I need a list of colleges with strong computer science program and internship opportunities. Reach , target and safety schools. 3.95 GPA , 7 AP , 1400 SAT 4 years varsity track , volunteer work, cyber security club, no leadership positions. Interests in Artificial Intelligence and Gaming
APs: CompSci I, CompSci II, Chemistry, and senior year 4 more APs: Spanish, Calc BC, Physics, and English, so 7 APs total.
Have you looked at Rochester Institute of Technology? I do not know much about the school, but S18 completed an internship in AI at a major game design company this summer and a few of the other interns were from RIT. I believe they were game design majors. (S18 is a CS major at a small LAC.). Good luck!
Budget?
Home state?
Geographic preferences?
Large/Medium/Small Schools? Private/LAC’s/Public?
Internships are really up to you although look at the Career Center for any school to see which employers recruit. Since so many CS jobs are remote these days, you do not have to attend a “name” school for good job opportunities.
Home state California, school size could be smaller or larger , private and public schools, already 1 daughter, financial aid package would be nice but at this point we are exploring.
Best to get the price limit up front and make checking net price calculators one of the early parts of exploring, so that you do not end up doing a lot of work building a list and then having to throw it away when most of it is too expensive.
If UCs are of interest, consider the following, but assume that admission for CS will be more difficult than for the campus overall. Note that UCs and CSUs now do not use SAT/ACT scores for admission.
Recalculate your HS GPA with GPA Calculator for the University of California – RogerHub . Use the weighted capped version for the table below.
Fall 2020 admission rates by campus and HS GPA range from Freshman fall admissions summary | University of California :
| Campus | 4.20+ | 3.80-4.19 | 3.40-3.79 | 3.00-3.39 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berkeley | 37% | 14% | 2% | 1% |
| Davis | 86% | 55% | 16% | 7% |
| Irvine | 60% | 38% | 9% | 1% |
| Los Angeles | 38% | 8% | 1% | 1% |
| Merced | 98% | 97% | 95% | 88% |
| Riverside | 97% | 90% | 65% | 30% |
| San Diego | 78% | 39% | 8% | 1% |
| Santa Barbara | 81% | 40% | 9% | 2% |
| Santa Cruz | 92% | 82% | 59% | 26% |
These are for the whole campus. Different divisions or majors may have different levels selectivity (usually, engineering and computer science majors are more selective).
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Arizona - would be $30K scholarship of $38K with a nice Honors college. ASU.
Most of these for game design - maybe not USC nor UT Austin. Utah is very popular, btw and will also come with merit.
WPI, Case Western, Rose Hullman, Purdue (reach) are always popular.
Good luck.
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sorry - you can’t edit anymore - at Arizona they’ll get a $30K scholarship. So tuition at $38K nets to you at $8K.
B.S. Game Design & Development | School of Information (arizona.edu)
The UC’s are obvious choices and depending upon the Unweighted, Capped Weighted and Fully weighted UC GPA’s, there could be Safeties, Matches and Reaches among the 9 UC campuses. Since CS is such a competitive major, applying widely is a must.
Cal states to consider would be Cal Poly SLO- Reach, San Diego State- probably Match, Cal State Long Beach- Solid Match, Cal Poly Pomona- Solid Match, San Jose State- possible Match depending upon UC capped weighted GPA.
Other CA schools: Santa Clara University, Harvey Mudd, Stanford and USC.
OOS schools: University of Washington, Utah State, Arizona State, CMU, MIT, etc…
Much will depend upon budget for OOS schools and the calculated UC/CSU GPA’s for in-state public’s along with geographic/location preferences.
Based on what I have learned about CS, no need to specialize in AI or Game Design. It is always best to get into an overall good CS program and take electives in AI or Game Design.
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I would choose Utah over Utah State for CS. As a WUE eligible student, Colorado State is probably worth a look too.
There are lots of in state options. Since it’s going to be test free, CS reach schools like UCB, UCLA, and Cal Poly might be in the mix, depending on how the capped and weighted GP comes out.
There are plenty of UCs and CSUs though that are in reach though. It would be hard to recommend a CA resident look outside CA for CS.
UCSC is probably a coin toss but, worth an ap. UCR and UCM are very likely. The rest of the UCs are a reach.
SLO is probably a reach but SDSU, CPP, Chico and CSULB are all matches with solid programs.
LMU, USD and Santa Clara will probably admit you but, might be expensive.
Apply broadly and good luck
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