NEED HELP with "ranking" schools

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I am currently a Senior in high school and will be submitting my applications for early action to a few colleges this weekend. However, I am in a dilemma. I'll explain...</p>

<p>I am a pretty accomplished student. 3.95 weighted GPA, taken a fair amount of advanced classes (honors chemistry, honors speech, honors composition, honors pre-calc, AP Psychology [5 on the exam], AP Computer Science [hopefully will get an A] and B/C Calculus [hopefully will get a B]). I am ranked 50th out of 350 students in my grade (18th percentile) and am a varsity athlete in two sports, exec board for student council, exec board for latin club, debater, NHS member and PA announcer.</p>

<p>However, something you should know about me is that I have to work REALLY hard to do well in all of my classes. I'm pretty smart, but I'm not able to get away with not studying and doing anything. My intended major is Computer science. AND this is my problem. Since I have to work really hard to understand the content, I usually find myself consistently coming in early/going in at lunch to talk with my teachers to clarify concepts. And with the schools that I will be applying to I have a choice: BIG schools (UWMadison, Twin Cities & Purdue) or small schools (Marquette, St. Olaf & DePaul). However, the choice isn't as easy as you might think. </p>

<p>I'm not assuming I'm going to be getting into all of these colleges but I've been thinking the choice over in my head a lot and have no idea. Because at large schools, you inevitably have less (sometimes no) interactions with professors and you are more of a 'statistic' than anything. However at these large schools, the Computer Science programs are amazing! But I'm not sure I'll be able to handle not having a "personalized" learning experience. Therefore, you might think that the choice of a small private school is obvious However, I run into the problem of the private schools not having as good of programs as the big schools (at least to my knowledge, correct me if I'm wrong). So yeah. I hope that all makes sense. Basically if feels like I have two choices:</p>

<p>1) BIG school -> Higher quality computer science program --- BUT --- a learning style that might not fit me.
2) Small school -> a type of school that better fits my learning style --- BUT --- not as good of a program.</p>

<p>I'm just wondering what people think would be the most beneficial to me. Because I want to be as successful as possible and I don't know which one with help me more.</p>

<p>Thank you so much! I'll take al the advice I can get! </p>

2

<p>Sounds to me like you’d be better off at a smaller school. </p>

<p>Don’t worry about who has better programs. You’re not going learn any more coming out of a big program than a small one. The best program for you is the one that works best for you.</p>

3

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<p>You’re likely to get different opinions about your dilemma here.
My opinion is that the choice of a small private school is obvious (for you).</p>

<p>Undergraduate CS courses cover many concepts that you may find challenging enough to seek clarification. Examples:
<a href=“Algorithm - Wikipedia”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algorithm&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“Graph theory - Wikipedia”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graph_theory&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“Network topology - Wikipedia”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_topology&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“Relational database - Wikipedia”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relational_database&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I would not automatically assume that large schools are necessarily “better”.
You can safely assume that a larger school (or a larger CS program) will offer more courses. All else being equal, more courses are indeed more desirable. However, even many small CS departments should cover at least the material included in the ACM’s “core” curricula recommendations:
<a href=“http://www.acm.org/education/curricula-recommendations”>http://www.acm.org/education/curricula-recommendations&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://www.acm.org/education/CS2013-final-report.pdf”>http://www.acm.org/education/CS2013-final-report.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>The Liberal Arts Computer Science Consortium has published its own “model curriculum” guide:
cs.wellesley.edu/~pmetaxas/LACS2007report.pdf</p>

<p>Here’s an overview of the CS curriculum at one selective small college:
<a href=“http://www.cs.grinnell.edu/drupal6/taxonomy/term/9”>http://www.cs.grinnell.edu/drupal6/taxonomy/term/9&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Yes, all else being equal, more courses are more desirable. However, there are only so many courses one human being can take in 4 years. In my opinion, it is more important for a college to cover all the essential courses well, in a way that meets your needs, than to offer a smorgasbord of double or triple the number of courses you can ever take. If you need a certain amount of hand-holding, then even a couple of gaps in the essentials may be a better trade-off than getting lost at the back of 400-student lecture courses. You should be able to find a happy medium in a college that offers small classes AND a reasonably rich set of CS courses.</p>

4

<p>Harvey Mudd sounds perfect for you - small top-notch computer science school. I’m sure there are more out there but this is the first one that came to mind. Good Luck!</p>

5

<p>If you feel a small school best suits your personality and learning style, then find one that will be as good a match as possible for your area of interest. My D knew deep down that a LAC would be the best place for her and she is really thriving at her college. She has great relationships with professors and is involved with two research projects on campus. No regrets.</p>

6

<p>I’m not sure what you mean by BIG school means “higher quality”. If it doesn’t work for you, it isn’t higher quality. It sounds like you prefer a smaller school environment. How about medium sized schools (5000-10,000 students)? U of Rochester?</p>

7

<p>At “larger” private universities you will very likely have multiple options for interacting with professors and TAs. You will not be a “number” unless you choose to be one. The advantage of larger private universities over LACs for computer science is often “understated” in the CC forums. The larger private universities with strong CS departments have a deeper selection of courses. The courses are available with much higher frequency than at LACs. The size of the computer science department, and especially the number of CS majors, lends itself to more multi-person projects than at LACs. You also will more likley encounter students in departments aligned with CS, such as Electrical and Mechanical engineering. Also having many CS kindred spirits makes it easier to find study partners etc. The challenge with CS at large public universities is that students are often left on their own: there are fewer opportunities to connect with the professor etc.</p>

8

<p>Take a look at Ohio Wesleyan University. Small school (2,000 students), excellent computer science program, plus outstanding financial aid.
<a href=“Department of Mathematics and Computer Science | Ohio Wesleyan University”>Department of Mathematics and Computer Science | Ohio Wesleyan University;
<a href=“http://choose.owu.edu/financialAidAndScholarships/academicScholarships.php”>http://choose.owu.edu/financialAidAndScholarships/academicScholarships.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Also take a look at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Indiana. Small and very good. Widely considered the best tech school which does not have a Ph.D program. <a href=“http://www.rose-hulman.edu/”>404 | Rose-Hulman;