<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I'm interested to know if there are any private schools out there with a reputation for having both a good math/comp sci department while also having a good core/liberal arts program.</p>
<p>UoC and NYU come into mind, but UoC is difficult to get into and NYU doesn't offer as much FA as I'd like.</p>
<p>Are there any others? Location doesn't matter, as long as the school's private.</p>
<p>Rice university</p>
<p>“as long as the school’s private” – mind telling us why?</p>
<p>The short answer is YES. there are lots that have those features. What other criteria come into play to narrow it down? GPA/test scores, location, size, city vs. country, athletics etc. etc.</p>
<p>@katliamom</p>
<p>I’m under the impression that public schools don’t give out FA to OOS. Sorry if I’m wrong. However, FA is very important to me. My family makes <30,000/yr</p>
<p>@Beantowngirl</p>
<p>Sure.</p>
<p>GPA/ test scores - 2180 sat, taking again. Around a 3.6-3.7 GPA. 740 on Math 2, taking again and Bio.
Location - I actually don’t really mind, but having a city like NYC, Chicago, and Boston nearby is preferable.
Size - Not a major concern, but a school like UMich, for example, seems too big for me.
City vs country - already mentioned. Next to a city is nice.
Athletics - Not an athelete :)</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Maybe Tufts also</p>
<p>The following thread lists schools with the highest PhD production per capita in math and CS:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/swarthmore/60986-phd-production-math-computer-science.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/swarthmore/60986-phd-production-math-computer-science.html</a></p>
<p>Schools on this list that are less selective than Chicago, with solid liberal arts and good-to-excellent financial aid, include:
Reed, Grinnell, Macalester, Oberlin, Kalamazoo, Brandeis, Knox, Whitman, Lawrence, and Rochester. </p>
<p>Rice, Pomona, Williams, Haverford and Carleton are all worth a look, too (although they are more or less as selective as Chicago).</p>
<p>You might want to look at Alabama. [Out-of-State</a> Scholarships - Undergraduate Scholarships - The University of Alabama](<a href=“http://scholarships.ua.edu/types/out_of_state.html]Out-of-State”>http://scholarships.ua.edu/types/out_of_state.html)</p>
<p>St. Olaf
[St</a>. Olaf College—A private liberal arts college of the Lutheran church in Minnesota](<a href=“http://www.stolaf.edu/]St”>http://www.stolaf.edu/)
<a href=“http://www.stolaf.edu/depts/mscs/Math_Information[/url]”>http://www.stolaf.edu/depts/mscs/Math_Information</a></p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Most don’t, but some give large merit scholarships (e.g. Alabama for stats, Texas A&M for NMF, Georgia Tech and NCSU competitively). Virginia and UNC-CH do offer financial aid to OOS students. Check the net price calculators if you are not sure. Also, don’t overlook your in-state public schools.</p>
<p>Note that the private schools which are more generous with aid tend to be more selective, though not all more selective private schools are generous.</p>
<p>Will you have completed math courses beyond the calculus BC level before high school graduation? If so, you may want to consider a school with a strong graduate department in math, so that you do not run out of math courses to take.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies!</p>
<p>Finding out that some public schools do offer large merit scholarships sure does ease things up a bit.</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus Nope, I will not take anything beyond BC, so I’m sure there’ll be something left for me</p>
<p>Also, is it popular/ a good idea to dual major in comp-sci with a math background?</p>
<p>Wesleyan has a relatively large department for a LAC, covering everything from applied mathmetics to a rather piquant interest in Topology: [The</a> Buddha, Topoi, And Quantum Gravity](<a href=“http://www.science20.com/greatest_science_mysteries/buddha_topoi_and_quantum_gravity-93336]The”>The Buddha, Topoi, And Quantum Gravity | Science 2.0)</p>
<p>As with Chicago, you’d be well advised to get your board scores up a bit more, but it has great financial aid for your income bracket and is a half-hour from Hartford and New Haven.</p>
<p>Williams certainly qualifies as having a great liberal arts program, Comp Sci is solid (although not an enormous department), but where Williams really shines is math, the top math department at any liberal arts school, multiple national professors of the year on faculty, etc. Williams also has tremendous financial aid (rated by Princeton Review as the top overall value college/university in the country, for what it’s worth). May be a bit far from cities to suit your taste, although both NYC and Boston are around three hours away, and Montreal is also an easy drive, so not impossible to escape to a city for a long weekend (but realistically the overwhelming majority of your time would be on campus, which is located in a small town, so if that is a deal breaker, Williams is not for you). Still, if you are interested in math, you should most definitely consider Williams, like with UChicago and Wesleyan, it would be a slight reach school, but it’s not out of range with your stats.</p>
<p>It is not that unusual to double major in math and some related area like CS, statistics, economics, or physics, or do a minor or additional course work in the related area.</p>
<p>However, that would mean checking the offerings in the related areas of interest as well as in math when considering the suitability of the college.</p>
<p>Also, in math, different math departments have different subareas of interest; check the course listings and faculty areas of interest, especially with smaller math departments.</p>
<p>Have you looked into Questbridge? They connect low income, top students with top colleges and good financial aid. You need to get started very soon, but it’s a great help for some people.</p>
<p>
It is a common misperception that schools will meet all your financial need just because you truly need it. Some will, but most schools (public or private) won’t meet full need any more than your local car dealership will give you a car just because you truly need one. And a school may “meet need” with extensive loans, which is almost always bad also. You need to very carefully check the financial aid policies of the schools. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to have a back-up plan of living at home and going to the local community college as an option as well, with plans to transfer after two years.</p>
<p>
An excellent idea.</p>
<p>Also consider Harvey Mudd, an excellent school where they have a joint Math/CS major (not quite as much as a double major). They meet financial need without too many loans, but are also very difficult to get into.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Actually, I think that all three are pretty big reaches with his stats. I know kids who have applied to Williams and the U of C and been waitlisted or rejected with much higher SATs, A averages, and plenty of ECs and awards. When you look at the SAT ranges for Williams, you have to recall that it is one of those schools that has a lot of recruited athletes for its size. Not that he shouldn’t apply to Williams: it would be a great fit, both financially and academically, if he got in. Re FA and the U of C: beware if income is derived from self-employment or a family business, or if there are any other complications. They gave us an EFC of over $20K on a $30K income, based on part ownership of an untappable asset.</p>
<p>Questbridge is an excellent idea.</p>
<p>Yes, thanks for all the suggestions and replies!</p>
<p>I’ve actually looked at questbridge last year (junior) and was, unfortunately, rejected. I know that junior year questbridge isn’t the same as senior though, so could I possibly apply again?</p>
<p>For the all the suggestions on Williams, thanks! I’ve received their mail this week and I’ve seen their FA package it is so great, but as Consolation pointed out, it seems like a big reach for me.</p>
<p>Anyway, I’ll be sure to make UChicago my #1 reach school, it has everything I want! Thanks for all the help!</p>
<p>@Consolation About the FA, really? My dad does own a business but it’svery meager and he makes 15k/yr from it, and that’s his only source of income. With the current lack of interest in the market (economic times), and his surgery (preventing him from working), I really don’t feel like it’s fair… Hoepefully I get something sorted out</p>
<p>OP, the U of C has had a rep of treating the self employed harshly with regard to FA. Often, I was told, it has to do with business expenses/write offs being added back in to income. (And the U of C is not the only school that purportedly does this. But don’t forget the appeal I mentioned. 
) Whether or not that would affect you, I cannot say. Don’t forget that our situation had to do with part ownership of a piece of real estate that they thought we should be able to liquidate. Unfortunately, it could not be borrowed against, and the other owners refused to either sell or buy us out, and attempts to sell our share were fruitless. (I was tempted to tell the U of C that if they thought it was possible to get $$ out of the place we would happily sign our share over to them and let THEM do it. ) Happily, S chose another school with much better FA. </p>
<p>Certainly, the U of C is a great school and I heartily recommend it from personal experience.</p>