This summer she is working in the computer science field and summer pay is very good. Kid is gung ho about majoring in computer science. We know Ivies, and MS due to great need based aid.
Can not apply to UUIC, Berkeley, Georgia Tech and UT at Austin as they all are OOS for us. Can not afford them even if admitted. Do these universities give merit based aid???
I can see RPI, WPI, Smith College.
Any other suggestions are welcome. Thanks
Both WPI and RPI give some merit, but neither school meets the demonstrated financial need of ALL admitted students. According to last years data from the US NEWS the percent of need met by matriculating students are:
MIT meets 100%,
Smith College meets 100%,
Lehigh meets 97%
CMU meets 85%,
WPI meets 81%,
RPI meets 80%,
Stevens meets 68%
I don’t know much about Smith except it is a very highly regarded school with a new engineering program launched 13 years ago. It takes a lot of money and time to build the extensive labs and in depth faculty required in the engineering fields. The other schools are listed as they have well established majors in fields related to CS, such as computer engineering and robotics.
WPI in particular has been working hard to improve the male/female ratio with FA assistance. They launched a widely innovative and internationally recognized program to meld multidisciplinary thinking and design into project work over 40 years ago. All BS students also take 18 semester hours of study which utilizes a thematic approach in the humanities. This amounts to an integrated minor in the humanities. Starting with this entering class, all students also receive $5,000 in tuition assistance to participate in over 40 off-campus project centers. For a clearer explanation, check out https://www.wpi.edu/project-based-learning/wpi-plan.
I was attending WPI when this new program was launched and it has been laboratory tested! In 2016 the Institute and four faculty members received National Academy of Engineering’s highest award for these educational innovations (see https://www.nae.edu/Activities/Projects/Awards/GordonPrize/GordonWinners.aspx#tabs). :bz
Would your in-state publics with good CS departments (e.g. Stony Brook if you are in NY, Rutgers if you are in NJ) be affordable?
What is your budget per year?
What is your daughter’s GPA and test scores?
@ucbalumnus yes she will be applying to SUNY Stony Brook and yes that 20K is what we will pay.
Case Western offers merit. But it will be hard to get down to 20K.
thanks @retiredfarmer for the links. @ thanks @intparent
You know how to run net price calculators on each college website, right? Usually on the financial aid page, tells you what you might pay at that college. If you give us her stats, we might have more suggestions (unweighted GPA, test scores, any info like if she is a URM or athlete).
@intparent here is some info
Kid has top SATS/SATII and GPAs. My third kid will be applying to college next year. She is currently attends an elite boarding school on full need based financial aid. She is top 10%. School does not rank. Two older daughters attended same boarding school and Harvard on full need based aid. Harvard was very generous with need based aid.
When I ran Net Price Calculator based on projected income, HYP were all 11K and MIT and Stanford were $20K. Other ivies and other great computer science schools are 25K. Other ranked computer science schools are OOS and therefore may not be able to afford as it is out of our reach like Berkley, UUIC, Georgia tech etc. We are still looking for other merit based scholarships too.
Kid is gung ho about majoring in computer science.
How does Harvey Mudd look? I’m going to guess in the $25K range (and it is still a reach, even with top stats).
Yes Harvey Mudd will be one of the schools that she will apply.
A regular 'ole SUNY in CS will do the trick. It’s not really the school or really the CS major…just make sure to take the following:
If you cannot take Operating Systems, Database Systems or Computer Networks…industry certifications in Linux and Oracle will also help…IF employment is favored over academia/research.
I think these are pretty dated in terms of the industry caring about them for CS. Different for IT likely.
Otherwise, good advice, though it sounds like the OP will end up selecting a different option.