<p>I am looking to major in Computer Science, and a men's swim team is necessary (division does not matter).</p>
<p>Quick Academics Snapshot: 2340 SAT, 800 Math II/Chem and 780 World History Subject Tests, 100+ Average AP Student</p>
<p>Please rate my list below: does it have the right amount of high level, medium level, and safety schools with strong engineering/computer science departments?</p>
<p>In Order of Preference:
MIT
Stanford
UC Berkeley
Cornell
UMichigan - Ann Arbor
UWisconsin - Madison
Rennsalaer Polytech
George Tech
Rochester Institute of Tech
SUNY Binghamton</p>
<p>It’s hard to know if your safety schools are really safety schools since we don’t know if your family will pay the high costs at an OOS public.</p>
<p>You have several publics on your list. Are you instate for any of them? Which one? The other OOS publics may expect you to pay all or nearly all costs. Is that ok? do you know how much your family will pay?</p>
<p>if your family will pay for all costs of any school that you go to, then you’re fine. Certainly SUNY Bing and RIT will likely accept you.</p>
<p>How good are you at swimming? A school like Stanford, for example, attracts such top athletic talent that even if you were the best swimmer in your league, you might not even be able to swim on the team, or you might be the slowest one in practice. </p>
<p>Probably every school on that list, however, will have intramural swimming.</p>
<p>Of the SUNYs, doesn’t Stony Brook have the best reputation for CS?</p>
<p>Have you checked the net price calculators at each school to see if they are affordable?</p>
<p>Minnesota, Virginia Tech, NCSU, and Cal Poly SLO have lower list prices for out of state students than most other public schools with good reputations for CS.</p>
<p>I am in state New York, so Bing is my safe for cost and acceptance.</p>
<p>My family has no issue paying the ~30k per year for schools, although 50k will require taking out some loans. Loans will likely fall on me, but that’s an investment in the belief that studying at one of the better colleges will land me a good job.</p>
<p>I was looking at Virginia Tech, and took it out in favor of Georgia Tech and Michigan. Any reason that it should stay on there?</p>
<p>I am a decent swimmer, probably closer to Division III times than anything, although I do feel that with a year or two of college training I will be on par with some of the swimmers on these teams. I was looking at some club/intramural swim teams, and unfortunately the intensity and training is just miles away from even high school varsity level.</p>
<p>The difference between $30K and $50K (or more) would be a large gap to expect to cover with loans. Besides, YOU cannot borrow that much; your parents would have to qualify and sign. Check out the Stafford loan limits as a guideline:
[Undergraduate</a> Loan Questions - How much can I borrow under a Stafford Loan](<a href=“What is a Subsidized Student Loan? | Edvisors”>What is a Subsidized Student Loan? | Edvisors)</p>
<p>What is your “Expected Family Contribution”? Can your family afford it? If your EFC is $50K, but your family can only cover $30K, then you really ought to consider cheaper schools than some of the ones on your list (or schools that offer merit aid). For CS, you do not need a degree from Stanford or MIT to get a decent job.</p>
<p>Compare the cost of Virginia Tech to Georgia Tech and Michigan. Virginia Tech (even for out of state) is probably within Stafford loan distance of your $30,000 per year limit; Michigan and Georgia Tech are not. The other suggested schools in post #5 are also probably within Stafford loan distance of your $30,000 per year limit.</p>
<p>I’m not completely sure about the EFC (my parents and I haven’t had an in depth discussion of college costs yet). However, they have stated that if the school is good enough and I really want to go then $55,000 is possible.</p>
<p>I definitely won’t be eligible for any financial aid from colleges, and I don’t know how much help I will receive from loans.</p>
<p>For Georgia Tech be sure to apply early. Merit money is given to those students who apply by Oct. 15 and during our meeting this month with admissions’ staff they told us they accept 70% of the students who apply early. One way to keep costs down is to do study abroad at Georgia Tech-they only charge in-state tuition to all students so the price goes down from $23k to $7k in tuition. </p>
<p>I really liked their CS building. It is very nice and a great campus.</p>
<p>Cal is going to be $55K and with our lousy state budget the education at California public schools is really going down hill. There is a great website [CollegeData:</a> College Search, Financial Aid, College Application, College Scholarship, Student Loan, FAFSA Info, Common Application](<a href=“http://www.collegedata.com/]CollegeData:”>http://www.collegedata.com/)
You can do the efc and net price calculator right on this website as well as do college search and matches.</p>
<p>Have that conversation with your parents before you finalize your application list. In particular, have them tell you what they are comfortably willing to contribute without going into debt.</p>
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