I’m a current high school junior living in Seattle and I’m having a really hard time finding colleges that fit some of my needs. I have a 3.9 GPA in high school and 4.0 in my college classes. I took the SAT in March and got a 1370 (I didn’t study so I’m taking it again in June to try and get an even higher score). In terms of extracurriculars I’m the State Secretary of Washington Technology Student Association, a Youth & Government delegate, I started the Girls Who Code club at my high school, and I also do Link Crew, Student Council, etc. I want to major in Computer Science and either math or business.
The problem I’m facing with colleges is that I’d like to go to a nicer college but I don’t want to commit to a school and then not be able to get into their Comp Sci program (looking at you UW). I’d prefer to go to a school in a bigger city or if it’s in a college town it needs to be easy to get to (I eliminated CalPoly for this reason) I’d also prefer to go to a bigger school on either the west or east coasts but I could definitely make exceptions there. I’m atheist but I am okay with going to a religious university. The colleges I’ve looked at so far are University of Washington, University of British Columbia, Gonzaga, SeattleU, NYU, Temple, Bryn Mawr, USC, and Harvey Mudd (those last two I’m really unsure about tho, Harvey Mudd is a lot smaller than I think I’d like and I also don’t think I could get in).
I agree with CWRU and Rochester. I know CWRU is pretty generous with merit aid, most students get a moderate amount. I think Rochester is great. I know less about financial aid there.
Also, take a look at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). It’s higher ranked than you’d probably guess (actually just a couple of spots below UW in USNWR National University Rankings.) Beautiful New England campus in a nice part of Worcester, which is a one hour commuter train to downtown Boston. About 4400 undergrads. Unique hands-on, project-oriented curriculum, if that appeals. We loved the campus vibe. It traditionally has been heavily male but much closer to gender balanced the last couple of classes. It seems that this has at least been partially accomplished by especially generous merit aid to female applicants.
Harvey Mudd has the 5 college thing so it’s a lot bigger than it looks from a statistics page. There is nothing wrong with having a reach on your list.
And I second the vote for WPI. I haven’t been there in a few years, but I’ve heard nice things about them.
Thanks everyone! In terms of a budget I’d really love to keep it under $30-40k a year (after financial aid) but I’d be willing to look at/go to a more expensive school if I really loved it.
Santa Clara U is a good place for CS, math, and business, with strong connections to Silicon Valley for internships, etc. Super easy access, Seattle to SJC.