My S (GPA 3.83/4.12; SAT:1520)applied for CS and got
Accepted:
UCSC
Lehigh
RPI
SCU
Waitlisted:
UCSD,
UCI,
UCD
Northeastern
Any inputs on which CS program is the better?
Is it worth it to wait for hearing back on the Waitlisted options?
You have some great options for CS with RPI and Lehigh. If Northeastern says yes, you could add it for consideration.
@merc81 thank you for the response.
How does the UCSC CS program compare to the private schools?
Net price of each, and how much does that matter?
@2020EastBayDad: Without a direct comparison, note that RPI, for example, has attained world-level in areas such as supercomputing:
He got into Northeastern as well. With the scholarships, the price is now almost even for NEU and USCS. RPI and Lehigh are higher. If price is not a factor, which school is the best option for Computer Science?
Price equal, I would choose northeastern personally. Co ops may be very helpful in a post covid employment world. Plus the access to all of the CS, cyber and biotech in the Boston area.
My only concern would be if you are worried about travel and the pandemic. If so, UCSC is no second tier school. It’s fantastic as well.
If money isn’t an option I would give RPI a strong look too. It’s has a big brand in CS and engineering. Although the new arch program isn’t getting rave reviews.
Good luck.
I agree. At price-parity with UCSC, I would choose Northeastern as long as you’re comfortable with the distance. The CS program is excellent, and the flexibility to blend CS with other areas of interest is unsurpassed. The blended majors offer a terrific route to broaden or shift focus without leaving CS altogether.
The quality of education at UCSC is comparable, but the chronology is vastly better at Northeastern. NEU students hit the ground running in the core CS sequence, front-loading skills that will prepare them for their first co-op. UCSC students typically bide their time in gen-ed classes while they wait for their registration priority to improve enough to get into CS classes. It can be a very slow start on courses in the major, and then a heavy load later, to get everything done once you can get the classes. (If he has Regents at UCSC, the priority registration could mitigate this issue.)
It’s hard to predict what will happen with the job market, but if I were in your position, I would have incrementally more confidence in NEU’s ability to work with their relationships to keep the co-ops flowing, vs. the prospects for students at non-co-op schools to secure internships on their own.
RPI and Lehigh are excellent too but I don’t see an objective reason to pay more for either one than for Northeastern, for CS. If there’s a particular niche interest or personal pursuit that’s better at one of those, for your kid, then that’s worth discussing, but in the general sense NEU will deliver everything that the others can if not more. Personally I would choose NEU of these four, for CS, even if it were the most expensive, as long as the cost difference wasn’t a huge one.
The UCSC class schedule https://pisa.ucsc.edu/class_search/ for fall 2019 indicates that the introductory courses were often over 90% full, but rarely completely full. So is it likely that a student who wants to fast-track CS courses will be unable to do so? The Northeastern class schedule https://registrar.northeastern.edu/article/schedule-of-classes/ for fall 2019 also shows high enrollment in introductory CS courses.
Did the scholarships and financial aid change since this post http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/22743938/#Comment_22743938 that said that NEU was considerably more expensive (and that UCSC was less expensive but only barely affordable with what you will pay plus federal direct loan for him)?
I just know that CS students I have know at UCSC haven’t had the easiest time getting classes early on, and they don’t move through the sequence as a cohort the way NEU students do, which I think can be valuable. I’m not sure we can tell from looking at available enrollment numbers now - classes may well have filled during registration, with students dropping later to bring the currently-visible numbers down.
All Northeastern CS students are automatically enrolled in their first two semesters of CS courses, so there are zero issues staying in sequence. After that there is flexibility but generally the “sequenced” path is still followed and classes are available. The sections are typically made to match enrollment, so by that metric, it will look always full, but the availability is flexible.
The only people that would have any sort of issue getting into Northeastern’s intro CS would be non-majors or minors.
I’d fully recommend Northeastern here for many of the reasons listed in post #7
I would highly advise that you stay away from RPI. The male:female ratio is 2:1, their administration is corrupt, and they have no school spirit to speak of. There’s a popular reddit post literally titled “Do not apply to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute” that lists every reason in detail.
Disagree with PB – a rare disagreement. CS is in such a demand that a coop will be of little additional value to finding a first job. UCSC is in the just down the road from Silicon Valley so jobs opportunities are plentiful. UCSC has had a strange history – originally founded in the forest with no grades – but CS has always been strong. They used to have inter-transfer agreement with Cal Eng.
I’d save the money unless it is of no object, than any of the privates will do. Boston is an awesome town in which to go to college, but then Santa Clara is in the heart of SV…
btw: with all the UCs on your list, I assume a CA resident EastBay Dad? If not, fuhgeddabout paying OOS fees.
@bluebayou According to post #5 there is prices are even. With a significant cost difference, I’d agree with you here.
FWIW lots of Northeastern CS grads end up in the bay, and Boston has one of the bigger tech scenes in the US currently outside of maybe 3 other cities (SV area, Seattle, NYC).
UCSC is a very solid CS school as well, not putting it down here by any means.
However, the OP in the other thread give prices where UCSC was just barely affordable, and Northeastern was more expensive (which would require parent or cosigned loans). So perhaps the OP can clear up the discrepency.
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/22743938/#Comment_22743938
My guess is that OP was able to appeal for more merit, which has been successful at Northeastern this year per a few other posts. But yes, clarification would be helpful here.
yes, they have given him scholarship which sort of makes it almost similar (<7k overall difference)
Thank you all for your suggestions and helpful comments. Yes, we are from East bay CA and though I would have preferred he stay in CA and close to home, my son has chosen CS at NEU (Boston)
@PengsPhils as I mentioned above, NEU’s scholarship and loans ended up being only 7k above UCSC overall 4 yr cost.
Hopefully he chose the better school. Thanks again for all your very valuable inputs.