CS program for all, but only AOI in Pre Comp Sci for SBU, which means I have to complete pre reqs with 3.2 GPA before getting admitted into the CS program.
Stony Brook- $16k per year
VA Tech- $35k per year
Purdue- $40k per year
RIT- $43K per year
RPI-$40K per year
Factors I care about the most:
Academics/Prestige
Job Placement
Intership/Co Op program
Cost
Male to Female Ratio
What are your stats and high school course rigor? The other colleges may admit directly but may weed out later . Can you / your family comfortably afford the other universities?
Go to Purdue if you can afford it. They have the best math for getting students to the next level and more fun than the RPI Troy New York location. Purdue has school spirit and well recognized engineering and the best co op plan of all these schools and the highest rank too. Purdue Labs and academics are about the same as GaTech and you have what I would call a fantastic price for the level of Purdue academics. Also you can apply for additional out of state pmerit awards at Purdue. Purdue Co op degree plans will earn you enough to May for the junior and senior year oitvof yoir income in part. Purdue will look great on a resume even if you land a job in the west coast. The Purdue alumni network is phenomenal.
If the extra 100,000+over four years is manageable for you Perdue, Rensselaer. Then VT. And RIT.
If a fine education plus a brand new car every 5 years for the next 25 years sounds good, then SBU is a solid option too.
While Purdue/RPI are def the best two options here, Purdue Engineering is not Purdue CS.
While possible, do not make financial decisions based on this as you do not want your major / job search luck tied to your ability to pay for college.
SBU is a great financial deal, but without direct admit and a 3.2GPA requirement I would not risk it at all if you can afford the others.
I do believe after looking at Purdue CS that its equivalent to GaTech and also offers an additional data science bachelors degree program that’s similar to Berkeley’s new program. Also Purdue offers computer engineering as well. There is some ability to take classes in engineering when a student studies CS at Purdue. The investments in CS are phenomenal at Purdue. Cybersecurity is a special strength.
RPI has had some unhappiness about the student union changes and the President is at odds with the student body. Search on Shirley Jackson. RPI does offer An information technology degree. They are a smaller and flexible school with outstanding theatre program if that’s of interest. Ice Hockey is fun to watch but RPI struggles to get girls to enroll there. Troy is close to Albany and the Hudson River but somehow RPI has lost some appeal lately. Its not the star tech school it was in the 1970’s.
RIT and SUNY Buffalo have gained in popularity and rank and Cornell remains as strong as ever.
Based on academic factors, I’d say look first to RPI.
Which (if any) of these is affordable for your family without any debt other than the standard federal student loans? Drop anything that would leave you and/or your parents with additional debt.
For internship and job placement information, contact the career centers at each university directly, and ask them.
Here’s the deal about that 3.2 you would need to have in order to get into the major at SBU: you would need at least that kind of GPA at the others in order to progress successfully in the major and land the internships and job you want to have after graduation. So if a 3.2 is enough to scare you off from SBU, then you might want to start thinking now about alternate majors.
In CS this is absolutely not the case.
Academically, struggling in prereqs and improving in CS as you progress is actually surprisingly common, so the prereq GPA cap would be closing doors. In terms of GPA, CS is a pretty tough major and there are plenty of CS grads with GPA’s hanging around 3.0 that are actually very good software developers.
Professionally, internships generally cut off at 3.0 if they do at all, with some being fine with lower, valuing experience and ability over GPA.
While a 3.2 vs 3.0 may not seem like a big difference, in CS this could actually be a danger line for a capable programmer depending on various factors, especially for a freshman getting acclimated to college. People mess up and it doesn’t always mean they should choose another major.
@PengsPhils - Thanks for the information!
If male/female ratio is a consideration, then cross RPI off the list. It’s sort of a viscious cycle. My daughter got a lot of money there, but didn’t even consider it due to the lopsided ratio. (DH did undergrad there and made her apply).
RPI is near SUNY Albany for dates. The ratio is getting better at RPI. If you are a girl, you will have to get along with boys to work in any technical field, so the lopsided ratio is a huge advantage to girls, who want to make it in engineering. The schools that make the ratio balanced, are not really doing girls any big favors, and MIT is one of those places, but at MIT , most girls are in biology so its still very lopsided if you study computer science at MIT.
The gender ratio is totally overblown by so many people, who have not tried to work in engineering. A lopsided ratio is what you want, if you are a girl. If you are a boy, you can get dates at SUNY Albany, if RPI rises to the top for other reasons.
My family and I can afford to pay about 30-35k per year. I am also thinking about majoring in something health related instead and maybe minoring in comp sci.
Then only SBU is fully affordable, and VTech is marginally affordable. The others are you of your budget. Kiss them good-bye, and move on.
Re-run the VTech numbers with your parents to see if it can work or not. If it can’t, go to SBU and do well there.
Don’t mean to intrude on the CS theme but had to ask bc my son got into a lot of these same schools for Aerospace Eng. We have written Purdue off bc they gave him zero $ aid and it’s so far. He got into RPI, WPI for about $45K after aid (same as Purdue OOS) and about $30K for RIT, which he really liked. He also is in at UAH which has the exact aero & propulsion courses and companies he wants right there in Huntsville for less than $20K a year. Should we take another look at Purdue? I know so little about engineering though I know Purdue has stellar rep. It’s just so far from us on east coast. Should I be thinking instead that they have great teaching and can maybe give him a lift he cannot get at these other schools? He’s struggling with AP Calc BC right now. Is everyone at Purdue going to be a hot shot who cruises thru or is Purdue the best place for kids who need a little more handholding?
@uniquefirsttry I think your question is best done as its own thread