Target CS Schools

<p>I am searching for target schools that have solid computer science departments. Here is my info:</p>

<p>Applying for computer science, out of state for all public schools listed.</p>

<p>ACADEMIA:</p>

<p>Freshman GPA: 3.52
Sophomore GPA: 3.52
Junior GPA: 3.75 W, 3.7 UW
Overall GPA: About 3.6</p>

<p>SAT Critical Reading: 610
SAT Math: 680
SAT Writing: 680
Total: 1970</p>

<p>My School does not rank.</p>

<p>AP Courses:
Biology (This year)
Computer Science A (Next Year)
Economics (Next Year)</p>

<p>3 letters of recommendation (math teacher, club advisor, guidance counselor)</p>

<p>EXTRACURRICULAR:</p>

<p>President of Support our Soldiers Club
-Interviewed WW2 Veteran, contributed to National Archive</p>

<p>100 hours of Red Cross Volunteer work
-Office management, computer database organization, phone duty, etc.</p>

<p>4 Years of Varsity Swimming
-Not a recruit!</p>

<p>Member of School Atmosphere Committee
-Group of students selected by faculty
-Helped create a video to send to New England Board of Accreditation to display information about our school
-Spread word about school ideals and beliefs in various ways</p>

<p>HOOKS:</p>

<p>I am of Hispanic descent.</p>

<p>I will not be applying for financial aid (?).</p>

<p>You could look into Georgia Institute of Technology? They have a highly ranked CS program, and your SAT scores are in their ranges.</p>

<p>Also try University of Washington, even though you’re probably out of state. They have a good undergrad CS program, as well, but I do think you need to apply to get into the program. Your scores are in their ranges, although being out of state could hurt you.</p>

<p>UC Berkeley also has a strong CS program, and your scores are in range, but you’re also out of state.</p>

<p>People with more knowledge on this subject can help you better than I can, but hopefully I got you started!</p>

<p>Thanks for your info, I will definitely apply to Tech and Washington. Berkeley is a bit of a reach though, and I already have reach schools.</p>

<p>*Overall GPA: About 3.6</p>

<p>SAT Critical Reading: 610
SAT Math: 680
SAT Writing: 680
Total: 1970</p>

<p>*</p>

<p>Your GPA might hurt you at GT, but since you’re an OOS student paying full freight, it may accept you. However, you really need to tour GT, many don’t like it after touring.</p>

<p>73% had h.s. GPA of 3.75 and higher</p>

<p>Does anyone know if GT looks much at the Writing score of the SAT? Or does it weight the Math + CR more heavily?</p>

<p>Did you look at Purdue or Santa Clara? Or one of the Cal Polys?</p>

<p>What are your safeties?</p>

<p>what else do you want in a school?</p>

<p>@mom2collegekids:</p>

<p>I have visited Tech and loved it. It’s definitely my top choice.</p>

<p>Does anyone know if GT looks much at the Writing score of the SAT? Or does it weight the Math + CR more heavily?</p>

<p>Not sure on this, but collegeboard.com says they consider it so I would assume it’s weighted equally with CR. Obviously math is the most important section at this school.</p>

<p>Did you look at Purdue or Santa Clara? Or one of the Cal Polys?</p>

<p>Yes, I will be applying to Purdue. As for the others, I would prefer to stay east of the Mississippi River.</p>

<p>What are your safeties?</p>

<p>I am considering Purdue and Virginia Tech as safeties. </p>

<p>What else do you want in a school? </p>

<p>I am open to everything, just preferably not in a very rural area.</p>

<p>Any others?</p>

<p>Try these top schools:</p>

<p>[Computer</a> Science College Rankings](<a href=“http://education-portal.com/computer_science_college_rankings.html]Computer”>Computer Science College Rankings)</p>

<p>Wisconsin Madison. More lively than GT and better CS program.</p>

<p>[Bill</a> Gates surprises students as “stand in” professor (Oct. 12, 2005)](<a href=“http://www.news.wisc.edu/11679]Bill”>Bill Gates surprises students as “stand in” professor)</p>

<p>RPI (rensselear polytechic institute) is a college with strong comp sci; you have a reasonable shot in getting in.</p>

<p>Thanks for the suggestions.</p>

<p>Also UW has some merit money for minority students</p>

<p>WPI (Worcester Polytechnique Institute)</p>

<p>Also, some of the co-op program schools, if you are interested in that:</p>

<p>Northeastern
RIT (safety for you)
Drexel (another safety for you)</p>

<p>@dadinator: Thanks for the recommendations. I looked into WPI and it looks like a great candidate school for me.</p>

<p>Also, second previous recommendatiion by buffaloherd of RPI (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute).</p>

<p>If your idea of fun does not include women. Or a nice city with things to do beside study.</p>

<p>I visited RPI and could see myself there. I’m pretty easy to please, I’m looking at polar opposite schools like Penn State and Stevens. As long as it has a good, accredited CS program and strong job placement I’m OK.</p>

<p>penn state CS program is not accredited, so I have been told.</p>

<p>UMaryland CP as well. RIT has a good track record in terms of job placement as well.</p>

<p>Computer Science accreditation is not considered much of an issue in Computer Science. For example, for the top 4 CS programs, MIT and Berkeley are accredited, and CMU and Stanford are not.</p>

<p>I would ask yourself some hard questions before you go to a school that might potentially eat you for lunch. </p>

<p>How strong of a math student are you? The 680 M is a little on the low side if used as an indication of how successful you will be in the most competitive CS departments. You can still be very successful in CS, but you probably want programs that are more applied than theoretical. </p>

<p>I would avoid Stevens, I’ve looked at it before and it seems the course requirements match the professor’s interests rather than what you really need to be successful. If I recall, they require a whole course in microproramming, whereas at most schools it’s a unit of a computer systems course. </p>

<p>I think that you can get into Georgia Tech, but that’s a brutal school, and I’m not sure you would thrive there. </p>

<p>I recommend Northeastern, WPI and RPI. A 5yr coop program at Northeastern would be fantastic in my opinion because they would get you Co-ops in the Boston area and as you work in industry, you will see the value (or lack of value) of courses that you want to take. </p>

<p>Wisconsin and Penn State seem like pretty good options too. I don’t know if you have the numbers to get into Wisconsin, though you should get into Penn State. I wouldn’t rule out UMASS either. I know here in Massachusetts, it has the “Zoo MASS” reputation as a party school, but in CS in particular, it’s very highly regarded. </p>

<p>Finally, a school that might seem like a bizarre option, but actually has one of the largest CS departments in North America is the University of Waterloo in Ontario Canada. I think they have a software engineering option, coops and there is a large “technology” center in Waterloo-Kitchner where Research-In-Motion is located. It’s also very well respected among graduate schools. It might be pretty brutal too, but you should check it out.</p>