My son is a senior with a unweighted 3.2 mostly due to a poor freshman year. He scored a 28 on his ACT score with a 29 in both the math and science sections. He currently has taken computer science classes in high school and has received As in them and is taking computer science AP this year. He does well in his math and science classes. I understand with his grades he’s not getting into any of the top programs but what we’re looking for is a school that has a good program that is also trying to have the student succeed in the program and not weed them out. He would like a larger school with sporting events to go watch with a lot of school spirit. We are located in N.J. But he would prefer to go away. My older son went to the Midwest. I don’t know if he could get any merit money, but cost is a factor, we’d like to spend about $30,000 a year. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Always looking for a good school I have not thought about. Thanks in advance!!
Look into the University of Oklahoma. The goal of the computer science department is to include as many people as possible. According to my CS professor who researches computer science education, only about 20% of the students fail out of the program in the first year. In the into and second year courses, professors and TAs are expected to have multiple help sessions every day so students always have an opportunity to seek assistance.
If you do tour, keep in mind that OU has a research campus about two miles from the main campus which is where many professors do their work (there is a shuttle to take students and faculty if you wish to tour). Thus while the facilities on the main campus may seem somewhat limited, you’re only seeing the teaching buildings, not the research ones.
Most state universities will give him what he wants. What is his GPA discounting freshman year. Many colleges will ignore or discount freshman year grades if there is an improvement.
I actually know someone whose daughter goes to university of Oklahoma. Thanks for the suggestion. I will look into that. I will have to figure out the GPA without freshman year. There has been a improvement every year. unfortunately, for merit money he would get money for a lower ACT score but needs a 3.5 GPA.
@whenhen I didn’t know that. We will likely be back to tour OU again in February and will be sure to check this out!
Those are great stats that will get you son into some very good schools!
My son is also interested in CS and likes math and science too so we toured a number of schools, mostly the Midwest, that fit criteria that would match your son as well.
You son would be an excellent fit for Iowa State University - great friendly Midwest school with a great OOS tuition cost and very good scholarships that are automatic. Also consider University of Missouri Columbia - they have a great opportunity to gain residency there (as long as you strictly follow their requirements) and are a great program.
If he is interested in CS, just check for schools that are ABET accredited.
Last note - great ACT scores that show a wonderful potential - maybe have him study and take it again for more scholarship opportunities. A few points would give him more opportunities.
Best of luck to you and your son on your search!
You should look at some schools in NC. His grades might not get him in NCSU but I have been very impressed with Appalachian State University’s computer science program. And NC schools have relatively low OOS tuition, and people from NJ seem to love it here 
There is information about A+ schools for B students you may want to look at:
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/a-plus
Take a look at the University of Denver. We’re also from Jersey and my child majors in computer science at DU. We’re all happy with the college.
Including Rutgers - the State University, TCNJ, etc.
$30K will not buy you much out of state. He can spend some of the savings on a visit out west over the summer (thinking backpacking or similar).
I’m from Joisey too and don’t know really what people’s problem is with Rutgers.
Momofcs- funny thing is my older son is a sophomore studying computer science at Iowa state and we’re really happy with the school. It’s on our list but of course he wants some other options. Believe it or not with merit money it’s less then our state school would of cost even with travel and he wanted to experience a different area of the country. Thanks to all so far for the suggestions, I’m going to do some research on all suggested.
UMass Amherst has a great CS program.
UMass Amherst is on our list. Thanks. And I am looking at some schools in North Carolina. Trying to figure out which one would be best. I agree he probably would not get into North Carolina state, especially for computer science.
UMass Lowell is well-regarded in its neck of the woods. The company I work for actively recruits CS grads from Northeastern & UMass Lowell.
Same GPA as my son but mine had much higher ACT scores. You may want to see if your son can get into University of Maryland. My son just started there. It’s an excellent CS program.
I would suggest UA-Huntsville. What is his weighted GPA?
I suggest you look into Oregon State. If I remember correctly, the founder of the computer graphic card company, Nividia is an alumni and he gave them a boat load of money for their College of Computer Science. Wonderful building with a lot of great resources. Nice campus town and sports teams he can cheer for. We liked it a lot when we visited. I strongly suggest he apply early. I think the price is doable and he may just get a little merit money.
At Wyoming, he’d get a $6000 scholarship based on grades and scores, plus the sticker price is lower than $30k to being with. D1 sports and the school is just a lot of fun.
DU is a good suggestion, but might cost more than the $30k you want to spend. No football, but big hockey and lacrosse, women’s gymnastics, decent other sports to watch and participate in.
There are many schools in the west that would love to have a good B student.
Right now we are looking at two private schools for our daughter where your son would get money based on his test scores and GPA – Loyola New Orleans, and Concordia in Moorhead, MN. I’m sure there are a bunch of schools that would give him scholarships based on his grades and test scores. When my daughter was applying to schools, she was offered a sizable scholarship from Pacific Lutheran in the Seattle area, and College of Wooster in Ohio. She got smaller amounts from several other schools. Her grades were a bit higher, but you are saying unweighted, so maybe similar. If your school doesn’t weight grades, perhaps that would be taken into account? Some schools don’t count freshman year when they calculate grade point averages, so I would check into that as well. Could be just a University of California thing, maybe, but I suspect that Junior and Senior year grades matter more than Freshman grades at a fair number of schools.
The stats may not get him into UMCP please, but UMBC is another possibility. They don’t have the sports though.