However, SCU is private and expensive, and may not have that good financial aid.
I dunno anything about SCU’s financial aid, but I do know that it’s COA is high, and living off campus to save money doesn’t work there either with the tech boom.
SCU is not known for generous FA but run the net price calculator to get an estimate.
If he’s considering any private school, the the better CSUs that don’t offer WUE are worth considering. The total COA with no aid at the CSU is around $36k. That’s close to most private schools with $100k in FA. They are a great value.
@eyemgh, well maybe I need to look into more CSU’s! Yes, that’s a decent price. His best safety right now is Towson at about the same cost (though honestly I hope he’d get some merit at Towson). Are any of the CSU’s especially good in cybersecurity?
I have not yet run any NPC’s due to the fact I’ve been lazy picking up my tax return! I’ll definitely favor schools that show a likely COA of about 35K or less.
Cal Poly (the original in SLO), but the admission is VERY competitive. I’d also imagine SJSU has good options too. Certainly, there might be others (I know the engineering options better than CS).
It’s worth inviting @PurpleTitan to the thread. CS is his thing. You could also post the question in the math and CS forum.
Good luck.
If a specific subarea of CS is of interest, then looking in the school’s catalogs and schedules to see whether it has good (or any) offerings in that subarea may be worth doing.
San Diego State offers Cyber security courses through their extended studies program for Undergrads along with a certificate program. They also have a Homeland Security Graduate program.
Younger son is a CS at SDSU and is taking a few Cyber security courses this summer since that is an area of interest. There are no specific cyber security courses within the CS major course curriculum for SDSU however.
http://ces.sdsu.edu/
I agree you should look at San Jose State also, but CS at SJSU is ultra competitive.
http://www.sjsu.edu/cybersecurity/
what are the kid’s stats?
Stats: He’s at a strong (but not super-duper) public HS. GPA 4.55 wt, unw not listed but I think 3.9. Six AP’s. SAT 700 M 680 R/W. Active in FBLA. Some local/state level awards. He should get glowing recs and have pretty strong essays. He’ll be doing senior HS year abroad in Germany and earning diplomas from both local and German HS. I think he’ll be able to improve his SAT, but I don’t want to count on it (just figure it makes the reaches a little more in reach!)
D17 had a bit lower GPA/rigor, but not by much and the advantage of being a girl in EE, so I think I have a pretty good feel overall for what will work. I’m focusing on schools with 50%+ acceptance rate, since these are the ones that gave D17 the best deal.
Looking at Cal Poly SLO, AR is a low 29%. But his stats do look to be in top 25%. Then again, CS is probably one of the more competitive majors, so I’m thinking “probably not.” (I believe I went through similar thinking with D at this school!) San Diego looks like maybe a better fit, but not enough cybersecurity. San Jose State looks like it should be easy-peasy for him to get in on paper, but I guess CS is super competitive? They do have a cybersecurity certificate and also a business concentration in entrepreneurship which is everything he wants. However, the tuition page was beyond my comprehension!
Cal Poly admits by major, competitively. Some majors are easy admits, some very competitive. The College of Engineering is most competitive. The average CSU GPA is 4.13 (it’s mildly weighted). The average ACT is 33…SAT 1430. That includes several non-selective majors like IE. Of those CS, ME and BME are the most competitive. I’d venture that SLO is a long shot. That said, it’s probably a little easier admit OOS because those applicants are ranked separately from the CA applicants.
@eyemgh, thanks for those numbers. (I’m assuming you meant to say “average COE GPA” not “average CSU GPA”??)
Well, he gets to have two long-shots on his app list. I doubt Cal Poly will be able to knock out current contenders UMD-CP and Northeastern, but who knows?
For SJSU cost of attendance as a non-resident, you take the in-state costs and add additional $396/unit. So the Undergrad costs for 2017-2018 in-state is estimated at $28,166 + (396 x 15 units)=$28166 + 5940= $34106. Of course transportation/ books/ personal expenses can be different.
All Cal states not in WUE program will be similar but some areas such as San Diego, SLO, San Francisco will have higher housing costs.
For SJSU or any other Cal state except SLO, you need to calculate his Eligibility index
(CSU/UC GPA x800) + (SAT Math + CR).
https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
SJSU publishes their EI thresholds by major to see if you are competitive:
http://www.sjsu.edu/admissions/impaction/impactionresultsfreshmen/index.html
http://www.sjsu.edu/admissions/impaction/impactionresultsfreshmen/index.html indicates that CS was the most competitive major to be admitted to at SJSU for 2017, with an eligibility index threshold of 4500. The similar software engineering major had a threshold of 3900. Meanwhile, some other majors required only the CSU baseline of 2900 (3502 for out-of-state applicants).
The eligibility index is calculated at GPA * 800 + SATM + SATRW. GPA is calculated on grades after 9th grade in UC/CSU a-g courses, with up to 8 honors +1 points for AP or college courses (and UC/CSU honors courses at California high schools). If his GPA is 3.9, then his eligibility index is 4500; if his GPA is 4.2, then his eligibility index is 4740.
The Cal State schools (and the UCs for that matter) have their own weighting formula. It gives a little boost for AP/IB credits. The method page is linked below. Note Cal Poly uses 9th through 11th grades.
http://collegetools.berkeley.edu/documents/cat_113-128/Calculating_GPA.pdf
Thanks all for for the eligibility index tool and explanations – no wonder I avoided looking at Cal schools with D with all this extra stuff! Looks like his index is a 4660, so at least he’d be in the running for CS at San Jose. Although I wonder if that’s good enough for oos?
I also don’t know how colleges will figure in his German HS grades next year if they do want 12th grade. I don’t expect they will line up with past grades, unfortunately! All the better to apply early wherever possible.
I hope no one takes the the wrong way but, with those stats - he is better than the WUE schools in CA,
Santa Clara, USD, LMU and maybe even USC may offer some significant aid.