Help me choose my college (CS) please

College Search & Selection
1

Sorry for long post and kindly request to refrain from comments on why did you apply to so many colleges, lol.

Pennsylvania resident
Prefer only CS. Got admitted to these universities for CS

NCSU, Cal Poly SLO, Penn state, UPitt, Rutgers, TAMU, USF, ASU

Main thing is I Dont prefer too much of academic rigor and like to pace it out and enjoy and balance out college life.

Taking out TAMU because they give only FYE in first year and then we have to fight for the major which may get extremely competitive. Plus OOS state cost.

Got MSU, Wisconsin and UMN Twin cities - safety colleges that I applied but should I take it off due to the cold climate factor. Not sure if I can take the cold and again OOS expenses

Penn State and Upitt - which would you choose for CS if I decide with In State?

Personally I narrowed down to NCSU, Cal Poly SLO, Penn state, Upitt and Rutgers

I know Cal Poly SLO job options are great but am worried that the quarterly system will be too fast paced for me and college life will be too academic oriented and hectic. Also the flying costs to PA will be high and add to the final costs. OOS costs as well

However I am getting almost In state with merit aid at USF and ASU as well.

If you were me which one would be your choice based on the following factors

Location, climate, not too fast paced but balance fun and academics, job prospects and internships, easy signing to CS classes, safety

Thanks much. Appreciate any pointers and advise pls…

2

Penn State CS is a limited access major: https://bulletins.psu.edu/undergraduate/colleges/engineering/computer-science-bs/#howtogetintext

CS in general will be a higher than average workload major, since CS courses with programming assignments and projects will be higher workload than most courses.

3

A lot of Cal Poly students take longer than four years to graduate, and I don’t doubt that better work-life balance is easier to achieve that way… but can you afford extra quarters (summers and/or fifth year) at the OOS rate? The answer to that question may determine whether it would have to be more intense than you prefer, or not. Even the 50% who graduate on time often have done summer terms in order to make that happen.

Why are FSU and ASU not making your final cut? Those sound like they could fit well with what you’re looking for.

Congrats on having lots of good options!

4

Given your desire for warmer weather & moderate intensity, USF sounds like a reasonable choice. It’s a nice school not far from beautiful beaches. Transportation between PA & Tampa is a lot easier, faster, & cheaper than between PA & Phoenix.

5

I went to Cal Poly and agree with @aquapt – expect it to take 5 years so factor that into your cost planning. It’s a fabulous place and proximity to the Bay Area for jobs is certainly a great advantage but I don’t think it’s worth it when you have great lower-cost options. I no longer live in CA and my son would like to go to Cal Poly but we’ve said no way because of the cost.

6

IMO, NC State, based on your criteria, should be your top choice. North Carolina is nice, temperate and tech jobs are nearby. NC State as an engineering brand name also is more respected. I’ve never heard of anyone saying it was an academic slog.

7

Thanks to all taking the time to respond. Pls keep them coming to help me make a decision.

@ucbalumnus - thanks for the link. Is it harder to satisfy those requirements? I thought every college we need to meet certain first year courses to finally declare a major in second year (except maybe Cal Poly which gives direct admit)

ASU is too big a campus and I feel I could easily get lost. I am tempted with USF too but am not sure of job prospects coming out from Florida. But yesin terms of balance it maybe good. Anyone studying at ASU or USF please give your feedback.

Yes - NCSU scores so far.

Rutgers New Brunswick is closer to PA too. OOS expenses but if anyone can shed light on the workload and balanced life at Rutgers that would be great.

8

Except for direct admit schools, students often need to complete the prerequisites to declare the major. At schools where the major is not restricted, this tends to mean earning at least C grades and a 2.0 GPA. Penn State CS is more restricted in requiring a 3.0 GPA. Note that a 3.0 GPA in college is harder to earn than a 3.0 GPA in high school. But this is somewhat similar to the need for FYE students at Purdue, Minnesota, and Texas A&M to earn high GPAs to declare their majors (however, knowing the threshold ahead of time is less stressful than having it competitively determined, though each of these FYE schools also has a higher GPA for automatic admission).

Pittsburgh does not mention any grade or GPA requirements higher than C at https://cs.pitt.edu/degrees/bachelors/requirements/ , but you may want to ask the department directly to be sure.

Wisconsin requires a C or higher in one CS course to declare the CS major, according to https://www.cs.wisc.edu/undergraduate/ba-bs-in-compsci/ .

Rutgers requires a C or higher in five prerequisites: https://www.cs.rutgers.edu/undergraduate/admission-major

9

We’re from the SW, so know lots of ASU students, all of whom have/had only good things to say (and don’t say it’s too hard, including engineering majors). We know one young man who just graduated from Harvard Law after ASU (not sure of his undergrad major). Have you looked into applying for Barrett Honors? It has its own dorms, dining, and gym and people say it makes the university seem much smaller.

10

For ASU apply to Barrett. :slight_smile:
Otherwise NCSU and USF may be your best bets based on your criteria.
CS tends to be a heavy workload major (ie., Expect 8-12hours of weekly homework for each class you take).

11

I have Pitt kids for engineering - and tried hard to sway #4 (who wants to study cs) to follow her siblings but for CS, I was not impressed - unless your focus is bio-related, bioinformatics etc. They just spun out the school for info science out of A&S and will be getting a new bldg - it will be great, just not today.

12

@amandakayak thanks for the feedback. Are they getting new faculty for CS? I realize this is the first time they are having a separate School for CS. Your kid chose which college over Upitt?

13

U of Pitt students can take a variety of classes at Carnegie Mellon U, which is highly ranked for CS.
Apparently this works pretty well for some Pitt students to explore computer science, but it will not be easy,
the classes over at CMU.
https://www.registrar.pitt.edu/cross_registration.html

I have read on other blogs that Pitt students can explore CS at CMU.

14

Pitt just hired a dean of computing, who will get this department in tip to shape I bet.
https://cs.pitt.edu

I also like North Carolina State’s program. Its one of the older engineering programs in North Carolina, and a sea and space grant college. Research Triangle Park offers jobs.

In Florida, USF competes for the best students with UF Gainesville and U of Central Florida too.
USF is the big medical oriented campus in Florida, along with Gainesville, but both are strong in engineering, too.
High tech jobs in Florida are in Fort Lauderdale/South Florida and in Orlando with aerospace jobs like Lockheed Martin. USF grads also get jobs in Atlanta Georgia too, a very big software and high tech area of the southeast.

Tampa has less of a high tech focus.

15

I am waiting for the aid info from NCSU. If you have any inputs on NCSU for CS would love to hear inputs on campus, internship and academic rigor.

16

@ppxyz123 note that cross-registration w cmu is possible if attending pitt but difficult to get into since cmu kids have of course priority. We know a couple cs students who intended to take advantage but never were able to manage it for whatever reason. ymmv of course.

17

All are good options. I’m a Pitt grad many years ago (not CS). I’m not up on their current CS program but it’s a solid school and tech opportunities are available in Pittsburgh given CMU and start-ups. I also really like NC State. I’m hoping it makes my sons short list next year. Go visit the campus. Our neighbor’s son went there for CS. He’s currently working on his doctorate at GA Tech. Another friend’s son went to USF. He loved the school but was homesick and returned after his freshman year.

18

How is USF Tampa Florida for CS options? I get a good merit aid there.

I am not too much into partying so am worried Penn State may not be a good fit.
Does anyone know if UPitt is a party school - I know we cant avoid it but the more I hear about Penn State parties, I get a little nervous.

I recently heard that NCSU and VT engg also is first year engg and we have to declare major only after first year.

USF Tampa states Pre major Computer science in the admission letter , so does Penn state.

19

If you are concerned about entrance to major after enrolling:

Pitt: https://cs.pitt.edu/degrees/bachelors/requirements/ (contact department directly since nothing is specifically mentioned here about entrance to major)
NCSU: https://www.engr.ncsu.edu/academics/undergrad/coda/
VT: https://enge.vt.edu/content/dam/enge_vt_edu/undergraduate/coe_com.pdf
PSU: https://advising.engr.psu.edu/advising/entrance-to-major/index.aspx
USF: https://www.usf.edu/engineering/cse/undergraduate/admissions.aspx

20

If you want to avoid parties, ask for the ‘healthy living’ dorm. The RA will organize activities that don’t include alcohol.
All universities will offer a weekend program of films, conferences, concerts, plays, activities, outdoors trips, outings, clubs, etc.
In my opinion, those who say there’s nothing to do but drink on any college campus are just lazy or trying to justify their choice, as I’ve yet to visit a college that doesn’t offer tons of things to do - usually there are fewer on urban campuses and more on non urban campuses but still lots of things are offered.