DS17 loves UCF even more than big brother who will be attending this fall. Strong CS program. Undergraduate research. Local co-ops/internships. Great CS organizations (programming team, cyber security team, several tech clubs). A well-designed campus that is pretty compact considering its size. Great housing. Honors program. Close but not too close to home.
He’s a great student, possibly val or sal, and likely NMSF. In Florida, that means the Florida Incentive Scholarship, which pays cost of attendance at Florida universities (as long as the legislature funds it).
Some ECs and extracurriculars, but nothing super outstanding.
He is having difficulty picking additional schools to which he would like to apply.
So I’m asking for your help. Make some suggestions, please! You might point out a program that has been overlooked or eliminated too hastily.
Thanks!
If UCF is a safety for him (in both admissions and cost aspects), does he need any more schools for his application list if he likes it so much?
IMHO
In-state, the only other school would be UF, same FIS scholarship, so same cost. UCF is solid in CS, but if UF has an advantage, it’s based on being better funded. That means better faculty to student ratios, smaller classes, better funded clubs, etc. On the other hand, students do end up selecting UCF over UF, it’s really based on your preferences. A strong student can really shine at UCF.
Leaving the state, means losing the FIS scholarship (which pays full Cost of Attendance). It’s hard to compete against full COA!
You could look at other southeast schools (Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, etc.), but these schools really don’t compare to UF+FIS scholarship. If you prefer UCF over UF, you likely are not interested in these schools.
Then that leaves lottery schools (Stanford, etc.), or expensive OOS (public and private) schools (like Georgia Tech or CMU) that, in some cases, will require very competitive scholarships to be affordable (at least compared to an FIS scholarship). The more you’re willing to spend, the more these schools become a possibility. On the other hand, the higher his test scores, the better his chances are for landing a competitive merit scholarship (at those schools that offer merit, like GT’s Provost or President’s scholarships).
Good Luck!
Recommend the College of Charleston , especially the The Honors College. Growing tech community. Strong community ties with local companies . Opportunities for internships . They have a 4+1 program with The Citadel for Cybersecurity . Strong Cybersecurity club. Also has a Data Science major.
Georgia Tech is probably the best southeastern school for Computer Science, by far.
^^agree very much about GT, but it will be tough to beat the Florida scholarship opportunities. GT scholarships are quite competitive from what I remember.
OP, if he does want to apply to GT he should keep an eye on the application deadlines because the priority deadline is pretty early (October 15th? double-check that).