Match me to a school with a good Computer Science department?

College Search & Selection
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<p><em>VERY LONG POST AHEAD/I WRITE TOO MUCH</em></p>

<p>Hi! This is my first post here! :) I have been lurking here for a long time though. Mainly I want advice on good universities/LACS for CS that are a good match for my stats.</p>

<p>A little about me: Female (are acceptance rates for females higher in CS programs?), 2300 SAT (I'm a good test taker), 720 Math II and 760 US History Subject tests. My GPA UW is 3.5 but 3.9-4.0ish W. Took 9 APs, got a mix of 4's and 5's on the tests. I live in California, but would like to go to the east coast for college. I have 200 community service hours and have attended a CS summer program. (Not a competitive-to-get-in one, but one that I learned a lot in, nevertheless.) </p>

<p>I am in 3 clubs. Red Cross, DECA, and Gam Dev Club. I am the Secretary for the Video Game Development Club. Really not much extracurricular activities. I am very quiet and nerdy, also very shy. My teachers don't know me very well but do like me, will probably give polite recommendations. My AP CS teacher's will probably be the best; he still doesn't know me that well though, I don't talk very much.</p>

<p>Obviously, my GPA isn't great and I'm not MIT, CMU, Caltech, Harvey Mudd, [insert top CS college here] material. I also struggled in sophomore year math. I had a C in Honors Precalc (the only C I've ever had), but I HAVE A PERSONAL REASON. Grandfather died, whole family was distraught, I gave up halfway through the semester. Right now I'm pulling an A in AP Calc BC and got a 720 on the Math II subject test so hopefully colleges will see that it was a mistake. (though admittedly I am not very confident in my math ability, but this just may be me being insecure...) I also had just about straight B's sophomore year (again due to my grandfather's terminal sickness), but pulled <em>mostly</em> A's both freshman and junior years, and so far senior year as well.</p>

<p>So if you're still reading-- do you know good schools with decent industry/grad school contacts? A school with contacts to tech giants or start ups would be nice, of course, but any school with a high job placement rate is good enough for me. I am also willing to sacrifice industry contacts for a LAC with excellent teaching and a friendly, quirky student population. Right now I'm looking at Northeastern University, RPI, RIT, Drexel, and UCSD (doubt I'll get in, I have geniuses from my high school to compete with). Reaches of mine are Carleton College and Harvey Mudd College. Seriously doubt I'll get into these, but I can hope.</p>

<p>Some things I'm looking for: a nerdy school population (I don't mind partying, I just want to find my niche. I am not a partier), diversity (or at least enough that a South Asian will not be alienated, which is why I crossed WPI and University of Santa Clara off my list because I heard some unsavory things), and good teaching.</p>

<p>I know that CS is mostly a teach yourself field, but I started to love CS because of my AP CS teacher. So teaching is important to me, even though I lot of my CS knowledge besides Java (learned C++, Python, JavaScript) is self-learned. Location is somewhat important (I like the east coast, want to do as much as possible to get away from my preppy, football-dominated small town) but obviously I still have California schools on my list. Bit wary of the Midwest, though. I might go to the Midwest for Carleton, otherwise not sure.</p>

<p>I do not give a flying fudge about sports. Nor do I care about school spirit/typical college parties/sororities. I like left/liberal schools. Social life is not too important. If a school is into video games/reading sci-fi/anime/Harry Potter/Star Trek, that is enough social life for me. I'm tired of being the outcast in high school, would much prefer a school where nerds are accepted. I definitely do not want a school dominated by partying, so UC Santa Barbara is being pushed to the wayside, even though it is a great school with a really nice CS program. I might change my mind on UCSB to be honest, I like it.</p>

<p>Obviously, you can tell that schools like RPI and RIT are at the forefront of my list. Northeastern is also a top competitor because it is a large school which definitely has a nerdy niche for me (they have a Video Game Club!) and its amazing co-op program. Here are the conclusions my research has yielded:</p>

<p>RPI-
PROS: great industry contacts, well-ranked, rigorous curriculum, a ton of nerds, my kind of school, I really don't care about the gender ratio since I'm female
CONS: Troy is apparently crap, heard some unfavorable things about the professors, though many seem to be good (?), everyone is kind of miserable it seems</p>

<p>RIT-
PROS- lots of students get co-ops at tech giants and are later hired, nerdy population, crazy fast internet speeds, gender ratio doesn't matter, etc.
CONS: Henrietta is crap (but better than Troy apparently), heard TERRIBLE things about the professors, SIGNIFICANTLY lower-ranked (like I said, rankings aren't a huge deal if they have the same caliber of students, but RIT does seem to have lower-caliber students), students seem unhappy</p>

<p>Northeastern-
PROS- many people are happy, great location in Boston, best co-op program, up-and-coming school, nerdy niche
CONS- uh... hard to get into, not as well-known CS program? It's less rigorous and comprehensive than RPI's definitely. Also heard some things about the professors not being great teachers. But no significant cons.</p>

<p>At this moment, these schools are at the top of my list. I feel like RIT is a safety for my stats, RPI and Northeastern may be reaches (not huge reaches like Harvey Mudd or Carleton, though).</p>

<p>Also looking to hear more about Drexel (safety?), College of William and Mary(reach? And do they have a good computer science program?), and Case Western Reserve (reach?), and University of Rochester (also reach?). Am interested in any LACs that match my stats with good CS programs and good teaching. Schools with nerdy populations are a plus.</p>

<p>If anyone that can provide me with recommendations for colleges not on my radar that I could look into(this is what I really want), or extra information about the colleges that I'm currently looking at, it would be greatly appreciated!</p>

<p>Thank you for reading this very long post.</p>

<p>-Crystalline</p>

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<p>Take a look at Marist. IBM is very big in the Mid-Hudson Valley, and it was doing a lot to support Marist’s CS program back when I worked at IBM.</p>

<p>Union College in Schenectady also has a good reputation for CS.</p>

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<p>geez, OP, you have to learn not to hold anything back :open_mouth: </p>

<p>If I miss something in my response, it will be because I couldn’t keep all the balls in the air at once. As far as bias against SE Asians, you’re a girl! Guys are going to love having you around and hate you at the same time for invading their space. Being an Asian isn’t going to matter nearly as much at most schools as having a pair of X chromosomes. When you go into industry, you’ll still be a girl, and once again the sh*thead guys will still be there. Those people are never going to stop hating you for one thing or another. Forget about 'em and succeed without them.</p>

<p>Being female and having a sense of humor and a 2300 can go a long way to gaining you entrance to some CS programs, esp those programs that are gender imbalanced (maybe even Mudd or CMU). So I don’t think anything’s off the board, incl. MIT, but admittedly some of them are distant reaches and would require you to hit the nail on the head in your essays by letting your truly lovely personality come thru.</p>

<p>Any good CS program, and all the ones you’ve mentioned fall into this category, is going to have good relations with industry. The programs that are better known or larger or closer to other good programs or closer to tech corridors like 128 and SiliValley are going to have somewhat better relations with industry because more employers will send recruiters into those schools than into smaller or more isolated programs.</p>

<p>That’s where the LACs might not serve you well. You have to take them individually and judge them according to this isolation criterion. You also need to research at the LACs how often the advanced CS courses are taught and how many courses are available to you. At unis you’re going to have grad students pushing the curriculum wide, and often u/gs can take these grad courses. Many LACs are going to have four or three profs in their depts. When at the best schools the profs teach at the most 2 or 3 courses each semester and are gone on sabbatical once every 5 or 6 years, that seriously limits course availability.</p>

<p>So I’d add CMU, UMD-CP (don’t let the size worry you; it’s excellent in CS), UMD-BC, Mudd (great CS and all those other courses to take at the Consortium), MIT (yeah, I know about the 3.5), Lehigh, Stony Brook, Rutgers, WPI, Stevens IT, Ohio State, Pitt, Buffalo, Georgia Tech, for starters. (Gee, not one LAC.)</p>

<p>Now we come to the issue of money: have you run the net price calculators at enough schools to have some idea what they’re going to cost you? have you had The Talk with your parents about what amount they will contribute?</p>

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<p>First, can I introduce you to our S? You two sound like two of a kind! </p>

<p>Just kidding.</p>

<p>Two schools came to mind: Rose-Hulman is a good tech school, no partying to speak of, very studious, very nerdy, etc. You would be very popular there, since it is almost 4 to 1 guys to gals.</p>

<p>Second, take a look at Trinity University in San Antonio. They give great merit aid, they have a very strong CS department, and they are loaded with endowment dollars, so they have the latest and greatest of all the toys, and a brand spanking new integrated science building, which includes the CS department. I think it was almost $250M, and it just opened. Trinity is “Tier I” for CS according to Rugg’s Guide.</p>

<p>When we visited Trinity, there were a number of Asians attending, and also quite a few other URM’s. San Antonio is a pretty cool city, too. Supposed to have some of the best dorms in the country, too.</p>

<p>Just some food for thought.</p>

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<p>would love to learn more about trinity and/or their CS, @ColdinMinny‌. I know them only for their humanities and social sciences.</p>

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<p>Thank you so much, Simba9, I’ll look into those schools you suggested! As for jkeil911, thanks for your wisdom! I did know that about the LACs, especially Carleton (courses are offered every other year), and it is quite unfortunate that LACs with such amazing professors just don’t cut it for jobs.</p>

<p>I would die if I got into MIT or CMU, don’t think it’s likely (ugh sophomore year…), but it would be great. Harvey Mudd would be amazing, too. Thank you for the recommendation of University of Maryland schools–I did not know about those, have heard CP being mentioned as a good program, though. Lehigh I looked into, seemed the party/frat scene was too prevalent, but apparently people in the CS/Business dual have 100% job placement? Georgia Tech I like, but didn’t really consider it the same way I didn’t consider UofMich, Berkeley, UIUC, UTexas Austin and University of Washington at Seattle–they are really amazing state schools. I will also check out the other schools you mentioned!</p>

<p>As for money, my parents can afford private colleges that are in the 30-40K price range. We are not rich but good at saving; my parents care very much for my education. A lot of the schools I’m looking at offer merit aid, so that will definitely help with costs. We do not qualify for financial aid.</p>

<p>Also, thank you so much for your kind comments!</p>

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<p>Also, will guys really hate me? Honestly in my AP CS class (there were like 3 girls lol) they weren’t hostile or anything, just aloof. But that entire class was utterly silent so it wasn’t my gender at play. </p>

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<p>Haha, thank you, ColdinMinny! Will definitely check out Trinity, it looks really cool! When I researched Rose-Hulman I really liked it; it is in Indiana though so I’m not sure, but I know it has a great reputation. :)</p>

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<p>most guys won’t hate you in the straight-out sense. Hate will show up more subtly in invitations to sleep, er, come over to work on projects–or the absence of those invitations because of the whole discomfort some people have working closely and for long hours with someone to whom they might be attracted emotionally and/or erotically. but there are t*rds out there who are quite sure your gender has no place in their k’nex universe. Nothing you can do about them, but helping guys not to see you as disruptive of their concentration often becomes YOUR problem in the minds of the less threatened guys–to the extent that you might be expected to tone down who and what you are and become someone you’re not so they can feel comfy. Talk to female engineers about their experiences working closely with their peers during and after school and go into this with your eyes open–they are guys and they might think/feel/respond differently than you will. I encourage you to pursue your interests in engineering and to learn to deal appropriately with whatever “hesitations” you encounter in your peers.</p>

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<p>You wrote a lot, but I did not notice anything about what your cost constraints are. See point 1 of <a href=“Before you ask which colleges to apply to, please consider - College Search & Selection - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1621234-before-you-ask-which-colleges-to-apply-to-please-consider-p1.html&lt;/a&gt; .</p>

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<p>jkeil911, I see. :slight_smile: I will definitely have to be on guard. I’ve seen this happening to the president of the Video Game Dev Club–she’s my best friend–and have had some people muttering unhappily about her choosing me for Secretary (even though I was most qualified for the job). Thank you for your advice! </p>

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<p>@ucbalumnus‌ Sorry about that! :slight_smile: I didn’t remember to mention the cost factor because it was not an issue for my family; it was pushed to the back of my mind while writing this, as arrogant as it sounds. I am very fortunate to not have to worry about cost (at least to a reasonable extent). </p>

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<p>“Reasonable extent” means that your parents will contribute enough to make a $65,000 per year college affordable with no more loans than the federal direct loans?</p>

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<p>@ucbalumnus‌ Ah, no, not quite 65K. However, a lot of the schools I am looking at offer merit aid. I am crossing certain private schools off my list for being too expensive. (cough Drexel cough) Though most of the schools I am looking at are within our price range. </p>

<p>Nothing is certain, however, until I have been accepted and merit aid has been offered. I am trying not to get too attached to a school for this very reason.</p>

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<p>You should definitely look into Marist College in NY, they have a great computer science program</p>

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<p>I agree that MIT or CMU are not likely to happen, but I wouldn’t rule out Harvey Mudd. </p>

<p>On the east coast, I like your choices of RPI and Northeastern, less enamoured with RIT for you. I think you are above that. </p>

<p>If you went to Wellesley, you would have access to MIT computer science and MIT recruiting all while in a liberal arts setting. I think Wellesley is a reach, but it’s certainly worth considering. </p>

<p>Also consider University of Rochester or Brandeis which are very LAC-like but are full fledged research universities. Both have good CS. </p>

<p>Finally there is Lehigh. If you look on
<a href=“BigFuture College Search”>BigFuture College Search;
and click apply, you can see Lehigh cares remarkably little about your grades. It only “considers” your GPA. Most schools put that as very important or important. It also indicates that Lehigh cares most about the rigor of your curriculum and your recommendations. This suggests to me that Lehigh kind of likes people who overextend - they are ambitious, not afraid to fail. It might be a good fit for someone like you with excellent test scores, strong rigor, but only B+/A- GPA. </p>

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<p>So, it sounds like you won’t qualify for any need-based aid because of parents’ savings, so you need schools that will give you enough merit to bring costs down to about $35k. </p>

<p>Do your parents own their own business? If so, that likely furthers the reason why they won’t qualify for aid.</p>

<p>What about UCI? Very good CS. Not a party school, lots of Asian students (don’t know the breakdown of SE, but certainly many). My nephew went there for CS and immediately went to work for Google. </p>

<p>I wouldn’t worry so much about a party rep at schools. At larger univs, the STEM students often party less than the other side of campus. You would find people like you within CS.</p>

<p>As for being Asian (SE or whatever), I don’t know what you’re hearing about various schools. As @jkeil911‌ mentions, being a girl in a field where males dominate is usually a good thing. </p>

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<p>There are a number of Desi students at South Dakota School of Mines & Technology in Rapid City. Lots of Californians also. Microsoft has recruited graduates of the CS department at SDSM&T.</p>

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<p>I would put CMU back on the list. I know that they really want more females in their STEM majors and when we went to convocation, the president made a big deal out of their rate of females at CMU going up. I think they really like high SAT scores as well. Now, financial aid is not the best as I understand and ED offers the best package but only if it is clear top choice for student would I ever recommend that strategy. You cannot compare FA packages with ED. It is a particular type of environment so would recommend a visit/overnight/interview. I think they take interest into consideration too. </p>

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<p>Wellesley does have a cross registration agreement with MIT, but check on the commuting logistics before placing a high value on it when choosing schools. The same goes for any other cross registration arrangement. Some (e.g. Barnard - Columbia, Claremont colleges) are more convenient than others.</p>