit as a CS major by not having the benefit of a graduate school. Harvey Mudd is a great place, very selective, and an excellent learning experience, but that’s a very real limitation. To me, there are a lot of university programs that are ahead for all practical purposes. If you were positive that you’d go on to graduate school, I’d feel differently.</p>