Need help with choosing schools for computer science program

College Search & Selection
1

<p>So I'm a rising-senior at an international IB school, currently considering schools that offer good computer science program to apply. I did a few research lately and come up with the following ones:</p>

<p>Reach:
Rice University
USC
Johns Hopkins University
Lehigh University
(Ima pick 2 or 3 out of 4 to apply)</p>

<p>Matches-Safeties (didnt categorize them out yet)
SUNY Buffalo
SUNY Stony Brook
New Jersey Institute of Technology
UT at Dallas</p>

<p>Here's my quick profile :</p>

<ul>
<li>GPA (4.0 scale): Junior 3.23/3.11</li>
<li>Classes I take: HL Math Bio Anthro; SL Music English German
I get all A so far on Math, mostly A and B on Anthro Music German, B and C on Bio and English. (the school doesnt offer HL Physics, so I have to take Bio instead, which really sucks to me)</li>
<li>SAT: CR 460, M 720, W 540 (no preparation). Gonna retake it this October. My aim is CR 550-600, M 800, W 550-600. Since Im an international student, I dont expect to score high in the verbal section.</li>
<li>SAT II: not yet, but gonna take it this November. Intend on Math II and Physics.</li>
</ul>

<p>Activities (very poor, since this is my first year in the US, I'll try to catch up next year):
- Music club
- Local performance and In-school performances (piano, vocal)
- Farming Field Trip (2 weeks)
- International Dinner event and Internal Food project period</p>

<p>So can you guys suggest me a couple more schools for my matches and safeties list? Any idea about my reach list? The schools should have a good computer science program, but not necessarily ranked top (no MIT, Brown, Stanford,...). Btw, money really matters to me (need quite a lot) here, as I try to pick schools that have low tuition rate.</p>

<p>I'll very appreciate your help. Thanks in advance.</p>

2

<p>San Jose State if you want easy access to Silicon Valley computer companies when looking for internships and jobs after graduation.</p>

<p>Calculate your CSU GPA and CSU Eligibility Index:</p>

<p>[CSUMentor</a> - Plan for College - High School Students - GPA Calculator](<a href=“Cal State Apply | CSU”>Cal State Apply | CSU)
[CSUMentor</a> - Plan for College - High School Students - Calculate Your Eligibility Index](<a href=“Cal State Apply | CSU”>Cal State Apply | CSU)</p>

<p>Compare to San Jose State’s minimums for fall 2011 here to get an idea of where you stand (note: for fall 2011, minimum was 3502 or whatever the major needed, whichever was higher; obviously, it could change for 2012; note also that there is a less selective software engineering major that is very similar to the computer science major):</p>

<p>[SJSU</a> Admission](<a href=“http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/narr/admission/rec-1199.html]SJSU”>http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/narr/admission/rec-1199.html)</p>

<p>Full out of state price is about $33,000 per year. Don’t expect much, if any, financial aid if you are out of state or international (international students should not expect much, if any, financial aid at most schools).</p>

<p>If you are an actual resident of Arizona (as opposed to an international student), don’t forget to look at the Arizona public universities, at least from the cost perspective.</p>

3

<p>Thanks a lot for your suggestion ucb. </p>

<p>I was about to add SJSU to my list, but end up not doing so. Though I think its a good fit to me, for I have some relatives living there in SJ and, as you told me, there’s a good access to the local computer companies after graduation, but I’ll be unlikely to afford the tuition, since it says that international students can only be considered for scholarships when they establish a GPA after at least one semester of attendance.</p>

<p>And I also take a loot at ASU in Arizona, but I have no idea about its computer science program. Is it good enough, comparing to the other schools in my safe-match list? Btw, I’m not a resident of Arizona so I’ll probably have to pay the cost of most of the schools at the out-of-state rate.</p>

<p>Any idea about other schools? I just found out Hobart and William Smith Colleges and Indiana University Bloomington yesterday, both of which are suggested for their computer science programs. But merely reading the course programs doesnt give me a clear idea of whether I should apply to both. So I’ll really appreciate if you can talk more about the experience and insights to each specific school. Thank you.</p>

4

<p>If you cannot afford the cost of SJSU (or other CSUs), you may want to re-evaluate your other choices, since you have other schools that cost more (unless they actually offer a lot of need or merit aid to international students).</p>

<p>Universities with lower costs for out of state include University of Minnesota, and Virginia Tech. South Dakota State is really inexpensive, though not really known for CS.</p>

5

<p>Thanks again. I’m now considering these schools, though the competition for scholarship seems very tough.</p>