Narrowed my CompSci colleges? What do you think

<p>Yes ucbalumnus, it looks like UW is going to be my best option (as long as I get admitted). Behind that will probably be Umiami with legacy scholarships and then all the other schools will be totally dependent on FA. I’m really hoping for a miracle though. Cornell has been my dream school since I was a kid but it looks like there is no chance I will get in. I guess I’m just going to work really hard on the essay and see what happens.</p>

<p>You should run the net price calculators on each school’s web site to get financial aid estimates. If the net price is not affordable (more than Stafford loan debt), then you need to aim for large merit scholarships at the school. If no such exist and are in reach, it is not worth applying to the school.</p>

<p>Apply to Cornell. Worst thing they can say is no.</p>

<p>“You miss 100% of the shots that you don’t take.”</p>

<p>Otherwise, you live in WA? In that case, UW is a great option.</p>

<p>My parents make about $200000 after taxes so I don’t apply for any FA at most schools. The problem is we don’t have a lot of savings (especially since we moved recently). To pay I have two years of GET, GI bill from my dad and maybe mom, and whatever savings we have. It all ends up totaling about $50000 for just tuition. My parents say they will pay for room and board. I’ll look into merit scholarships. I probably couldn’t get any at many of these schools because they are reaches but I’ll try to find some where I may be offered merit scholarships</p>

<p>And yes I’ll definitely apply to Cornell and I do live in WA. I’m going to meet some of the CompSci employees at UW with a friend that goes there soon. Maybe I’ll be able to get my foot in the door</p>

<p>Cornell doesn’t give merit scholarships, only need-based aid so you cost there if you got in would be over 60K per year.
If you are looking for merit aid, consider schools like Case Western, RPI, WPI - though you probably still would not get enough to make them affordable. Here is a good tool for looking at merit aid % and average amounts -</p>

<p>Private schools [Kiplinger’s</a> Best Values in Private Colleges-Kiplinger<a href=“Note%20that%20there%20is%20a%20separate%20table%20for%20liberal%20arts%20schools,%20use%20the%20checkbox%20to%20switch%20to/from%20LACs%20and%20universities”>/url</a></p>

<p>Public schools - [url=&lt;a href="http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-public-colleges/index.php]Kiplinger’s"&gt;http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-public-colleges/index.php]Kiplinger’s</a> Best Values in Public Colleges-Kiplinger](<a href=“http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-private-colleges/index.php]Kiplinger’s”>http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-private-colleges/index.php)
You can sort on percentages or amounts to help your search…</p>

<p>Does anyone know the potential of UCSD’s “mathematics & computer science” major?</p>

<p>Like probability of getting well paying job after college, if it’s any good, etc</p>

<p>With your parents’ income, you will get no financial aid at most of them. Your list is heavy on schools with the highest likelihood of full pay. </p>

<p>One of my son’s friends just finished up his first year at Purdue, also IB and from WA, but got more than a year’s worth of credits for his IB courses. Would your parents be willing to pay more if you can graduate in 3 years?</p>

<p>Some others you may want to consider, extrapolating from your list: UMd, UNC, Santa Clara. And yes, apply to Cornell, but don’t expect any money from them.</p>

<p>Well this sucks. So if I can’t qualify for financial aid and will most likely not get much merit aid what are the options besides UW? Or am I just pretty much stuck? I’ll look into some of the school mentioned but are there really no other options?</p>

<p>You do have options, just not the options you want. There are schools that will give you the merit that you need to make those schools affordable.</p>

<p>Any recommendations? I looked at some of the schools listed and they seemed to offer low or very selective merit aid.</p>

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<p>Being “stuck” with a large scholarship to the University of Washington for CS is hardly a bad place to be. You almost sound like a New Jersey student who wants to go anywhere but Rutgers.</p>

<p>Yes, I’m sorry. I’ve always been told that being successful banks on going to a top tier school. A lot of my family is already disappointed in the colleges that I have listed. I feel like if I go to UW I will be admitting that I’m not smart enough to go anywhere else and my family will probably think the same. I am still most likely going to apply to these schools but unless I can accumulate less than 20-30 thousand in debt than I will probably go to UW. (if i get in that is)</p>

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<p>What colleges would your family not be disappointed at you attending?</p>

<p>Many of my family is in the Ivy mentality because my uncle attended Harvard Law. My mom and dad are more supportive of what I choose than the rest of my family, but I still feel like they are disappointed. Obviously I can’t get into an Ivy besides a slight possibility of Cornell but then I can’t pay. I’ll most likely just go to whichever school offers me the most aid</p>

<p>There has been a new development thanks to my grandparents, and I would be interested in what you think UCBalumnus. The standing offer from my parents and grandparents is that room and board is paid in full as well as the the cost of tuition at UW when I enroll in college. If I go to a college more expensive than UW, then I will have to pay half the difference in cost. This would mean that, if I go to UIUC for example, the $11000 room and board would be covered. Then, because UW costs $12500 in state and UIUC costs 28664 OOS, I would be left with $8082 a year that I have to pay. Hopefully I will get some local scholarships and I have applied to some others, so this means it could be feasible to go to one of the colleges listed with $30000 debt or under. Of course, I will still keep UW as a very viable option.</p>

<p>Employment in law is generally seen as much more school-prestige-conscious than computer science (and Washington is a very high prestige school in computer science anyway).</p>

<p>Ok, thank you for the advice</p>

<p>Agree with ucbalumnus, some careers are more school-prestige-conscious than others. </p>

<p>My older one is in consulting. It is very hard to get jobs in consulting without going to a top tier college.</p>

<p>It is less like that in CS. My younger one is going to major in CS. He chose to go to a mid tier UC passing up UC Berkeley, UC San Diego. We think he has good reasons for his decision. Both his dad and I have been in the software industry for a long time and we think it is fine. We told him that he needs to do well in college and have solid work experience. For the first or second year, if he can’t find pay job, there are plenty of open source project that he can and should work on. I already line up a project for him to work on this summer :)</p>

<p>In CS, work experience is very important.</p>

<p>UW is well known for its CS program.</p>