When I look at this CS ROI list of colleges above, I assume that where you graduate matters. Is it the regional thing? No it doesn’t appear to be.
Yes, you have to include all of your non-custodial parent’s income and assets on the NPCs at schools that require CSS Profile in addition to FAFSA (which are all of the private schools on your list). U Chicago and Vandy are the two most selective schools that do not require non-custodial parent financials.
You said your FAFSA EFC is $3065? Does that include your custodial parents financial info (and yours), as well as the non-primary home real estate asset and business income/financials? Non-custodial parent info does not go on FAFSA.
What is your budget, meaning what can/will your parents pay for college? We can’t make good school recommendations until we know your budget and whether or not your family can afford their EFC/NPCs.
I’ve done that mental exercise many times and I’ve been in parts of the world where I represented well under 1% of the people I was among. Claiming to “understand” based on that though misses the fact that minority status isn’t really the biggest issue. It’s how we as a country have treated people of African and Caribbean decent, even during my lifetime, in an institutionalized way, that I can’t and never will fully appreciate.
Sorry for getting us off track. You’ll have lots of good choices, so many in fact that you’ll need to eliminate them for far more trivial reasons than the lack of racial balance in a city or school. My son cut 2 off his list based on the architecture. 
Be well. Have a great day!
3 Likes
I would guess it’s more about selectivity. The top students are going to the top colleges and then eventually earning the top money. A top student who is accepted at CMU but decides to attend UCSD instead is unlikely to see that big a difference in long term salary. There just aren’t as many students of that caliber at UCSD.
I think a list like this does more to explain the peers you will be taking classes with rather than suggesting a single individuals salary. The students that start at any university, having already shown proficiency through differential equations or how to manage their time to get more done are going to have a better outcome. More of those students are entering CMU/MIT/Ivy’s than the schools lower on the list. There is still overlap and opportunity at all schools, but the concentration is higher at some.
3 Likes
First, Yale isn’t a top CS school.
Also, although I agree with the rest that your list is top heavy, given your ethnic background, you may have a chance at Stanford if you come up with amazing essays.
It’s certainly not a top engineering school, but my understanding is that their CS program is quite good.
What I heard it’s quite the opposite. The CS program at Yale is mediocre at the best, especially relative to the caliber of the university as a whole.
For those colleges which require both parents’ finances, you should include both of their finances in the NPC. Obviously, if they are not cooperative, you may have difficulty getting accurate information about both of their finances. Self-employment and small business income and assets can also be variables that can result in NPCs being less accurate, especially if they are not detailed ones like the College Board based NPCs that ask about such things.
Most prestige private colleges require both parents’ finances (Chicago and Vanderbilt are exceptions, and Princeton only does so if the custodial parent is not remarried). Check colleges’ financial aid web sites to see if they require both parents’ finances.
See FAQ: Divorced parents, financial aid, and net price calculators for more information . However, note that the definition of custodial parent will change in the near future to the parent providing the largest share of financial support.
1 Like
Not sure if Oregon State has been suggested or considered as a safety. It may be as cost-effective as some of the in-state safties suggested, i.e., WSU, through the Western Undergraduate Exchange. It has a fairly well-regarded program for CS, the same USNW ranking as Cal Poly for Undergrad CS programs. Not urban, but Corvalis is recognized as a good college town.
1 Like
USNWR doesn’t generally rank Cal Poly and OSU in the same categories, as one offers doctoral degrees and the other doesn’t. CS is locked though and I don’t pay for the service, so I can’t verify that.
While we’re on that subject, there’s something that always puzzles me. In every engineering category that USNWR ranks (Civil, CompE, EE and ME), they have Cal Poly as #2. Yet, overall they rank Cal Poly engineering 7th.
As much as I like OSU, being an Oregonian myself and loving the campus and town, there are very few Black students at Oregon State, about the same as Utah. Beyond the university, Corvallis will have a similar balance to SLC.
If you believe ROI numbers, they are in the top 10. I’m not a CS. Maybe @Data10 or @DadTwoGirls could better comment.
I offered OSU more as an alternative to other suggested in-state safeties like WSU. In comparison, OSU seems to have a higher ranked CS program, and from what I can tell, similar student body demographics as WSU. Also similar in distance from the Seattle Metro area as Pullman.
Certainly, realize it is only one data point, but I thought it might provide some context. Maybe because I was not a CS major, I am not sure how to send the link on the USNW rankings without a subscription to the service. So here is a college try.
Best Undergraduate Computer Science Programs Rankings
California Polytechnic State University–San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo, CA
- #82
inComputer Science (tie)
Oregon State University
Corvallis, OR
- #82
inComputer Science (tie)
I want to correct my previous post-OSU, WSU, and Cal Poly all have the same ranking on USNW for CS undergrads.
2 Likes
Interesting, and yet another reason not to believe USNWR. 
1 Like
Interesting. Actually I trust the Payscale website better because they actually collect real data from companies and individuals who are using their service. According to Payscale, Stanford is top. UC BERKLEY is much higher. This makes more sense because they are geographically closer to Silicon Valley.
There will be differences based on methodologies, but the broad strokes are the same, if they use salary and/or ROI data. The USNWR CS ranking methodology is based solely on institutional reputation though as reported by other institutions. It relies on zero objective information.
3 Likes
I would definitely add Harvey Mudd College to this list. If you apply to their PSP scholarship, and if selected, entire tuition is free of cost. Great CS program, but it’s a liberal arts with strong STEM focus though.
1 Like
This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.