Help with my college selection illinois resident Computer Science Major

<p>Currently i am starting my senior year. I have a 4.289 gpa W and a UW of 3.53. I will be applying to normal admission so i expect to use my first semester senior year grades to boost up my GPA to a 4.35ish and about a 3.6.UW. Act is 31.
I want a good safety - to reach school list - i have a list in mind but don't want to post it. I am in illinois- so i was just wondering where i should apply- any help would be appreciated. I am also in top 10 percentile- as for cost constraints since this is preliminary i don't want that to factor in just yet.</p>

<p>No school can be a safety unless you know that it is affordable. If you have not talked to your parents about cost constraints, you need to do so before making your application list.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, Illinois publics are rather poor with financial aid, even for in-state students, so that can make finding affordable safeties more difficult.</p>

<p>UIUC is the obvious answer - excellent CS department and a relatively low in-state tuition. UIChicagoand SIU are also good choices that should be affordable for you.</p>

<p>Since you want a list that does not consider cost, you can look at all the Big Ten schools - Purdue, Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio State in particular, although they all offer good CS departments (except Indiana). However, they are all rather similar as huge research universities.</p>

<p>If you want a smaller school, Milwaukee School of Engineering, Rose Hulman, Case Western Reserve and Illinois Institute of Technology would all merit further research.</p>

<p>In rereading my post, I realize that I have focused on the midwest, which you did not specify. Maybe if you provide more information about what you are looking for, we could narrow it down a bit.</p>

<p>i am looking at midwest; not just illinois- as for tuition i am not saying i wont look at it- i am saying i just want to see where i stand based on a my record- so if you could just tell me if i should put those schools under reach safety or match (high or low) : and then i will look at adjusting the list based on cost
THANKS</p>

<p>See post #2. Nothing can be listed as a safety until we know what you can afford. Or perhaps you can look here for safeties:<br>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>honestly i come here to get a few colleges and see if their reaches safeties or whatever- i don’t need a whole lecture on why i should look at cost over some random person on the internet. Most people hear are quite paranoid about their grades anyway , just tell me i am in range academically for these schools</p>

<p>Reach:
Notre Dame
Northwestern
Michigan</p>

<p>Match:
UIUC
Ohio State
Michigan State
Purdue</p>

<p>Safety:
UIC
NIU</p>

<p>thanks bark anyone else want to 1 up his list or introduce new schools i was thinking minnesota and wisconson would be reaches for CS since i am oos</p>

<p>As a CS major and your stats, Alabama would give you free tuition plus 2500 per year. That would be a very good financial safety for you since remaining costs would be low. Bama has a brand new Science and Engineering Complex…gorgeous and state of the art. Beautiful dorms, private bedrooms, etc. Friendly campus. </p>

<p>Erin’s Dad is right about considering cost when coming up with safety suggestions. Every spring we see students post that they can’t afford any of their schools because they chose safeties that would admit them, but didn’t pay attention to affordability. Safety schools rarely give much/any need based aid. Some (like Bama in your case) give lots of merit money for strong stats. However, most schools aren’t that generous. Bama is the highest ranked school to give that much assured merit awards.</p>