<p>Hi all! My S13 is interested in CS/Software engineering. We are limited to schools that participate with my school's tuition exchange program. So, we have the following schools on our list. Since this is by no means his parent's area (or anyone we know, for that matter), we would greatly appreciate some feedback. He doesn't think he wants an urban school (but that could possibly change if he saw one he liked). Please offer any insights/advice/rankings for these programs.</p>
<p>WPI
RIT
Lafayette
Bucknell - long shot for tuition exchange scholarship
Drexel - long shot for tuition exchange scholarship
Loyola Maryland
Texas Christian Univ
Fairfield
Gannon
Bradley
Regis
Gonzaga
Boston Univ - long shot for tuition exchange scholarship
George Washington
Ill Tech
Rose-Hulman - but S is not very interested due to male:female ration and isolation of Terre Haute
Valparaiso
Villanova</p>
<p>Already crossed Syracuse off - did not like the city at all. So, if any of the above look like Syracuse and have equally old looking dorms, please let us know.</p>
<p>* We are limited to schools that participate with my school’s tuition exchange program.*</p>
<p>Not necessarily. If your child ends up with strong stats, there are other schools that might give him full tuition or more scholarships. If your tuition exchange is for “tuition only”, then a full tuition scholarship elsewhere is just as good.</p>
<p>Gonzaga is supposed to be good with engineering/CS.</p>
<p>Some of those techie schools on the list probably also have a poor male/female ratio.</p>
<p>Does Valpo have engineering? If it does, is it a small program?</p>
<p>Thanks mom2collegekids. As far as engineering and CS schools go, I doubt my S will qualify for a full tuition merit scholarship. He’ll likely will end his jr yr with about 3.7 and a 32 ACT. He’s taken honors classes, but no APs. His ECs are mostly outside of school. We won’t qualify for need-based (not that we can afford to pay and I refuse to let him take out loans). If you can think of any good CS schools for which he might be competitive for a full-tuition scholarship based on merit with his likely stats, please let me know. We would happily entertain those schools, as well.</p>
<p>The male:female ratio at schools like RIT and WPI doesn’t concern me too much since there are other larger schools around the same area.</p>
<p>You can get a rough idea of which are the best known CS schools by searching for “computer science rankings” and the like. However, don’t be too concerned with small differences like #40 versus #50 or whatever.</p>
<p>If the school is not well known for CS, look at [Accredited</a> Program Search](<a href=“http://main.abet.org/aps/AccreditedProgramSearch.aspx/AccreditationSearch.aspx]Accredited”>http://main.abet.org/aps/AccreditedProgramSearch.aspx/AccreditationSearch.aspx) and search for ABET accredited degree programs in computer science and/or computer engineering. While ABET accreditation is not generally an issue in CS employment, it can serve to validate a minimum level of quality in a lesser known for CS school. Many schools offer CS courses and CS majors, but the course selection is very limited, so that a student will not be able to get as good an education in CS as s/he would at a school that is well known or ABET accredited.</p>
<p>You may want to include University of Southern California and University of Pittsburgh, among perhaps others.</p>
<p>But, assuming cost is a major concern, don’t limit yourself to those schools; some other schools may have low list prices that are affordable without the tuition exchange program (e.g. some people look at Minnesota, Cal Poly SLO, and Virginia Tech), and others may have generous enough need and/or merit aid that can make them affordable without the tuition exchange program (Alabama and UAB for big merit scholarships for high stats, some super-reach schools like MIT and Stanford for generous need aid). And don’t overlook your in-state public schools.</p>
<p>Go to each school’s web site and put “net price calculator” and “financial aid estimator” in its web site search box.</p>
<p>Thank you UCBalumnus I wasn’t sure he could get in to USC and the tuition exchange only covers 80%. I will look at MN, Cal Poly SLO, and VA Tech. Despite the shootings, I think VA Tech is one of the most beautiful campuses I’ve ever been to.</p>
<p>I’ve looked for ABET accreditation and some of the schools have it, but some do not although they have ABET in the engineering section (and I have heard ABET for CS is not as essential as it is for eng.)</p>
<p>So, if anyone wants to still highlight any advantages/disadvantages for me of the aforelisted programs, I would appreciate the feedback.</p>
<p>[As posted in your other thread by the same title]</p>
<p>Rankings wise, for Undergraduate studies, it is probably most important that your son feel comfortable at the institution and that they make it work financially for you. If he works hard, he can get an excellent education just about anywhere.</p>
<p>I can tell you a bit about my university, [Illinois</a> Institute of Technology](<a href=“http://www.iit.edu%5DIllinois”>http://www.iit.edu), since you have it on your list. We are a Ph.D. granting university so our undergraduates have the opportunity to work alongside graduate students when they get involved in research. The total number of undergraduates is about 2,500 and there are about 5,000 graduate students including the Business School and Law School. Admission is fairly selective simply because we are a Tech school and our students mostly need to be good in math. We are urban but the campus is attractive and has a lot of architectural significance. You should visit to see if it is a good fit. From your list, we are most like RIT and Drexel as far as size and scope of programs (undergraduate/graduate). We have good merit-based financial aid along with the need-based. If you want to ask more specific questions, I would be happy to answer on the thread I started for this purpose Ask an Illinois Tech Professor.</p>
<p>ABET accreditation is not “necessary” for computer science or computer engineering, since Professional Engineer or similar licensing is not an issue in employment in the field (though there are a few who advocate licensing in the field).</p>
<p>However, it is generally true that good computer science or computer engineering bachelor’s degree programs at mid-level schools get ABET accreditation, probably to validate their meeting a minimum quality standard. Where you may find lack of ABET accreditation is at some (not all) of the schools with the highest reputation *in computer science<a href=“e.g.%20Stanford,%20UNC-CH,%20whose%20names%20in%20the%20field%20are%20enough%20that%20they%20presumably%20do%20not%20need%20any%20external%20validation”>/i</a> and schools which offer computer science courses or a major but whose course selection is too limited to be considered competitive (e.g. Amherst).</p>
<p>If a school does not have ABET accreditation in computer science or computer engineering, check the course catalog carefully and compare the course offerings to that of other schools with known high reputations in computer science and/or ABET accreditation in the field. Note that computer engineering often has a more hardware focus (computer architecture and the like), while computer science often has a more software and theory focus, so if the student has a software and theory preference, you may want to do a similar catalog check if the school is ABET accredited for computer engineering but not computer science.</p>