my daughter is senior. GPA is 3.92. new sat is 1420. Trying to decide which university to go for fall 2017. We live in wa state.
Has she been accepted to all?
Santa Clara would be the best for Computer Science based on its prestige and location near silicon valley.
I’d stay away from WA universities except UW-Seattle (and perhaps Seattle U, WSU or WWU as backups) for computer science.
SCU is a beautiful school with unbeatable weather, and the CS program is stellar. Obvious location/connections to Silicon Valley are tremendous. Housing at SCU is really good, buildings are either new or updated, spotless and safe campus. CS is really tough there, but gives student everything they need.
Gonzaga is a charming school, didn’t feel CS/engineering was as strong as SCU but connections/opportunities may be more WA based which may be plus for you.
UoP - we looked at but didn’t consider for CS, Shiley/engineering program way too small. Strong focus on nursing.
UW - Accepted but as pre-science major, didn’t want to deal with uncertainty of getting into major later, particularly when dean told me typically 3.8 (college gpa) needed to get in as a sophomore or junior…or maybe never. Didn’t want to risk that.
Scholarships vary but are good from most of the privates, but SCU is known to give less, and you are instate for WA. Us out of staters rely on the Purple/Gold. Feel free to PM me.
Ran out of time to add to above - be aware that there are still way fewer girls in CS programs generally speaking, and if you go to a school with a tiny program, it means there are way less opportunities to make friends with other girls in your own major. Not that people don’t associate with other majors, but often in college, people do have a friend group from their own major that they work with, share their angst with, and hang out with. From my experience and generally speaking, engineers just hang with engineers for the most part. Just how it is, probably cause of the workload and lots of group projects. The CS major is a great way to meet guys, that’s for sure (if that’s her thing anyway, gotta be PC here)!
Santa Clara has great connections in the Tech World, but it may not be the best decision (financially).
i was glad the comment on UP engineering program way too small was further explained, thank you! my son got accepted too and we are currently deciding. i hope he will go to meet the nurses when he finds time. but a small department probably also means academically his choices will be limited IF he ever needs a transfer later on. from what we research so far, UP offers solid CS program and 6 yr graduation rate ~80%
when i was in CS long long time ago i was the only 3 girls and got tons of help from everyone and made friends from other science/biz majors when attending GEd together. good luck to Gong’s daughter!
Here is update on my daughter’s acceptance status:
University of Portland, accepted, offered scholarship 25,000/year, offered to MECOP intership program
Gonzaga, accepted, offered scholarship 20,000/year, potential another 5000/year
Santa Clara - put on waiting list till end of march
My daughter still wants to wait to hear fro SC. We are having a hard time to decide UP or Gonzaga. Need advice.
Here is update on my daughter’s acceptance status:
University of Portland, accepted, offered scholarship 25,000/year, offered to MECOP intership program
Gonzaga, accepted, offered scholarship 20,000/year, potential another 5000/year
Santa Clara - put on waiting list till end of march
My daughter still wants to wait to hear fro SC. We are having a hard time to decide UP or Gonzaga. Need advice.
we live in Bay Area, CA, my son is applying to CS schools too. i would ‘rank’ them SC > Gonzaga > UP automatically. some reasons are given in above posts. why do you think UP is more preferred pls? is daughter wanting to spread her wings farther from home? just curious. my son’s stats are not good enough for SC or Gonzaga unfortunately.
My daughter likes UP campus setting. It is really small, offers personal attention. Plus there is a program called MECOP which is a internship program. Unfortunately require high GPA. We are most likely going to send her to Gonzaga for money and location.
We compared Gonzaga v. Santa Clara very closely. Did engineering specific tour at both schools and went up for another couple trips to Gonzaga to meet with head of engineering and some honors thing. So we spent a lot of time there. D received full tuition through a combination of scholarships. They were so great to deal with. I still love that school even though she chose Santa Clara (which has been phenomenal and the right choice for her). Also visited/applied to UP but never seriously considered it - felt it was too small and not enough science (engineering focus) overall. Also male/female ratio was not ideal in her opinion. If SC is not in the running, Gonzaga would be our choice every time over UP for a CS or engineering major. But all great, safe and nice schools. Does she like one and has she visited? Feel free to PM me with questions and I can give you more on our thought process and things you can look into.
We visited both - Gonzaga and Santa Clara. Gonzaga offered her merit scholarship $ 20.000/year, maybe additional $ 5.000/year. Santa Clara is on the waiting list. She still wants to go to SC. She had health issue this year, had to drop from Calculus class. Her GPA went down as well to 3.85. I am afraid she is not going to be accepted by SC. I think she should just settle on Gonzaga. What’s your feel of her being accepted by SC at this point?
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Hmmmm…if your DD gets off the WL for SCU, what’s the likelihood that she’d be awarded much/any merit??? I’m guessing that the chances would be lowish. In fact, some schools purposely select kids off the WL based on their ability to pay.
If your DD doesn’t get merit from SCU after coming off WL, would that be ok with you?
BTW…your DD does NOT have to wait until she hears from SCU…that might be until June or July! She can choose a school now, proceed, and then if she comes off SCU WL, then change her mind.
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We visited both - Gonzaga and Santa Clara. Gonzaga offered her merit scholarship $ 20.000/year, maybe additional $ 5.000/year. Santa Clara is on the waiting list. She still wants to go to SC. She had health issue this year, had to drop from Calculus class. Her GPA went down as well to 3.85. I am afraid she is not going to be accepted by SC. I think she should just settle on Gonzaga. What’s your feel of her being accepted by SC at this point?
Do you mind to share how your daughter got full scholarship from Gonzaga? She must have very high grades and other qualities.
Did SC offer any scholarship?
@gong >>>
GPA is 3.92. new sat is 1420
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The new SAT is about an ACT 31, I believe.
I’m not @CAdreaming , but when my nephew applied to SCU in 2012, he had an ACT 33 and he was awarded a 2/3 tuition award.
Thanks for the advice. We probably will start to give Gonzaga a firm answer this weekend so we can get start on selecting dorm for her. Like you said, she can change if she is being accepted by SC, right?