Help with what schools to apply to (engineering/computer science)

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I was wondering what schools I should apply to with great/good engineering and computer science programs.</p>

<p>I have a 4.00 unweighted GPA, a 2330 SAT score, and perfect scores in the subject tests of math, chemistry, and physics, with leadership roles in four extracurriculars, three of which I founded or helped to found. I'm also a ten year sports player for a club team and a participant in orchestras for several years.</p>

<p>Also, I will probably need to rely on financial aid and scholarships to pay for tuition. I'm not sure how well qualified I am for this (the financial aid jargon confuses me, EFC and whatnot). My parents make a combined income of around 75k a year, and this is a family of four.</p>

2

<p>What is your state of residency?</p>

3

<p>I reside in California.</p>

4

<p>UCB and UCLA are great choices. Some others to consider - Carnegie Mellon, Case Western. You could also try for MIT and Cal Tech but they are reaches due to their low acceptance %age.</p>

5

<p>This might be obvious, but definitely try for Stanford and Harvey Mudd too. And in addition to the schools Erin’s Dad said (except for Case Western, not sure it’s worth moving to Cleveland for a mid-ranked engineering school when you have so many other options closer to home), look at USC and maybe UC-SD. For this type of major, I wouldn’t let cost be too much of a factor. You can always take out student loans up to the cost of attendance, and once you’re a working engineer, paying them off won’t be that hard.</p>

6

<p>What about out-of-state schools? If I don’t get into Berkeley or Stanford, I definitely prefer to move out-of-state.</p>

7

<p>Well then, put Case Western back on the list, but above Case Western I would first look at Georgia Tech, Michigan (and pretty much all the rest of Big 10 schools including Purdue, Northwestern, Penn State, and Wisconsin), Cornell, and UT-Austin.</p>

8

<p>OOS publics often don’t meet need. Some would give merit scholarships. UMich might give you merit, but still might gap you.</p>

<p>Blue and Gold promises free tuition to instate UC students whose families earn less than $80k</p>

9

<p>I know they might not sound prestigious compared to Berkeley and Stanford, but after MIT and Cal Tech, the big state schools are about as good as it gets when it comes to engineering and computer science.</p>

10

<p>A starter list would include several UCs, Cal Poly SLO, Stanford, and USC. San Jose State if you need a deep safety (that is safer admissions-wise than the middle ranked UCs and Cal Poly SLO).</p>

<p>For out-of-state (public and private), you have to check carefully the need and merit financial aid policies to see if they are worth applying to. However, merit aid is most likely to come from schools which are safety level (e.g. Alabama). Some out-of-state public schools do have an out-of-state list price lower than others, though.</p>

11

<p>For in-state, the schools I am probably applying to are:
San Jose State University
UC Berkeley
UCLA
Stanford
Harvey Mudd
Cal Tech
USC
Cal Poly</p>

<p>Are there any other great engineering or computer science schools outside of California? I’d love to have a diverse array of schools to choose from, and with the rising difficulty of acceptances, it wouldn’t hurt to have a few extra schools at hand to apply to.</p>

12

<p>More out-of-state schools that you may want to look into (including their financial aid policies) beyond those already listed by others above include Illinois (Urbana Champaign), Maryland (College Park), North Carolina (Chapel Hill), Virginia, Virginia Tech, Washington.</p>

13

<p>UNC-Chapel Hill does not have engineering. For that you would go a little further east to NC State.</p>

14

<p>Or even better, you might go just a hair further north to Duke. ;)</p>

15

<p>For out of state look at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and CMU.</p>

16

<p>Rice and University of Rochester are both supposed to be good with merit money. Best of luck!</p>