Honest feedback for confused parents of a rising senior, unsure of major, wants to study CS

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Wading into college search for the first time and the information out there is a quite confusing.

Demographics
Male, Asian, US, goes to a top 20 school in MA

Intended Major(s)
Unsure, wants to study CS

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.47
  • Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): 3.97 (out of 4.0 I think). (The school does not use weighted GPA.)
  • College GPA (for transfers):
  • Class Rank: No class ranks
  • ACT/SAT Scores: SAT 1300 (retaking but don’t expect a significant movement)

Coursework
(AP/IB/Dual Enrollment classes, AP/IB scores for high school; also include level of math and foreign language reached and any unusual academic electives; for transfers, describe your college courses and preparation for your intended major(s))
All honors classes from Freshman to Junior year, no APs

Senior Year: AP Physics, AP Calc, AP Comp Science, rest of the classes are honors

Snap, Python programming electives

Awards
Nothing notable

Extracurriculars
• Deeply passionate about volleyball (captain of HS team, played at club level for 4 years, made All-Scholastic All Stars team in national newspaper, featured in two newspaper articles reporting on state level competition)
• Co-founded tutoring club to help kids during pandemic
• Market research project for software startup
• Volunteer at local food pantry

Essays/LORs/Other
Hasn’t written anything yet. Decent life experiences to write about. As for LORs, one (English) will be fine as he really loved the teacher and did very well. Unsure about other letters due to okay performance in those subjects (Bio). Not asking letter from Math or Comp Sci teacher.

Cost Constraints / Budget
Grateful to able able to afford up to $50k/year
We know that we won’t qualify for need based aid and S doesn’t have strong enough academics for merit scholarships.

To be brutally honest, my S’s stats and background are fairly average. (I hope he doesn’t stumble across this post. Ugh.) T100 and possibly T200 school are ruled out based on his academics. (He just didn’t buckle down and study hard. Took school too lightly and focused more on sports while his peers played and took academics seriously.)

He wants to study CS, but he doesn’t have strong Math grades. In fact STEM grades in general are average while he has done well in language and social studies. His CS related activities are very light and I don’t think he has enough time to work on projects to shore this area up.

He’s looking for a diverse, medium sized, urban school with at least club sports.

We’ve looked at few CA schools (SJSU, SDSU, Santa Clara), a few MA school (UMass- Amherst, UMass-Lowell), and will be looking at a few more Northeast schools (NYU, Rutgers, Drexel).

Naviance results are very confusing. For example, NYU shows up as a Match whilst his stats don’t match their average (3.7GPA/1365 SAT). Similarly, UC-SD is a match but from my research UCs are difficult to get into for out of state students in general and low stats should make this a Reach for my S. And how the heckity-heck is Emory a match??

We’d like to load up on safeties given how competitive admissions are these days even for high achievers.

Any suggestions for ED, EA, safety/match/reach are highly appreciated.

Thank you

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No reason to be confused. He will have a tough time - but that’s ok and you know that.

I’d start with UMASS and WPI, if they are the right feel for him.

Do you have a desire - i.e. big school, small school, etc. Sports, no sports, etc.

Schools like Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, UTK, and UAH are well within reach and all fine. Many mention Utah. RIT and Pitt are two others - more a match than safety. RPI likely a reach but another good close by school.

Other great names - and different types of schools - so again, what do you want size wise, geographically speaking, but IU, Missouri S&T, Michigan Tech, Iowa State, Drexel, Florida Tech, Miami Ohio, Cincinnati…and you can go on from there.

Some great names.

Good luck.

Here’s a list for some ideas.

2021 Best Colleges for Computer Science - Niche

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For a possible safety may want to check Roger Williams University in RI. I’ve heard they can offer decent merit $. Beautiful location on the bay too.

Smart that you have included
UMass Amherst (somewhat reachy)
And UMass Lowell (likely match).
Even though it’s not urban, if he is accepted in CS at the flagship that’s quite an opportunity ,amazing program and school in general.

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MSOE. D3 Volleyball. Urban. Right by the lake (beach volly in summer). Intramural VB as well.

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CS is an impacted major which means that even if Naviance is correct, it may not hold for CS.

Look at RIT and NJIT. Applying to Computer Exploration instead of computer science may boost his chances at RIT.

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Cross off the CA publics- you won’t get them in a $50K all-in budget.

+1 for MSOE

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Wow - I totally missed your entire, long, with what he wants email. My apology. I’ll dig later tonight - or others will. You totally had it there. I’m multi tasking for work - and just missed that. oops. but hopefully some stuff i listed works.

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What about University of New Mexico?

UMASS Lowell? That would be well within budget.

The UCs will likely cost you $65,000 a year as they give very little aid to OOS students.

SCU is pretty costly. We love the place (our kid is a grad) but it’s expensive .

If you can pay $50,000 a year, look at some of the SUNY schools…Buffalo, for example.

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UCSD, SDSU and SJSU are very competitive for CS. OOS students do not receive financial aid at CA public schools so, as was mentioned above, they are likely out of your budget.

Would he consider other majors such as data science or cognitive science?

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Cal Poly SLO would be within their budget…but acceptance surely isn’t guaranteed.

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I’d suggest the tech schools too. Most are in the 4000-7000 range for size, often Div 2 for sports (although men’s volleyball doesn’t have a lot of varsity teams), sometimes are more forgiving of specific math and science scores (just start Calc at first level).

My daughter went to Florida Tech. It has a surprisingly active sports program. Your son would get some merit money with a 3.7. Embry Riddle also gives a lot of merit money. They are in small cities but very close to Orlando.

NJIT, NYIT are good too.

If schools don’t have men’s volleyball, many students still have fun playing other intramurals, maybe even in sports they’ve never tried before (quiditch, broomball, kickball) or might even try something new to them like rock climbing or kayaking.

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UNC Charlotte would be good; great city, diverse and popular with northeast students, great computer science department, <$40k COA for OOS
Edited to add club volleyball as well

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Thank you everyone for your responses! It’s so nice to know we’re not alone on this crazy, stressful ride.

I’m sorry, I should’ve mentioned that:

  • S would be most comfortable with a school on the coasts or Northwest. Midwest or South might be too much of a culture shock and not diverse enough for someone who’s only lived in diverse cities all his life.

  • He would also fit in a small/medium sized school in a medium sized campus
    (UC-SC was too big and spread out for him)

We’re also researching UW and Seattle University.

Thank you for the excellent suggestion of considering areas such as Computer Exploration/Cognitive Science. Not strictly CS, but very close.
He will be fine with this.

Given competitiveness of CS and my S’s low stats, the reality is that he’ll have to sacrifice something and I’ll have to try my hardest to not say “I told you”. Sigh.

Finally, we may be able to increase our budget to 65K if that’s what it takes for him to be motivated enough to complete college in a school that he is comfortable in. (We’ll be lording it over him for a loooong time!)

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I would recommend adding Vermont and Delaware to the list. Delaware is a decent match, a reasonably solid CS program, and . He should get into Vermont and there is even a chance of getting some merit aid at UVM.

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It sounds like he’d be a prospect for D3 volleyball - is that accurate? Has he filled out recruiting questionaires at any schools of interest? It sounds as if he would “click” better with the college environment/experience if he had the structure of his sport… but also he should choose a school and program where his academics aren’t so daunting that his athletic commitment will threaten his academic performance.

Have you looked into Wentworth? They have men’s D3 VB, and a very hands-on academic program with co-ops. 4300 undergrads, urban campus right near Northeastern. In addition to traditional CS, they have this program that might be a good fit for him: Computer Science & Society Undergraduate Degree in Boston | Wentworth They give a lot of merit, even to kids without tippy-top stats; I think there’s a strong chance it would be within your budget.

Endicott is another Boston school with a men’s D3 team, a CS major (and some reasonable alternatives if he should change his mind), and around 2900 undergrads.

While I don’t think that these are the most competitive schools he could get into, they might well set him up for success, more so than a school where his peers in CS might have stronger preparation and EC experience.

NJIT, which has been mentioned, also has men’s D3 VB. The College of Computing has a nice variety of majors, if straight CS turns out not to be his thing. Here’s their recruiting questionnaire, by way of example: Welcome to ARMS There are almost 12K undergrads at NJIT, though, so it may be bigger than you want.

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Especially not for CS.

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Another vote for NJIT because they have a variety of majors in their college of computing. My DS1 had middle of the road stats in high school and graduated in May in CS from NJIT. He did EC projects and other stuff while in college . Small classes and there’s a lot of support. If CS doesn’t work out, there are other majors in the general area.

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I understand about avoiding the Midwest. I personally love it and think people are super friendly. But my son and daughter want “different topography” and to try something new.

But for anyone else reading the thread, just to be clear about diversity…(and correct, while there is a rising Hmong population, some Asian countries are not as well represented in the midwest depending on city).

"According to 2019 US Census Bureau American Community Survey one-year estimates the population of Chicago, Illinois was 50.8% White (33.5% Non-Hispanic White and 17.3% Hispanic White), 29.0% Black or African American, 7.0% Asian, 0.4% Native American "

“Milwaukee’s diversity score was higher than nearly anywhere in the nation, with a population as measured by Census Bureau statistics that is 43 percent white, 38 percent Black, 20 percent Hispanic or Latino , 4 percent Asian and 0.5% Native American.”

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OK - I read your entire post. I think the Naviance (which I don’t have access to) is wrong. I don’t see UCs a possibility and an Emory…there’s no way. And that’s even if you weren’t CS.

So your son isn’t strong in math - but that’s his dream and I think that’s great.

When I think mid-size urban, I think College of Charleston. It’s an easy in, it’s got tons of kids from NY/NJ so it has a somewhat NE flavor, and it’s got some diversity. It’s smack in downtown Charleston - so it can be a great safety. And it’ll meet the budget. Pitt, Drexel were previously mentioned. He’d be in at Drexel. Pitt is a match. For such a great school, it’s not a hard admit and it’s in the city. It’s not CA, but it’s close - and it’s relatively inexpensive and very diverse - U of Arizona - a very good school. They have auto scholarships. Your son would get $7,500 so it’d be about $48K ish total with room and board.

SUNY Binghamton, Buff, Albany, and UMBC, George Mason, and Bentley also come to mind.

Hope something I wrote (or others wrote) helps.

The big thing is get him to a university with lots of options in case he decides CS isn’t right - so Bentley might be a tad off for him.

Honestly, I think Charleston will check many many boxes.

Good luck to your son.

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NJIT is Div 1

NJIT athletics officially gained across-the-board active membership in NCAA Division I, beginning September 1, 2009.[3]