<p>A note on getting to Cal Poly SLO…Santa Barbara has a reasonable regional airport and the drive to SLO is 90 minutes. (well 90 minutes the way I drive…let’s just say S and D have done it in less). If one is forced to spend the night…both of these cities are beautiful.</p>
<p>The CSU’s and UC’s have been courting OOS $$$$. In the case of SLO the applicant is compared on OOS applicants and not the in-state pool. This might increase your nephew’s chances.</p>
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<p>Introductory CS classes are huge (e.g. Berkeley >1000, Stanford >700, Harvard >700). Even some LACs can have surprisingly large introductory CS classes (e.g. Harvey Mudd 199). At schools which try to cap enrollment in each class, you may want to check to see if the classes tend to get full with lots of students unable to get into them.</p>
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<p>Be careful to check that the CS departments have sufficient offerings. Even some high-general-prestige schools have small and limited CS departments (but many low-general-prestige schools have perfectly good CS departments). An example here would be Amherst versus UMass - Amherst. Students at the high-general-prestige Amherst may have to cross-register at the low-general-prestige UMass - Amherst to find good CS offerings (and hope there is space available in them).</p>
<p>There is some truth to the CS is booming. Last year when my kid applied to CS, only one other students in her cohort was applying as CS. This year at her high school get together, kids who were math/econ, pre-med all turned to CS major. No wonder the CS department are bulging at many schools and you can’t hire enough CS professors, they are also in demand.</p>
<p>I’m late to the game. Had I been early, I would have suggested Rochester.</p>
<p>I might add Johns Hopkins, which though hard to get into, isn’t yet in the Stanford league in terms of selectivity. </p>
<p>Given that he hasn’t learned to program, it’s really impossible to know that he’s going to like computer science. Those two schools have seamless fluidity between engineering and liberal arts making it really easy to maneuver. </p>
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<p>Cleveland’s not such a hard sell once you’ve been to Lewisburg, Bethlehem, or Easton PA. </p>
<p>And with your nephew’s stats he may well snag a nice merit award from Case Western - but I wouldn’t necessarily consider it a safety as their admit rate has dropped each year as applications are increasing. (42% for last fall and that number will drop again for this year’s class as applications were up another 18% in fall of '14 versus '13). </p>
<p>At least encourage your nephew to sign up on the mailing list for colleges he might want to apply to. That will help demonstrate interest even if he doesn’t/can’t visit. </p>
<p>^I second Case Western Reserve, UMinnesota Twin Cities (great city), USC, UMaryland, UIUC, Northeastern, Lafayette. Add Penn State since it’s closer to the East Coast and UMass Amherst (Honors); NCSU and Virginia Tech are easier to get into than Georgia Tech but have superb placement rates. Dickinson CS is pretty good and would be a match (potential merit aid for the 35.) Rowan or TCNJ as a safety?
UGeorgia has CURO and a very good Honors Program, that may be of interest too.
Tell him to apply to the honors colleges; the “trick” to have him run the net price calculators only for the lower/second tier schools is a good one. Have him bring the differen results to his parents to see what they’d be ready to pay - would they pay as much as for Stanford?
Obviously Alabama’s Presidential Honors, with Honors College, Honors Dorm, a bunch of perks like early registration, full tuition scholarship, $2,500 - and that’s the automatic scholarships, with the 35ACT and programming you brought up, if he also has other interests he may be interested in the very selective Computer Based Honors program (essentially, Research with Computers).</p>
<p>I have different view than the poster who recommends going for a 36 ACT. If he already has a 35 ACT, then he should spend his time doing something else more interesting than trying to get a 36 ACT. Maybe take a hike every weekend. Not kidding - retaking the set would be a waste, and even look obsessive to adcoms; that is unhealthy.</p>
<p>Yes, I vote for Case as well. He should get maximum merit if accepted. And the part of Cleveland it is in is not bad at all. rather peaceful in comparison to downtown. It is more like the suburbs than in a city like people think.</p>
<p>I will repeat what the adcom at a top Ivy League school told my son. This was 2 years ago, but that adcom was so darn good that we still talk about him in our house today. The advice he gave made applying to colleges for my second son a breeze.</p>
<p>He said (paraphrased), “We see no difference between a 2300 and 2400 and no difference between a 35 and 36. We would rather a 2200 with attitude than a boring 2400 test-taker any day of the week. The last thing you want to look like is an obsessive test-taker. No one likes taking these tests. We know that. So when you keep taking them for no objective reason, we do start to wonder about your sanity as a student.” </p>
<p>The entire room cracked up at that point, except for the kids to whom that applied to - they were strangely silent. It was interesting to watch actually. And just because retaking it once is normal, does not mean it is normal in all cases. A 35 is not a normal case; it is as close to perfection as one needs to get. However, I do understand and respect YMMV.</p>
<p>dm2017, let me guess: you’re an overachieving high school student.
So, let me help you - as many adults here will tell you:
Actually, yes, your scores ARE sent to colleges (most top colleges require ALL scores to be sent). Taking more than 3 or 4 times looks obsessive and is counted as having the wrong priorities in education. For someone who’s got a 34 or a 35, it’s downright pathetic to think a 36 is more important than something else - the something should be interesting, or fun. (Highly selective colleges care about having students who aren’t “drones”, know how to have fun, are interesting and funny, etc.) If the student doesn’t have anything better to do than go from 35 to 36, then something’s wrong.
is representative of what the reaction would be in Admissions at most universities.</p>
<p>University Circle in Cleveland is great. Lots of hospital, research labs, creative spaces, plus restaurants, littles cafes, the concert hall, the park… it’s a really cool neighborhood. CWRU is lucky to be so situated.</p>
<p>Cleveland is a great place to see how urban revitalization works (or doesn’t): for instance Hough used to be/ is a rough neighborhood but chunks of it were remade into a model “suburban feel” in 2003-2005. The 2008 financial crisis slowed things down but it’s still quite interesting what Cleveland has been doing.</p>
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<p>Thing is, that’s the description of a great kid! But not a kid who is likely to get admission to the tippy-top schools, which have the luxury of admitting kids with high scores AND terrific ECs AND super GPAs. mnm111, you seem to be a knowledgeable parent who is helping your son compile a realistic list. It’s such a huge mistake to fall in love with a super-reach and neglect the schools that are going to offer admission to the kid.</p>
<p>DELETED, accidental double post.</p>
<p>Mom of CS grad (currently working at Google) and HS senior off to UIUC for Engineering. Kudos to you for doing this research on behalf of your nephew. A few thoughts:</p>
<p>1) Check how admission to the CS major works at each school. In this competitive climate, he should make sure schools without barriers to the CS major are on his list, like U Wisconsin mentioned above, compared to schools like Carnegie Mellon (admits for freshman year, very hard to get into SCS) or Univ of Washington (apply for sophomore year). Don’t count on transferring in; many have the same idea.</p>
<p>2) You mention APs but not which ones taken or scores on AP exams. Engineering schools will want to see Calculus (ideally BC) + hard sciences like Chemistry and Physics and AP CS if offered with scores of 5’s and 4’s. You don’t mention GPA. If he has a 4.0 that is one thing. Anything lower- like a respectable 3.5- can cause difficulty. Unfortunately, I speak from personal knowledge! But since nephew is a junior he can add APs for senior year (and should).</p>
<p>3) EC’s don’t necessarily have to be organized school type organizations but can include self directed activities- for example, programming independently (if possible for an altruistic purpose). For example, depending on his skill level he could do online volunteering with the UN. <a href=“https://www.onlinevolunteering.org/en/vol/index.html”>https://www.onlinevolunteering.org/en/vol/index.html</a> However my older son’s 10th grade EC was not altruistic- he created a stats tracker for gamers that required a fairly sophisticated understanding of databases- and it was still a helpful activity. Nephew can also include programming languages he is proficient in on college application. What is he doing this summer? Ideally it will be an activity that will help his application.</p>
<p>4) Send links to Admitted students threads on CC for Stanford, Caltech, as well as links for some less selective schools like Case Western or RPI to nephew + parents to check out accomplishments of those students. This can be done in a positive “let’s check out the competition and strategize” mode. I made my younger son read them for a reality check. They will still want to apply and burn up the app fees (“$75 and a dream”) but maybe it will persuade them to add more matches and safeties to their list. BTW Google co-founder Sergey Brin went to U Maryland- College Park. </p>
<p>5) FYI state universities in NY are relatively cheap for OOS- 32K cost of attendance total compared to UMich 55K or UIUC 49K. Stony Brook has great science opportunities though campus may not appeal to everyone. U Buffalo also has a strong reputation for engineering.</p>
<p>6) Went on a trip to see CMU and UIUC with my younger son. He is familiar with a fair number of college campuses including Columbia and MIT. We suffered from East coast bias and did not have high expectations for UIUC, imagining a giant football crazy, frat heavy campus in the middle of a cornfield. Some of this is true but UIUC has something for everyone and there is a strong engineering community. Younger son was very impressed with their facilities. Lots of new science buildings including a brand new EE/CS building opening this fall, amazing nanotech labs etc. Campus is flat and easily navigable, compared to UMich where Engineering campus is 25 minutes away from Main campus by bus. Younger son is excited to attend. Don’t count out the Midwest! However admission to CS major at UIUC is competitive (though not as bad as at CMU) - it is in the top ten undergrad programs for CS and recruited by national CS companies. </p>
<p>7) Nephew should think about college environment he will thrive in. Is a big state school for him or maybe he’d do better in a smaller CS program at a LAC where he could apply against type. Is he an independent learner who can handle a large, anonymous weed out course or will he do better at a smaller school where classes may be more intimate?</p>
<p>8) Internships and actual CS experience with programming are very important and can carry more weight with prospective employers than college courses. During older son’s interview for Google internship, recruiter asked many questions about that 10th grade stats tracker project mentioned earlier. </p>
<p>That ACT is terrific, but every college I have ever visited said their foremost priority is academic rigor. A high-testing student with only a handful of AP classes might be perceived as a slacker, especially at schools that turn away thousands of overachievers every year. That being said, plenty of selective schools will always find room for a student whose scores will help “juice” their overall stats. Provided your nephew keeps some academic and financial safeties (probably his state flagship university will suffice, unless its Computer Science school is fiercely competitive). I would add Stevens Institute, in Hoboken - it has a superb employment placement record; and, as an academic safety, possibly Pace, where there are lots of internship and job opportunities, and he could probably secure a large scholarship.</p>
<p>Case Western has a tendency to waitlist high-stats students, so tbh I don’t know if it’s worth his time. </p>
<p>^the trick would be to “show interest” early on, ie., starting now. 
Have him fill out the “request info” form, then in the summer he should email the Dept Chair about cs opportunities, etc.</p>
<p>Agree he should look at Case…this fall’s acceptance rate is down to about 33%…as mentioned, he would probably receive a large merit award and University Circle is quite impressive- definitely worth a visit as they are big on showing interest, especially among those with the highest scores.</p>
<p>I visited and had it as my number-two choice–wanted to go there in the very likely event that my reach didn’t work out–and they still waitlisted me. Good luck with that, lol </p>
<p>He took his first AP test last week. The 4 (ish) APs will be his total after his senior year.</p>
<p>It’s important not to overreach, the year my daughter applied to college, one girl from her class, top 1%, ACT around 34, applying to engineering as a female, she posted on CC and I recognized her name, she applied to Harvard and Stanford, and perhaps Caltech. I think last I’ve heard she went to a CSU. She was very dissatisfied with her college results.</p>
<p>Lehigh</p>