Help Me Decide - Best University for Computer Engineering

College Search & Selection
1

Hey folks! Now, I know that this type of question is definitely asked often, but I would really appreciate any help I can get. I’ve read through college specific CC posts, Reddit posts and even talked with a few current university students. However, my predicament is weird, as I do not really have a “dream college” per se.

I’ve got into 10 colleges. All of them were regular decision applications. The list is as follows:

  1. Arizona State University
  2. NC State
  3. Penn State
  4. Rochester Institute of Technology
  5. Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
  6. University of Alabama
  7. UC Davis
  8. Cal Poly Pomona
  9. Cal Poly SLO
  10. San Jose State University

Now, I’m not asking details of each and every university on this list, that’s just redundant and I have spent time doing that. This thread is more for a few specific questions.

Some other info about a few admissions:

  • RHIT
    -$23,000 yearly scholarship

  • RIT
    -$22,500 yearly scholarship
    -Also accepted for Honors Program
    -Accepted for Imaging Science program

Other than RIT, I was accepted to the Computer Engineering (or equivalent, ex: CSE) major for all universities listed.

Since I am a OOS for all of them, costs are towards the higher end. Due to the scholarships, this brings ASU, UA, NC State, PSU, RIT, RHIT and Cal Poly SLO all in the same ~50 - 60k range. That brings CPP and SJSU at a lower cost and UC Davis at a higher cost.

My parents are willing to pay for my college, as long as the costs are not outrageous for what I as a student can achieve for an Undergraduate program.

Question 1

Which colleges will allow me to complete my degree within 4 years, and perhaps even less than that?

Let’s compare a degree at Cal Poly SLO vs. UC Davis for example. Cal Poly SLO OOS cost is ~$54,000 (with insurance) per year. UC Davis OOS cost is ~$73,500 per year.
A 4 year completion at Cal Poly SLO would be about $216,000, while a 3 year completion at UC Davis would be about $222,000.
I want to know if anything like this is possible, and which colleges would allow for an easy early-finishing degree to save money.

This question also concerns course enrollment. I’d love to know which of these colleges have a better chance at me getting a course I enrolled at, hence helping reduce the time I study for.

Question 2

Which college will not force students to be extremely competitive to the point where making friends within the same major will be hard?

I’d prefer it if I don’t have to race with my fellow major students. I understand that competitiveness is unavoidable in every college (it’s integral!), but are there any colleges that I should be aware of that have students who are very cut-throat competitive to the point that it becomes mentally detrimental?

Question 3

Is name brand still considered?

Self explanatory. Do some old timer recruiters still look at the college name and get you better chances of an interview, and if so, which colleges would have a better name in either specific parts of the US or everywhere in the US?

Question 4

Does location actually matter?

Since I am an OOS student anyways (going to USA from India, not international), I won’t really be going to someplace other than the campus often. Do remote locations have any major disadvantage that I should know about?

This question also concerns job placement. I know that colleges such as SJSU and Cal Poly SLO have well-known companies recruit students. My question is if this criteria should concern me, especially because I know I want to pursue a PG study after my UG?


Phew, this was a long read, wasn’t it? Well, if you read the whole thing, THANK YOU! Please note that I do not expect anyone to answer all my questions (unless you want to :stuck_out_tongue: ), but I will really appreciate any questions answered. Even if you can answer one of those questions, It will make my day!

You may also approach an answer by telling me (your) best choice of college, and why I should attend it!

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You can fulfill your career idea at any of the colleges you listed. You need to now start looking at things other than your course of study…weather, geographic location, size, activities access. Etc.

And you could also start eliminating schools for whatever reason…because you can’t attend them all.

Really, this is your choice…with your criteria…so which place checks most of YOUR boxes?

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  1. All colleges you can graduate in 4 years. Less will depend on your credits brining in but note it doesn’t always matter. My son started as a 2nd year in MechE but still took four. The reason is the course sequence - but you can do four years at all.

  2. Depends on the school - but making friends can and will happen within the major at every school in America.

  3. Yes - by some but for this major, all are solid (make sure ABET accredited) - and you can, with this group, go to the cheapest option (short of RHIT). You may be OOS but assuming strong grades/test Alabama would be cheap. Or if you have a strong UW GPA, you can apply Arizona, WVU, Michigan State and others that would come in cheap (still). So brand may matter - and all these are solid - CP SLO is especially a fine school and RHIT really strong - but really small - and isolated - so you have to fit. But in general, you’d be fine at all these. I’d probably put CPP the lowest - but not low. Still fine. Just my opinion.

  4. If you are a US citizen (sounds like it), you’ll use the career center (handshake) and indeed and linkedin to find a role. If you’re not (but I think you are), you’re potentially not staying - so it wouldn’t matter.

Best of luck.

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you fail to consider the compounding costs. You cannot look at first year expected cost * 4. Outside of Purdue, nearly every US school increases total cost to attend each year. Taking this a step further merely for illustration purposes, if increase on a % basis is consistent, a 60,000 school offering a 50% scholarship will see double the increase for Yr 2 compared to a 30,000 school. This is because the baseline for a 3% increase is 60,000 ($1,800) - not 30,000 ($900). And for year 3, the new baseline of 61,800 results in a $1,854 increase, yr 4 = another 1,909 to 65,561.
The net result is costs jump ~ 19% from year 1 to year 4 because your $30,000 yr scholarship remains static while costs rise. BTW- 3% is very conservative

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5

Very good point.

Not sure if Arizona was on your list (I saw a U of A) but they guarantee tuition for four years.

You should check each school to see similarly.

4 Years | 1 Price

Our Guaranteed Tuition Plan promises you stable tuition and mandatory fees for four years (eight consecutive semesters). No increases, no surprises.

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For question 1, all of them, if you follow the recommended course sequence for your major (i.e. no light loads, no failing and needing to repeat, no remedial courses needed, no delaying a critical course because it is offered at 8am this semester).

For question 2, NCSU and PSU may require competing for grades for secondary admission. RIT may require competing for grades to change major. If you are direct admit to major at the others, that is not a worry there.

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Congrats on the great options.

Housing options for all 4 years are important to consider for you if you will not have family near by.

Are there dorms that offer housing over breaks? Even a five day break can be frustrating if you have to leave the dorm for those days. Where will you store items in the summer?

If you have to move off campus, signing leases and other steps can be cumbersome, but not impossible. Do any of the colleges have on campus apartments for years 3 and 4?

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FYI - Rose Hullman is great but very small compared to the others. Go to the least expensive of your options or what you can afford. Don’t have large debt. Not worth it

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Programmer here. I can answer your questions

Here’s my take, first all of these are accredited 4 year programs. Second, I can’t speak for the competitiveness of the school directly. Hypercompetitive schools are generally that way because of restricted admission, not because they’re any better.

Third, I can tell you with 100% certainty that prestige doesn’t matter at all. After 3 years experience, employers don’t even ask where you went to school. I’ve worked with programmers that range from Columbia to college dropouts. And all of them can code just the same.

As far as location, it does matter, but not for the reasons you might think. Employers generally hire locally and regionally because it’s cost effective. Most likely, you’ll get interviews from companies near the place you go to school. I recommend against California, because your first job probably won’t be enough to make ends meet. In Arizona, for instance, you could buy a 3 bedroom house on an entry level salary.

Regarding cost…From what I can see, the scholarships are pretty lousy, and they won’t even begin to cover the atrocious tuition. I always recommend an in-state university if you’re studying CS. If you got accepted at your in-state school, then do yourself a favor and scrap the list. There’s no benefit to going out of state or going to a private school. Are there going to be loans involved? You shouldn’t have any more than $27,000 in total debt for your 4 year degree. A $100,000 debt load for a bachelors degree is financial suicide.

In other words, it’s better to start at community college than walk into a financial death trap. If mom or dad gets laid-off, all bets are off, because financial aid doesn’t exist for OOS schools. And believe me, it’s common. At an in-state university, you could complete your degree on student loans if you had to.

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Thanks for the info!
I’m actually a US citizen who lives in India, so I’m (probably) going to US just for my studies. So this kinda goes without saying that I don’t have any in-states I can go to. As for loans, my parents are willing to cover my college expenses (as long as they aren’t anything outrageous).
What do you think if I study in California, say for example Cal Poly SLO, and then apply elsewhere for a masters where entry level salary could actually get me living there for a while?

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Do you think very small schools like RHIT would have some disadvantages? One that I can think of perhaps, maybe the professors wouldn’t be as amazing as perhaps some of the other schools. If they were truly great professors, they would’ve already been working in the field, and probably only teach if they have passion for it. Perhaps another disadvantage would also be the smaller choices of professors that students can ask for research opportunities, as there are fewer in sheer number compared to larger schools?

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A masters could provide a bump in salary, but not enough to overcome the living expenses. To live in California, you’d need to go there after you’ve gained some years of experience and you can command a higher salary. That means you’d be moving there when you have a nice big house, and you’d have to sell it to buy a small cramped condo for 1.2 million dollars. My recommendation, don’t live in California…ever :slight_smile:

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This is a known school for engineering. You will have people that turned down MIT to go here. I know 2 personally but it’s as big as some high schools and the areas is just OK. But the students really like the school but it’s engineering 24/7. 70/30 male /female. Something to consider.

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The disadvantage of RHIT is that it’s small and where it’s located - a few miles outside a small city. Well that would be the disadvantage to me.

The education will be fantastic and their outcomes about as good as anyones.

I wouldn’t by the rest of your cons but look at the curriculum. My guess is you’d have more flexibility there.

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