Hi everyone! I’ll be a junior in high school this year, and I’m looking for a good CS school with less than 6000 undergraduate students. Here are a few things about me.
I’m from Indiana.
I’ve taken a few SAT practice tests on Khan Academy. The highest score I’ve gotten is a 1490.
I expect to have around a 3.8 unweighted GPA by the time I graduate.
Here’s my current list:
Dakota State University
Missouri S&T
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Any and all help is appreciated. Thank you!
How far away are you willing to travel for college?
What financial constraints do you anticipate having for college?
One school in the Midwest that comes to mind is Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan.
A school that is a little farther away is Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts.
I’m willing to go anywhere in the lower 48 states.
My financial situation is complicated. I live with my mom, and she can’t afford to contribute anything out-of-pocket. She is willing to co-sign for a loan. My dad is on disability, and he was in the national guard. He can’t transfer his GI Bill, since he’s not my legal guardian. I qualify for a bunch of scholarships and grant, since I’m also disabled.
I don’t know how the finances would work with the two schools that I mentioned, as both are OOS for you; but they might warrant some further research into the finances.
I’ve looked at both Michigan Tech and WPI in the past. I wasn’t interested in WPI. Michigan Tech piqued my interest, however. Estimated Net Price is $22,887.
WPI is also a bit pricey.
University of Alabama at Huntsville could be a possibility, although slightly larger (around 8,000 students) than your stated parameters. Strong in STEM, and they give decent merit aid: UAH - Admission & Aid - Freshman Out-of-State Academic Scholarships
Remember that you can only borrow $5,500 first year without a cosigner (increasing slightly later years). You may be able to earn a few thousand dollars in part time work during the school year plus summer jobs (CS majors potentially could have higher earnings in later summers, but that is speculative and not really applicable for the first year). Parent cosigning a student loan may be risky or not possible if they do not actually have the money.
How about some of the regional IU campuses, where you’d have in-state tuition?
UAH doesn’t look bad. I ran the net price calculator. I’d be paying $19,735 out of pocket.
I considered that until I visited both IU Kokomo and IUPUI. I wasn’t a fan of either school.
If money is a factor why not look at your instate options?
Big schools having living learning communities that can help it feel much more intimate.
Almost every in-state option is huge. Even with LLCs, it’ll be too overwhelming. I don’t do well in large classes.
University of Rochester maybe. Run the NPC - they are very expensive. But they do claim to meet full need. Perfect size.
I’ll look into them, as well as Rochester Institute of Technology. I’ve heard great things about both.
I ran the net price calculator on both RIT and University of Rochester. RIT was way too much money. University of Rochester came out to be $15,439, which is definitely doable.
Look at Rice University. It has about 4000 undergrads. Rice has the Rice Investment program that meets full need. The Rice Investment | Office of Financial Aid | Rice University
Rice is definitely a possibility. Net price of $2,500. Probably won’t get in, though.
My daughter goes to Purdue. Most of her classes are small. The large freshmen courses have 25 person recitations.
Large schools don’t automatically mean large classes, and don’t assume that a smaller school automatically means small classes.
Keep working the Khan Academy test prep! Give it a shot. You can’t get in if you don’t apply. Rice is also a Questbridge partner. Have you looked into Questbridge? Questbridge matches high performing low income students with schools that give full ride scholarships. https://www.questbridge.org