I have a balanced mix of schools in my list, including a couple of financial safeties. However, I wanted to apply to an LAC too. I’ve already applied to Colby (because they meet 100% of demonstrated financial need if admitted), but I don’t like the small town setting. I want an LAC that:
is in an urban location
offers generous aid/u to internationals [I cannot attend without aid]
has a decent CS program
is not religious
I came across Calvin, but it is very religious, and I’m atheist.
If anyone could be a dear and suggest me a match, I would really appreciate it. Here’s my brief info:
School: 92% (9th), 95% (10th ICSE), 84% (11th) - 100 or 99 percentile in school throughout New SAT: 1460 (680 ERW + 780 M) ECs (very condensed): built games and applications in multiple programming languages, worked on a tech blog, did well at Cyber Olympiads; also district level football; 5 years of guitar
Brandeis is not technically an LAC but is small and has a very similar type of environment. My understanding is that CS is strong and there is significant aid available for internationals. It is very close to Boston. (And no, it is not religious.)
Other urban LACs to consider would be Reed and Occidental, though I don’t know much about CS or financial aid at either one.
If you’re female then Barnard.
Check the Claremont consortium schools
Occidental.
Rollins
New college of florida
Wagner
Kalamazoo
Vassar is on the edge of a small city with easy train access to nyc
Sarah Lawrence–vans to NYC or a 20 minute commuter train to nyc
Clark U.
Connecticut College (private LAC in New London)
Manhattanville
Not a city but colleges surrounding a few cute towns in central Mass: Smith, Amherst, Hampshire, Mt. Holyoke and UMass (which is a university)
@lalalemma
Thanks.
Brandeis seems good. I don’t know how I overlooked that in my initial search. I will look into it.
Reed and Oxy offer very little aid to internationals.
@Dustyfeathers
Are you just listing urban LACs or do they meet the other criteria (CS, aid, secular)?
well, really, you can look up the rest yourself, right? This is a lot of work that just went into that list. Using a lot of knowledge that narrows some 2000 schools to this list . . . .right? Like you can google the name and “computer science” and find out about the depts. and look at the websites to see just how secular they seem.
They are secular predominantly. Sometimes a college has a past religious affiliation but for all intents and purposes it’s secular. Manhattanville is kind of like that.
Aid depends on you, partly, and your record, but you would prob get good merit at several of these schools. Others are need-based only and virtually guarantee that the person they accept will be able to attend. The Claremonts generally are liek this as is Vassar. Agnes Scott is cheaper than other schools, and with your merit it may work out. New College of Florida has a huge scholarship. Be sure to look at that.
Oh Marlboro has a Rennaisance scholarship you may want to look at. it’s a little more funky college but it might have the CS that you like and need. It would prob be creative and you would self-determine your way. But that’s pretty specialized for the right person
Sarah lawrence if you’re a male with high stats they may throw lots of money at you.
Brandeis is religious, it’s Jewish BTW, but it’s pretty secular. You will find several religious people there.
I think you need to look at the schools yourself at this point to see how they fit your personal taste.
@Dustyfeathers actually, Brandeis is a non-sectarian, unaffiliated institution. It’s Jewish in the same way that the vast majority of American universities are Protestant (secular but founded/sponsored by a Protestant sect, calendar follows Protestant holidays, majority of students are Protestant).
@lalalemma good to know! Technically that’s correct. But it is, and I’m saying this in the most open-hearted, kindest way, as a person who celebrates Hanukah, a Jewish university. I would be shocked to find that people don’t recognize that or that it’s somehow not okay to say that.
What aid is given is very hard to predict, especially for internationals, particularly since they also meet full demonstrated need. Reed fits your criteria otherwise. If I were you, I would apply and see what you get offered rather than skip it based on an assumption.
You probably can’t afford to be picky if you want to look at LACs with CS that will provide sufficient aid. And in an urban area on top of that. You might look at Dickinson, they meet 96% of need. Of course, these schools are not need blind when admitting internationals.
There may not be any LACs that meet all of your criteria. First, LACs are not typically urban. Second, CS is not a very popular major at most LACs, and so LAC CS departments are often small.
Reed is mentioned above, but note that Reed is still in the process of establishing a CS program separate from the math department. The new CS program will just be starting up in Fall 2017. Reed is located in a quiet residential part of Portland, but it is pretty easy to reach the more exciting parts of the city, if that’s what you want.
My suggestion would be Harvey Mudd, a science/engineering-focused LAC near Los Angeles with serious CS. It’s one of the Claremonts, mentioned in previous posts. Mudd is within the greater LA metro area, but might be considered suburban, rather than urban. It is not particularly convenient to the exciting parts of LA, especially if you don’t have a car. Don’t know about their aid.
LACs try to attract good students with financial aid because they aren’t the big urban campuses with huge departments that other students are attracted to. So you want it all, but you aren’t willing to compromise for a small, rural school that may offer money to an international transfer.
LACs are generally small campuses that are secluded and a good distance from major metropolitan areas.
So here is a recap:
What you are describing that you want is a big public university that is impacted in CS. These definitely don’t have funding for international transfer students.
It sounds like you’ve made your decision: I cannot attend without aid.
@“aunt bea” @Corbett
I know that I’m being very selective, but there’s a reason for that. I want to be a software developer, and I want to work a decent job (which is very difficult for an international to get). Naturally, this requires a strong CS program. But that’s not all. I’ll have to hunt for jobs and internships locally, so an urban location will help a lot. I know the counterargument here will be “Why not apply to a big university then?” I’m already applying to such universities. Half of them have a very strong CS program. I also want to apply to a couple of LACs because I want to keep my options open. So far, only Calvin College seems to fit in that criteria with a respectable CS department, and graduates working at even Google. And Grand Rapids is majestic. BUT I’m atheist. I think I’m going to look at Macalester again.
@insanedreamer@Corbett
The Claremonts are extremely selective, and would be near impossible with aid. I was looking for a match. In fact, Harvey Mudd is where I began my search. I really liked it. But then I fall close to the 25th percentile of their applicant pool’s SAT scores. I do have good SAT II scores b**, but I don’t think I have a fair chance. Is it really “worth a shot” when I’ll most end up in the reject pile?
If you are looking at Colby, how about Trinity College, a rival NESCAC school in Connecticut?
If you have the stats for Colby, you should be even more competitive at Trinity. http://www.trincoll.edu
1. is in an urban location
Trinity is in the middle of Hartford, the largest city and capital of Connecticut. Also a major center for insurance companies. Between the state government and the insurance industry, it wouldn’t surprise me if there is a decent market for CS grads there.
2. offers generous aid (merit/need-based) to internationals [I cannot attend without aid]
Don’t know about the CS program specifically. However, Trinity is one of the few LACs that offers engineering degrees, which suggests that they have a more technical orientation than most LACs.
4. is not religious
Trinity is not a religious school, despite the religious name. It was originally connected to the Episcopal Church, but is now independent.
Based on on-line schedules, it looks like Trinity offers an average of two junior/senior level CS courses per semester. So a junior or senior who takes all such CS courses when offered will get about 8 junior/senior level CS courses, which is fairly typical for CS majors. However, that does mean taking whatever is offered whenever it is offered, rather than having a selection of electives or being able to choose when to take a given course.