Having extreme difficulty finding a college

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hey, I've been looking for college/university for what seems like forever now.
I know where I'd like to go (Stanford), but cant get in, and where I don't want to go, but can't get in.
I want to do Computer science and maybe a double major with something relating to Italian (not a deal breaker).
It seems like the best computer science schools are also the hardest to get into (Cornell, Stanford, MIT, Caltech etc).</p>

<p>My school has really stringent graduation requirements (30 out of 32 possible) and I took the hard computer classes and did well, but I also took the hard science classes (Chemistry sophmore year, there were like three in my class, but I got a C) and I took Physics my junior year (got a B) and statistics junior year (got a C, very difficult, lots of work).</p>

<p>My GPA is a 3.4, fairly sure.
My ACT - 26 (only taken it once - taking the SAT & ACT at least once more)</p>

<p>Not sure what else to include in this post, if you need more information let me know.</p>

<p>I am also trying to stand out from the high achieving students in my class because they are high achieving but they are only going to local schools.</p>

<p>Also, my school only has Honors English classes & 3 AP classes (Calculus (cant get into, taking trig) AP Physics (Physics was already very difficult and didn't fit my schedule & AP English (can't get into - didn't take honors English)</p>

2

<p>Are you in the class of 2015? If so, use the matchmaker at collegeboard’s website within the next few days because you should probably at least a rough list of the colleges that interest you by now. 3-5 Matches, 3-4 safeties, and 3-4 reaches. Best of luck!</p>

3

<p>No, I am in the class of 2011.</p>

4

<p>What state do you live in? Is money an issue?</p>

5

<p>LOL. The class of 2011 is the college class of 2015 so we’re on the same page :wink: But yeah just use collegeboard’s tools to help you get a bunch of schools that match your interests!</p>

6

<p>Missouri, and not particularly.</p>

7

<p>Ill give it a shot, its also hard to pick a college without ever going there, I visited a few colleges this summer that I thought I wanted to go to and now I don’t want to.
I live in Missouri and all the potential schools are across the country</p>

8

<p>My daughter only got to visit 2 schools and ended up going where she didn’t visit.</p>

<p>Just from your grades and score, I don’t think you have a shot at the schools you mention in your first post. But you can do well in CS at dozens of schools who have strong UG programs, but not the elite names. There shouldn’t be any difficulty finding CS programs.</p>

<p>Look at the lists of the top PhD programs, they will have strong undergrad programs (some highly selective for undergrads, but many not so bad) look deep into the list and you will still get a good department:
[Rankings</a> - Computer Science - Graduate Schools - Education - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-computer-science-schools/rankings]Rankings”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-computer-science-schools/rankings)</p>

<p>You don’t mention your financial situation. You don’t mention your EC’s.</p>

9

<p>Financials are irrelevant until it comes time to accept/deny an offer.
And my extracurricular is FBLA - I compete in Networking Concepts, I placed 1st in districts, 3rd in state and I attended Nationals in July (don’t know what place I got)
Its easily one of the hardest categories to compete in, not competitive wise but knowledge wise.
(My school doesn’t have very many clubs)</p>

10

<p>Why apply to places you will just have to deny if you get accepted to? Financials are never irrelevant, don’t be silly.</p>

11

<p>You don’t understand my desire to go to these schools, I would rather not regret it for the rest of my life for never applying to my dream school. And financials are important, but I am keeping my options open.</p>

12

<p>Most schools you can get into with current stats tht have reasonable CS programs will be out of state publics. You probably won’t get much aid at them which is why we’re asking about money before throwing out names. </p>

<p>Several schools in the CA CSU system are matches for you: Cal Poly Pomona and San Jose State are worth a look.</p>

13

<p>Ok then, financials are important, I am not going to go to a school that has bad financial aid.</p>

14

<p>For public Us you will probably only get good FA from your in-state schools. Your stats are not very high for the top schools like Stanford. You do know U Mizzou is a great and pretty highly ranked school, right?</p>

15

<p>I’ve been there, huge football school with neglect to their computer department, huge emphasis on engineering.</p>

<p>And seriously guys, I’m looking for good schools right now, I’ll take care of financial aid.</p>

16

<p>It’s a hard reality, but an important one to get early in the process so you can apply to the right schools. Good need based aid exists only at top schools. Good merit aid requires strong stats. The harsh reality for most who need aid is in state schools.</p>

<p>If you can’t get into a good need based aid school as a freshmen, there’s always transferring, many colleges offer the same great aid to their transfers.</p>

17

<p>I figured I would have to attend a school I didn’t want to then transfer where I want to but I also noticed that Stanford had like a 2% admit rate for transfers…(like 40 people)</p>

18

<p>I don’t know how they are with aid but maybe Syracuse and Drexel. Best of luck!</p>

19

<p>University of Missouri - Rolla has a decent computer science program.</p>

20

<p>Heh, then you see the campus. Went there and Georgia tech (really wanted to go here till I went there) I will look at Syracuse & Drexel, still looking for suggestions!</p>

<p>Also, ricegal just wanted to let you know Rolla is now called Missouri University of Science & Technology</p>