I don't really know what type of college I should be going to.

College Search & Selection
1

I’m finishing up my junior year, and I have a lot of interests and personal projects that I work on, but my SATs aren’t anything impressive and my school offers few AP classes (and, to be honest, I would rather spend time on what I’m more interested in, than take stuff like AP Latin or AP Eco)

SAT (superscored):
English 730
Math 670
*I could likely raise my math score if I studied, unlike the last time I took the SAT

GPA:
4.0 (unweighted, not sure what it would be weighted)

-I took AP Comp Sci and AP Chem this year, but don’t have the scores yet (should be 3-4 for both).

-I also took AP Comp Comp Sci principles last year, but didn’t take the AP test due to complications with my very small, rural school (48 students in my class).

I am a great writer (don’t take this as arrogant, but my prof. told me I am the best in the grade), and will have 3 years of college English (though not AP), by graduation.

I’m planning to major in computer science and put in a few hours of coding every week.
-I know Python quite well, have studied Java for a year, am familiar in HTML & CSS
-I spend a lot of time on personal projects in electronics (Raspberry pi, building drones), and have taught my friends (though it’s not an official club)
-I started an online product review business that I no longer have time for, but I worked it for 3 years and made 5-7 grand working with sellers in China
-I play and record music, I play guitar in a youth worship band at my church
-youth student leader and member of mission fund board at church, 100+ hours of volunteering
-I do a lot of reading and have a decent knowledge base in theology and philosophy
-I also play varsity tennis, but am not big on scheduled activities in general.

I also got an internship at a local tech company this summer working in software dev.

Oh, and I’m from Western NY, so East Coast is more preferable.

To be honest, my older siblings both went to a small private school, so I don’t know much about college admissions, or what caliber student I am. The only places I’m looking at the moment are Northeastern and U of Rochester. I’d prefer not to go to a state school, hopefully something a bit smaller (7k-14k students). So far I have basically just looked up and down the list of top CS programs. Any suggestions of good matches for me? Should I study and retake my SAT? I’ve heard so many conflicting opinions on how much SATs matter. Thank you to anyone who got through this whole thing.

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Your math SAT score will matter a lot for admission to CS programs, I encourage you to retake that if you can.

When assessing if a school will be reach/match/safety, you have to look for CS program admission rates and average test/GPAs, which are typically lower admission rates/higher test scores and GPAs than the overall stats.

Lastly, do you have any cost constraints? You can run NPCs at Rochester and Northeastern to see what you would be expected to pay.

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@Mwfan1921 Thanks for your input. I’ve had trouble finding school’s SAT scores specific to CS. Any recommendation on how to find these?

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If you can’t find the data on the school’s website, you can reach out to admissions to see if they have this detailed data. Some schools have it, some don’t.

If you can’t get the data, at a minimum figure that successful CS applicants had stats in the top 25% of the accepted student numbers for test scores and GPA.

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How much SATs matter will depend upon the school. I am concerned that your math SAT is low for someone going into computer science. I think that you should seriously consider studying very hard over the summer for the math SAT and retaking it. According to prepscholar the 75th percentile math SAT for Northeastern is 770. This sounds about right to me.

I don’t understand why you don’t want to attend a state school. I have worked with a large number of software engineers, many come from public in-state schools. In my experience many (perhaps half?) of the strongest software engineers that I have worked with who are currently in their 50’s and 60’s came from big name private schools (including MIT and Stanford), but the large majority who are currently in their 20’s came from public universities. I think that the rising cost of tuition is what has caused this to happen. The three best software engineers that I can think of right now all come from public schools (two from U.Mass Amherst and one from U. of Michigan).

You would spend a lot of extra money to attend Northeastern rather than U.Mass Amherst. Based on the people that I have worked with you would get a very good education either way. The 75th percentile math SAT score for U.Mass Amherst is also much closer to what you got which suggests your chances of being admitted are better (although computer science is very competitive there).

I think that you should very seriously consider one or more of the SUNY’s.

Your lack of APs does not concern me at all.

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First, talk to your parents about the budget. There are great SUNY schools for CS.

RPI and Clarkson come to mind for schools to explore.

I also agree that it would definitely be worth your time to retake the SAT and get that math score up above 700.

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@DadTwoGirls To be honest, not wanting to go to a state school more comes down to the type of college experience I was hoping for, not necessarily academics. It very may be what I end up going with, but it’s not my first choice. I hate partying, and I know it’s unavoidable at college, but I’m hoping it’s possible to go to a school with students more academically focused. And yes, I know this sounds very pretentious.

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Congratulations on your hard work and success! And your SAT is excellent. Does it make you a lock for MIT? No. But no one’s SAT makes them a lock for MIT. 1400 would meet the threshold at the vast, vast majority of schools, and other factors will be more important. A higher math score would be beneficial, particularly at a school that is going to take your intended major, CS, into account in admissions.

The cost question is a big one. The answers will be different if you can pay full tuition at schools like Rochester and Northeastern, or would $10k, $20k, be more like it?

That said, I’m getting a vibe you’d like an intellectual-type place, probably urban, East Coast. Using those criteria, I totally agree Rochester seems great. You might look at William & Mary, Case Western Reserve University (CWRU, “Crew”), and U Mass Amherst. A few smaller options might be Lafayette College and Franklin & Marshall in PA.

W&M and CWRU are mid-size, very similar to Rochester size-wise. W&M has excellent CS and CWRU is a STEM school. W&M will be expensive OOS and aid will very likely be limited, although you should always run the NPC for a school that looks good. CWRU does give aid to a high % of students, though it is still often costly. I’ll note it is def an advantage to be male for W&M and female for CWRU. U Mass Amherst has terrific CS. Lafayette and F&M are good smaller schools in PA.

Northeastern is famous for its coop program. A lot of student work is done in the context of work-study. Would this appeal to you? Rochester has more of a traditional academic program. If you really like what Northeastern does, look at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in MA. Students do 3 classes at a time on a quarter system, and the work is very project-oriented.

Most of the others I recommend would be more like Rochester, with U Mass a little larger. To me Rochester, W&M, and Tufts (Boston area) are NY, VA, and MA versions of the mid-size national university, which I think can offer students some of the benefits of LACS with the benefits of larger universities. But different schools are better fits for different students.

I’ll just throw in some out-of-the-box ideas–Denver, Tulsa, and Creighton (Omaha). Why? They are out of your region, but are mid-size urban universities. Most of those above are reachy–though you are a reasonable applicant at all of them–and these would be more accessible. I was at Creighton last year. I was impressed. Nice campus, a short walk to downtown Omaha, which actually felt pretty dynamic. I can’t speak to CS there. Anyway exploring ideas is how we figure out what works for us.

Good luck!

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@TTG Thanks for the insight. You definitely bring up some schools that weren’t on my radar. I’m not overly concerned about prestige or reputation, I just want a school that will give me good opportunities, and where I can be surrounded by people who are interesting and love to learn. As for price, yah, schools like U of R are really expensive. But my parents basically told me that if I find the college that is going to give me the best opportunity possible, we will figure out a way to make it work.

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Wouldn’t Stony Brook fit the less-partying description?

Some private schools (including some of the most selective) have a very party heavy reputation.

In any case, talk to your parents about budget. Most college bound students will find that affordability is their primary constraint on college choice. Next are academic offerings and ability to get admitted. Everything else is a luxury.

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I recommend you pay close attention to sourcing with respect to this. If you have consulted graduate department rankings, their influence can be counterproductive.

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@merc81 I’ve just been using Niche. Any recommendations on reliable sources?

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To get more college ideas, I would take the time to look through some good college guide books (ex. Fiske, Princeton Review). You can often find these books in your HS guidance office or in a library.

There are many good suggestions above. Note that some state schools (ex. Binghamton. New Paltz, TCNJ – not sure where you live) have CS and are pretty much the size school you are looking for. Union is another private college that may be worth a look.

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The main source that ranks schools, U.S. News, wisely ranks only two undergraduate programs (engineering and business). You can browse alternative sources for information on CS programs – I’d only caution you to avoid adhering to any ranking that might bear little relevance to your circumstances and preferences.

Nonetheless, I don’t think you are off to a bad start from what you’ve found through Niche, since a school like Northeastern would be excellent for CS. For something similar, consider the curricularly comparable Drexel. Boston University and Lehigh might be good general matches for you. Both are strong in CS. Tech-focused schools such as RPI and WPI appeal to a certain type of student. IIT would be another school of this type, and would be relatively accessible from western NY. RIT would offer you a relatively easy admit. Binghamton could be a SUNY option to consider. If you would like to explore academically within a flexible curriculum, look into Hamilton.

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“And your SAT is excellent. Does it make you a lock for MIT? No. But no one’s SAT makes them a lock for MIT. 1400 would meet the threshold at the vast, vast majority of schools, and other factors will be more important.”

A 1400 is very good no doubt but as others have said you have to consider a 700 in math at a place like MIT a minimum score, unless you have a hook. The threshold would not be met at MIT.

OP, you’re getting a good list of schools on the thread, I also grew up in upstate NY and was a computer engineering major, start with the four SUNY flagships - Albany, Stony Brook, Binghamton, Buffalo so you have some affordable options with good CS programs. Then in-state privates like RPI, Clarkson in addition to U Rochester. If you get your math sats up, you can consider places like Cornell for reaches. Good luck!

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Something about your post suggests Wesleyan might be a good reach for you. It’s a little smaller than your target size (~3,000 students), but larger than many LACs in its cohort group. It supports tippy-top programs across a spectrum of STEM and the arts/humanities. The CS program is not gargantuan. Far from it. But, if your ultimate goal is software engineering, its graduates seem to place well. What struck me about your post were your range of interests: you write well; you play a musical instrument. Wesleyan is the sort of place that attempts to make connections across academic disciplines. Four years is a long time for someone your age. Interests have a way of migrating and evolving. You want to make sure you have a college that makes that easier, not harder.

https://newsletter.blogs.wesleyan.edu/tag/digital-design-studio/

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Just to add, if you would consider smaller colleges, and going a little farther away, Carleton College might be an option. It’s a tip-top LAC and particularly strong in the sciences, though I’m not sure about CS. Northfield is a great little college town (St. Olaf’s is also there). It is not far south of Minneapolis/St. Paul and relatively close to the airport. I think it attracts more intellectually minded students than almost any other school. I think you could look at it as a small Rochester.

I think Reed College in Portland, OR is another school with very intellectually minded students. Great school in a suburban area pretty close to downtown Portland. I know nothing about CS there, though Steven Jobs took a couple of classes there! It is far away, so maybe not an option. It’s always fun to explore though.

Carleton would fall into the reach category, as would Wesleyan, which I think is a great suggestion.

Just out of curiosity, have you taken the ACT? Sometimes SAT works better for a student, sometimes the ACT. But your scores are very good, just suggesting that as something to think about. Scores are more important at some places, less at others. I think some schools, like Wash U and CWRU, put a lot of emphasis on them. At other schools, it can be a matter of reaching a threshold. A student who gets a 1400 can succeed academically anywhere. Then other factors become important. I think one way admissions looks at it, especially for competitive private schools, is what will this student bring to our campus community? So putting together your essays, etc. to give them a strong answer to this question can be important.

Good luck!

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RE cost. “We will figure out a way to make it work” is magical thinking, unless your parents have a lot of money saved for your education. Run the NPCs for your favorites and see how much they will be expected to contribute. Work your list from there.

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@Spiller101
"my parents basically told me that if I find the college that is going to give me the best opportunity possible, "

All universities mentioned here have the potential to give you a fine opportunity, BUT not all CS programs and University environments are the same. You will do best in one that fits you.

Students who take an active role in planning their studies feed their interests and grow professionally. It is not just a checklist of courses where one strives for an “A” on the final exam. Brown University is one of the more extreme examples of this concept. You almost start with a blank piece of paper to design your program of studies.

As WPI is historically and primarily a STEM university, they are often categorized as another one of those “Tech” schools. WPI is very serious about developing broad minded professionals who interact well with team members from other disciplines… Your lower math score does not disqualify you from becoming an outstanding computer science professional It may indicate that you want an environment which will enable you to balance a range of interests regardless of your chosen major. Do not assume that this process automatically occurs in large universities with the widest range of possible majors. It has more to do with integrating disciplines.

Will you be an active planner in your education of will you be handed a list once you check the CS box?

What sort of a dialogue do you need in the course of a challenging day? Music? Art? Drama? Dance? Athletics? Language? Interaction in a different language? Friends who may open doors to new perspectives?

Please look over the very unusual WPI program of studies as it is full of examples. It is more than a question of your SAT scores. You are a straight “A” student who appears intellectually alive!

See https://www.wpi.edu/project-based-learning/wpi-plan

To see the complete list of employers and results go to https://www.wpi.edu/student-experience/career-development and click on the PDF, 2018 Post Grad Report. In the table of contents you will find a complete listing of majors. Each major gives average reported salaries, employing corporations, and graduate schools attended. You might want to hunt around different majors.

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Be sure to check out Santa Clara U, if you would consider the west coast.
Their CS is very well regarded and it’s beautiful campus smack in the middle of Silicon Valley, just down the street from Sunnyvale and Mountain View.