<<<
He would like a larger school with sporting events to go watch with a lot of school spirit.
[QUOTE=""]
[/QUOTE]
I missed this.
What is his weighted GPA? Is he retesting?
[QUOTE=""]
He took the ACT twice so far. Went from a 27 to a 28. He was tutored for the test so he did study for it. We are thinking about him taking again. Do you think it’s worth it for 1 more point. I don’t know If he’d be able to increase it more then that. His weighted is the same. Just taking AP classes this year. I looked at UMBC but don’t think he would be happy there. I have not looked at privates as much because they tend to be smaller and he would like 10,000 plus coming from a big high school. I’m sure if school had everything else and it financially made sense he would definitely consider it. Is merit money as easy to figure out with privates? His high school is academically hard and colleges supposedly know our kids our well equipped and they know the kids work hard for their grades. What frustrates me (and my kids) is other schools who don’t grade so hard have better GPAs and look better, or get money. Unfortunately, this is a kid who is smart but didn’t apply himself as much as he should of until the last 2.5 years of high school. I know he could have a better GPA but unfortunately the 14 year old didn’t want to listen to me and now I just want him to get into a school that he will be happy with. I’m happy to say he’s ready for college and really applies himself now. And believe me, I didn’t know if I was going to be able to say that about him!!
University of Nebraska-Lincoln has a cost of attendance for non-residents of about $36000. It has the lowest tiition in the Big 10 and is a Princeton Review Top Value.
On the scholarship calculator for nonresidents I entered 29 ACT and 3.2 GPA and it listed their George Beadle scholarship as a possibility which is $14.5k/year for 4 years bringing COA down to under $22000. I think this merit scholarship may be practically automatic. Call to ask.
The named Computer Science department is accredited. You need a 2.0 to graduate.
Big 10 school (“Cornhuskers”) - lots of school spirit.
Edited to add:
I see your son’s ACT is 28, not 29. That decreases the scholarship by $5000 per year. So in this case, 1 more point is worth $20000 over 4 years.
UA-Huntsville is a strong school for CS majors. With a 29 on the ACT and a 3.2 GPA, your son would receive a 35 percent tuition scholarship for four years. If he were to retake the ACT and score a 30, it go to 45 percent.
With those scores, he will get merit money at the University of Montana and Montana State University (the better of the two for CS and engineering.) Lots of OOS kids there, close to skiing, great hiking, both campuses set in beautiful areas.
University of Denver is a good suggestion, but it’s unlikely that the price tag will be within OP’s $30K/year budget.
Kansas State University has a good program in CS. I just visited there - it’s a lovely campus and very friendly. And has football, for sure. Has some merit scholarships specifically for out of state students . Downside is that Manhattan. KS is a couple of hours from Kansas City, MO. There’s also Univ. of Kansas, which is closer to Kansas City. Also has a good reputation, but I have not visited it.
Thanks mathprof63-if I look at KSU website I only see oos scholarship for 3.5 GPA. Is that what your talking about. I know some schools have specific scholarships for different states. I’m wondering if they have that or just the one I’m seeing for General oos scholarships.
The University of Vermont has automatic merit for some out-of-state applicants, and your son might qualify with his GPA and test score.
UW-Whitewater (part of the University of Wisconsin system) has awesome sports teams: the football team regularly wins national championships and the baseball and basketball teams are really good, too. Lots of school spirit. Enrollment is approximately 11,000 students. Out-of-state tuition, room and board, and fees seem to be under $30,000. Whitewater is 50 miles from Madison, 50 miles from Milwaukee, and 100 miles from Chicago.
UMass-Amherst and especially UMass-Lowell will not have much in the way of the school spirit / sports enthusiasm your son is seeking.
Re: K-State OOS scholarship - perhaps they award some merit through the financial aid process for higher ACT scores? Not sure - you can run the stats through the NPC- some of these calculators do give some idea of potential merit aid.
Wisconsin (the Madison flagship) looks at not only the gpa but grade trends. A lousy freshman year with improving grades to a stellar junior year can make him competitive for admissions. I’m sure that is the case elsewhere as well. Stanford doesn’t even consider HS freshman year (darn- my son got a 4.0 then then slid as he was bored- ancient history by now). Look at your son’s gpa for his junior year- that tells college a lot more. Schools want students able to succeed, this means good study habits- shown by grades, not test scores. UW may be a reach for him as his current stats may be in the middle of the pack. Your son should be looking at schools where he would be with peers- this means ones where his test scores are in or close to the middle 50%, not extremely high above those of the student body.
Another consideration is what your son intends to do with his degree. Is he a Google/Amazon/Microsoft/other national player job candidate? Or is he a more local, regional future employee with a knowledge of computers? Many top tier schools are competitive for the elite firms while most schools will be fine for many places needing someone to manage their software needs. Places like insurance companies and multitudes of other firms.
Great advice wis75- and I agree he should be with his peers. The last thing I want is for him to do is to get into a school but not be able to handle it and drop out of major or school. Thanks for all the advice. I appreciate everyone giving me ideas. I’ve looked at a lot of schools I would not of looked at,
South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. Excellent education at a very reasonable price; about $22,000 at present for an OOS. Employers recruiting on campus include Microsoft, NASA and many others. Recent grads have gotten jobs at Intel and in Silicon Valley.