<p>Also, get to like more schools. What are you looking for in a college?</p>
<p>Prestige in Computer Science and engineering</p>
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<p>Please understand that you have steep competition for slots at top schools, so you need to showcase your CS skills, not your ability to make money, as these kids have you beat hands-down at making money: <a href=“Nick D'Aloisio Gets $30 Million From Yahoo for Summly App | TIME.com”>http://business.time.com/2013/03/27/why-is-that-17-year-olds-25-million-news-app-even-legal</a></p>
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<p><a href=“10 Self-Made Kid Millionaires - Listverse”>http://listverse.com/2013/08/22/revised-10-self-made-kid-millionaires/</a></p>
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My son purchased a domain name several years back for $25 that he used just for his college apps. So, I would spend the money and create a separate site for your college applications, complete with source code for your apps so when Admissions forwards your website to the Computer Science Chair at a college they can get a complete sense of your CS knowledge. </p>
<p>@austin23. You will be a very competitive applicant to Stanford academically…but, if YOU want to have the best chance of getting in…be very very careful how you write about your interest in “business” or entrepreneurship in the future…it may actually backfire…especially for some of the admissions officers who may not be so “gung ho” for future entrepreneurs or venture capitalists…
…Stanford may be KNOWN as the place to go for Tech Entrepreneurship, Startups, and producing Billionaires…but in recent years they are looking a little more kindly and generously to students who ALSO show some proclivity toward the humanities and the arts…even for future STEM majors…</p>
<p>…they are looking for the THINKING MAN’S computer scientists/engineers (future national and world public policy makers and leaders)…not just future algorithm makers or future billionaires or venture capitalists…</p>
<p>…look at their supplemental questions which are very important…along with what they are looking for on their website…there are many HINTS given. Watch and learn from the commencement speeches given by Steve Jobs in 2005 and the recent commencement speech given in June by Bill and Melinda Gates…</p>
<p>…hope this helps. Good luck!</p>
<p>Hmm. Guess I asked the wrong question. What do you want to do after college?</p>
<p>BTW, prestige in CS and engineering actually tracks the USN departmental rankings for those fields pretty well. Which makes sense, as those rankings are based solely off of reputational rankings of peers.
For what it’s worth, I consider the top 8 in CS to be very close/nearly indistinguishable in terms of post-grad opportunities.</p>
<p>Blech. That is just what they are not looking for–prestige mongers. Really rethink this.</p>
<p>@BrownParent
Lol. What’s so wrong about wanting to go to a school that is proficient in my future line of work?</p>
<p>@austin23:</p>
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<li>Because a ton of schools are proficient.</li>
<li>In CS, it mostly comes down to you and what you can do and come up with rather than your school.<br></li>
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<p>So while Stanford is certainly the best for a Silicon Valley network, the differences in potential opportunities between the top 8 or so are fairly small (intra-school differences between students at each school far outweigh the difference inter-school differences), and there’s not really a big drop-off to the next tier of the top 25.</p>
<p>The only difference may be if you can easily major in or are admitted in to a CS program vs. having to competitively apply to get in after you start at a school. For example, UDub evidently only takes a small number of direct admits in to CS, and everyone else has to apply after freshman year to the CS program (and less than half get in).</p>
<p>What’s so wrong about wanting to go to a school that is proficient in my future line of work?<br>
Nothing. The problem is here:
“What are you looking for in a college?”<br>
Prestige in Computer Science and engineering.<br>
You led with the word prestige and we believed you.
Nothing in your comments here shows you know what S is about, what they need and like. And if those truly are your only ECs, you will be stacked against productive kids who engaged more. </p>
<p>@lookingforward
I didn’t join clubs just so i could put them on my application. That doesn’t interest me. I decided to do something that actually matters. I made money. I focused/focus my attention on that. In reality, that’s what this is all about: money. Instead of wasting 2 hours/week at meaningless clubs, I started my career early. I worked 24/7 on my projects all summer. As soon as i finished my school work, i started my programming/design work. In the end it paid off more than any club ever could.</p>
<p>@austin23:</p>
<p>I agree. The goal in life is to succeed in life, not to impress a school or other people. A good number of schools will get you where you want to go if you are driven. IMO, in your situation, choosing a school should come down more to fit and finances.</p>
<p>Now what do you want to do after you graduate?</p>
<p>I want a job at a company like google or amazon. I will probably continue to program apps though.</p>
<p>^^^ And therein lies the risk in taking CC’s “follow your passions” too seriously. Or too narrowly. OP, I think you’ll do what you think best. We’re pointing out some conventional wisdom about the single digit schools. Among the personal attributes they look for is an openness to various new experiences. You can do some research on your target schools and what they like. </p>
<p>These elites are about more than prestige reps and the strengths of the depts. And they know it and value it. You can choose to apply to them but they decide whether to admit. based on their wants and needs. You can figure that out with some legwork of your own. It’s there.</p>
<p>Yes, you can “succeed in life” at a very large array of colleges. </p>
<p>@lookingforward:</p>
<p>And why is that a risk? For getting in to some schools, maybe (though it would be a help for others). For doing well in life, following your passion and doing very well in something is very likely to lead to success (being broadly good in many aspects is another way; many paths to the same goal), and I’m of the opinion that doing well in life is much more important than getting in to this or that school (or getting in to any school).</p>
<p>@austin23:
Google and Amazon (and the other software giants) have about 16-20 target schools.</p>
<p>Off the top of my head, Stanford, MIT, Harvard, Cal, Illinois, Michigan, CMU, Cornell, Columbia, UPenn, UCLA, Princeton, UCSD, Texas, Brown, UDub, Wisconsin should all be good. You’re sure to get in to CS and get good fin aid from at least some of them. I would be shocked if CMU is not one of them. Getting one of the direct admit slots in to the CS program as an in-stater to UDub is a distinct possibility as well.</p>
<p>@DrGoogle posted a list once.</p>
<p>Just google “Facebook career student” and there is a list of 21 schools there.</p>
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<p>Admissions Officers at HYPSM are not interested in students who want prestige. They can smell those students from a mile away and reject them by the dozens. They’re interested in “authentic” applicants who are (and these are direct quotes)</p>
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<p>Those type of students are generally not ones concerned about prestige.</p>
<p>PTitan, OP is talking about Stanford and other uber-prestige schools. Elites can and do care about the campus community they put together, want kids who will join, take on some responsibilities outside class, try new things and have some impact on those around them, make the place vibrant. Not just study, pursue their own one or two self-interests, count their profits and dream about their careers. They like kids who clearly “get it” and can show they do, both in their apps and in what they did over their hs years. In order to reap the benefits, first you have to be admitted.</p>
<p>Many on CC tell kids not to be that sort, just to follow their “passions.” </p>
<p>Gibby’s post is great. Each elite has its own flavor. Read what they say they are looking for. Not just what CC thinks.</p>
<p>@lookingforward:</p>
<p>Actually, the OP just mentioned Stanford and “prestige in CS and engineering”, not “uber-prestige schools”. </p>
<p>Those are two different things. Illinois is prestigous in CS and engineering (one of the top schools in both those fields), but I’ve never heard anyone describe UIUC as an “uber-prestige school”.</p>
<p>In any case, my point is that there many paths to a goal, and in the OP’s case, I don’t think he has to play the game that the uber-prestige schools want applicants to play in order to reach his goal if that doesn’t fit him. UDub and CMU can get him there just as well, and I think they’d even look positively on his accomplishments (as well as give him enough fin aid to attend). He has a very good shot at all the state schools, in fact, and outside the UCs, may even get enough fin/merit aid to go to those schools OOS. Oh yeah, and CalTech is another possibility.</p>
<p>He opened with “I’ll be applying to top engineering schools like Stanford.” And later the prestige factor. Nothing OP said indicates, to me, that WI, TX or UIUC are on his list. In fact, I’m not sure he really has a read on what range schools he could look at. We can only go by what he wrote. You are naming other schools, not OP.</p>