I have just realized that at a lot of schools the CS department is harder to get into then the school in general. This means my safety net just got a bit wilder and I want to make it bigger by adding a school that is between Safety and Fit.
Quick stats: White Male, unhooked, 3.94 UW (4.35 weighted by my calculations), 33 ACT (31 English, 34 Math)
I have already looked into the schools below for about 30 mins each. I like them all, however I can’t tell the difference between their CS programs:
University of California san Diego
Virginia Tech
California polytechnic
San Jose State
Clarkson
Do you have any tips for sorting out which of those schools I should apply to? Lets pretend finance isnt an issue, it is too complicated to weigh into the process even with NPC’s.
If you apply yourself and don’t slack off the first semester or so, you can transfer into the CS program even. I’d drop Clarkson and SJSU and add Alabama – a more reputable and nationally known research university. Alabama should be a safety and I would expect you to be awarded the Presidential Scholarship there. Microsoft recruits there – and I’m not sure they recruit at Clarkson or SJSU. You should visit after you get in to determine which of these schools are a good fit.
Match/Reach:
UCSD (UCs OOS are extremely expensive, not sure it’s a great choice – only possibly a reach because of CS)
Match:
Virginia Tech
Cal Poly
Safety:
Alabama
Clarkson (I’d not apply)
SJSU (same here, can’t see you not getting into Cal Poly or Alabama)
What’s so complicated about it?
You spend about 5 minutes plugging some numbers (parents’ income, etc.) into the NPC.
If you use the College Board site, you can submit your input once and reuse it for many colleges.
Generating a net price estimate should be easier, and may be more important, than differentiating CS program quality at some of the schools on your list.
I’d think you’d get into most of your choices above. As moderately selective engineering schools go, Clarkson may be among the best in terms of its available programs.
Washington State. I am crossing every toe, finger, and hair that I get into UW CS as a freshmen admit… However the acceptance rate is quite low for that program. Otherwise I just cant stomach having to try to be the 33% that gets admitted to CS every semester, especially when choosing over other schools.
And I have run NPC’s and we have gotten out the numbers.
Besides the cost, UCSD has a similar (but to an even greater extent) issue as Washington, since the CS major is far more popular than its capacity allows. It is so competitive that getting into the CS major after enrolling at UCSD outside the CS major required a 4.0 or 3.9 GPA in recent quarters: http://cse.ucsd.edu/CappedMajor . It is likely that some of the CS rejects go for the math major, which is also now competitive admission: http://ucsdguardian.org/2016/04/25/ucsd-to-cap-all-math-department-majors-next-year/ .
Cal Poly SLO and SJSU have excellent CS programs and great job placement. They have a lower price tag than the California UC’s around $36K-40K/year but you will not be eligible for FA since you are an OOS applicant.
SLO’s acceptance rate for CS is around 10-13% so definitely not a guaranteed Match. SJSU is bit easier of an admit but extremely popular due to its location: Silicon Valley.
If finances are not an issue, consider applying to both.
Utah, Arizona and ASU are part of WUE and have very reputable CS. Not quite at the level of UW, but above average relative to publics. WWU and WSU is OK. Cal Poly and SJSU are fairly practical program, designed to get you a job. Their curricula are aligned very well with industry, but they are not research universities. If you are sure you want to go straight to industry, then they are excellent. (They won’t prevent you from getting into grad school either (-
It might be the best affordable option for you. It should be a safety and they also give out merit (not an expert on their merit programs). Utah was historically a top CS school (like UMass Amherst or USC are today) and it’s still a good program.
Maybe have a look at Santa Clara. It’s a private, so you would be eligible for financial aid. It’s in Silicon Valley and has a very good reputation there. D16 was admitted this last cycle with similar stats.
