Senior son will be computer science major, ideally w Game Development focus. He has 4.2 w gpa weighted, 3.8 unweighted. A good amount of extra curricular, including Link crew, volunteering (inc helping seniors w any tech needs), NHS, WASC focus group (was picked from 15 students at school) etc. His big obstacle test scores. Took SAT 1x (1260) but it was not for him, and will be taking ACT in Sept (multiple times) best composite is 26, and 27 super score. Has been tutored on it for over a year does great in practice tests (high 20’s to 33 ish), gets test anxiety day of test. (both tutors said separately nothing more to teach him, he knows how to take test) His last test (June) felt sick to stomach whole time, thought he was doing bad, kind of gave up at break. Did his best ever in english (31), Math (28) and worst ever in reading/science. Long story short, not sure if his scores will change must this test. His stack of practice tests is over a foot tall. At his point, it may be what it is…
Working w college counselor on essays which are good and application process. Applying to a bunch of reaches cause you just never know but they are big reaches. Right now: UC Irvine, UCSC, Cal Poly Slo, CU Boulder, University of Denver, Northeastern, University of Maryland, SMU, Indiana U. We live in Cali but not sure we will be living here for 4 years after he graduates so not pushing the Cali schools and they are so impacted now as well. He doesn’t want huge schools, chill kind of kid, not big on greek life (as of now) but trying to explore options that may be better target schools. Flying non stop is a huge plus and not fan of big city schools w no campus (GW would be good option academically/no ACT scores but they don’t have any kind of common areas/dining halls etc.). Any suggestions appreciated!
Your son may want to look at test optional schools. Just google test optional and you’ll get a decent list with some well regarded programs.
Look at DePaul.
Looked at all test optional. American would be good but they only have game development in grad school there (lots of classes), not one class on it in undergrad. Looked at DePaul, didn’t like and we’re Jewish so not best fit. Denver is good option, has good chance of getting in, and has his exact major. But need options just in case, and haven’t visited yet.
My kid is not a great standardized test taker, either, so I can relate. She entered WPI as a CS major last year, but, along the way, we saw a school we’d never heard of before her college counselor suggested we add it to her list. When we visited, we were really really impressed by everything about it. They have majors in Game Design, game development and game art/animation I believe – it’s Champlain College in Burlington, VT. Loved the town, and the natural surroundings (on Lake Champlain) are just gorgeous. They have an upside-down curriculum (lots of major courses in first and second year) and the numbers for kids who are offered great internships and jobs prior to graduation were impressive, too.
You can look into:
- University of Utah
- Arizona State University
- University of Central Florida
- University of Iowa
- Michigan State University
- University of Texas at Dallas
- Oregon State University
- Indiana University
Decent to excellent CompSci programs.
I have no personal experience with it, but he may want to look into meditation. From what I’ve read part of it is learning to accept feelings of anxiety and emotion but to step away from them and perform anyway. The ABC News anchor Dan Harris wrote a book about his experience with it that I’ve read; it isn’t a training book but may explain why your son would want to try it. The book is “10% Happier.”
As far as schools, any decent school would do. CS is a skill that can be tested; in a few 1-hour interviews a company can get a good idea of your abilities to program. What is going to be key for him, no matter where he goes, is to practice as much as he can. Ideally he’s already writing code on his own since the bar to getting started is nil. Internships during the summers and maybe even a semester off in a coop job are powerful ways to stand out; kids often get offers from places they interned. Gaming companies don’t have a great reputation as places to work; I’ll let you research that more.
If he’s not big on greek life or parties, and doesn’t like a big school, UT-Dallas would be a great fit. The vibe is pretty tame, if a little nerdy.
he should look at RIT–I think that school ticks all of his boxes. https://www.rit.edu/gccis/igm/
I would say Drexel too but it doesn’t really have a campus
University of the Pacific would work for him
The above have coop programs that would offset his costs.
Also he may consider U of Maine Orono as it’s matching in-state tuition now, has an airport in Bangor (the twin city), has a gorgeous campus. I think of it as UVM (a hot school on the East Coast currently) but cheaper. https://umaine.edu/cs/
The University of Utah is a great option with a beautiful campus and easy access to the city and airport. Highly ranked for game design as well (https://unews.utah.edu/u-game-design-program-ranked-no-1/) but a relatively easy admit overall. Since it is easy to get in-state tuition after the first year (bringing the COA below $20K), it wouldn’t matter where you ended up living.
Thanks for all the replies…we live in southern California and some of the schools are too far for him and hard to get to and way too cold…Maine, Vermont and Iowa…places like ASU way too big. Would also like a Hillel presence on campus so Utah is not a contender either. We looked at adding Drexel but no campus as you said…Oregon may be possibility or UT Dallas. UT Austin used to be on list but that’s way too far reach as we used to live there and it’s hard to get in even in state in top 7% into your major…
Any insight into University Colorado (CU) Boulder computer science program in Arts & Sciences (BA) program. Have done more investigating into this and it seems comp sci classes overlap w same in engineering school, plus TAM (technology,arts & media program) would be good fit minor (animation, game design, computer graphics etc.)? Would love any further info on this.
You can check the concordance table at https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/pdf/guide-2018-act-sat-concordance.pdf .
Note that California publics emphasize test scores relatively less than GPA compared to other colleges. So you may want to reconsider them. For California publics, GPA is recalculated as shown at https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/ .
Price limit?
Sept ÅCT didn’t change his score. Getting into the UC, esp comp sci is crazy competitive now (he is at a disadvantage w his score despite good GPA) and he is applying to UCI and UCSC but for many reasons, I’d prefer him out of state. No financial aid, hoping for a little merit $, Would prefer to keep it under $50.
If you are concerned about California residency for tuition purposes if you move out of state while he is in college at a California public university, take a look at this thread: http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/california-colleges/2038524-maintaining-in-state-tuition-when-parents-move-out-of-california.html
@ucbalumnus thanks for the link, good to know but that’s not a primary reason. I would still like input on the BA comp science program at CU Boulder if anyone can share insight. Thanks.
What are the reasons you would prefer him out of state?
Regarding impaction, UCI, UCSC, and UCR appear to be moderately impacted for CS majors (and CS-games if that is a major). UCM appears to be not impacted for the CS major. CSUs vary from highly competitive for CS (CPSLO and SJSU) to not competitive (SFSU and some others which need only baseline CSU admission criteria); CSUMB, CSUSac, and CPSLO have game options in their CS majors.
CS may be an impacted, restricted, or competitive major at non-California schools as well, due to its popularity.