<p>I am currently a senior in high school who is beginning to feel the pressure to select a college. I plan on majoring in Computer Science,Management of Information Systems, Information Technology, or something Technology related. I would prefer a school within a 3-4 hour drive of the Minneapolis area but would probably be willing to go further away for the right school. After touring several campuses I've decided that I prefer the small liberal arts college campus feel and atmosphere, but am not totally against looking at a bigger university, I just haven't found one that I've liked thus far. As of right now my top two schools are Luther College and Gustavus Adolphus College, however I'm not certain on the strength of the technology programs at these schools and I don't know about the technology programs at other schools in my area such as St. Thomas and St. Johns.</p>
<p>I have a lower GPA at 3.2 but an alright ACT score at 27. I would be very thankful for suggestions/insight!</p>
<p>Do you prefer a more math/science focus (i.e. computer science), or a more business focus (i.e. MIS/IT/IS)?</p>
<p>For computer science, look for the following advanced courses in the offerings, and check that they are offered at reasonable frequency:</p>
<p>algorithms and complexity
theory of computation, languages, and automata
operating systems
networks
compilers
databases
software engineering
security
digital systems
computer architecture
electives like graphics, artificial intelligence, etc.</p>
<p>ABET accreditation in CS can be a short cut in that it sets a minimum quality standard, but some good CS degree program are not ABET accredited (though some very poor CS degree programs also exist).</p>
<p>I would probably be more interested in a business focus, however I’ve read that Computer Science is the better degree to have and I really like programming, just not the math aspect of it.</p>
<p>I believe there is also cross-registration with Carleton for additional breadth and depth in CS - but check out the requirements for and limitations on enrolling in classes there.</p>
<p>You might get some ideas by using the search tool here on CC. You specify what states are close enough, your GPA and test scores, and potential majors, any other factors such as size - then see what it comes up with. Expand the results at the top to get more than the default 20…</p>
<p>Unless you’re deadset on going to a small midwestern LAC, You may want to look into major National Universities, particularly for Comp Sci. You can take a look at some of the top programmers. You’re not likely find any from small midwestern LACs.</p>
<p>The number of students graduating from national universities swamps the number of students graduating from midwestern LACs, so of course there are going to be more top programmers from the former than the latter. That doesn’t mean much. </p>
<p>The quality of your education at a good LAC is can be excellent- small classes, lots of faculty attention. You just have to pay attention to the quality of the specific dept. Many of the LAC kids will end up in grad schools at national universities if they decide to go further in their fields. And those that don’t will have a solid background to build their careers on.</p>
<p>I’d look into Rose Hulman and Case Western. Rose Hulman is a small tech school, but they do have more liberal arts requirements than most tech schools. Case Western is a small university, but seem to be very undergrad focused. Both will have excellent computer departments.</p>
<p>By the way, I have a computer science degree and am doing business programming. I think a CS degree is a great start for anything programming-related. I don’t have to do any math. I wish I were doing math and scientific programming, but my point is you can have a great job as a programmer without having math as part of your daily life. Since you say you really like programming, I assume you are quite happy with the logic and problem-solving needed for the job?</p>
<p>My son is majoring in CS-Math, and seriously considered both Case Western and Rose Hulman. I have two young friends who are very happy at Case Western.</p>
<p>Hmmm, out of 192 required credits for RHIT’s CS degree, the liberal arts requirements include:</p>
<p>31 credits of math
12 credits of physics and chemistry
4-12 credits of science electives
28 credits of humanities and social studies</p>
<p>Total is about 43.2% of the curriculum, or about 28.6% for math and science and 14.5% for humanities and social studies. That does not seem to be unusually high for liberal arts requirements.</p>