@iAmACynic - UCB is a great school, no doubt about it. And a steal if you’re in state. But, you’re not in state. So, you’re basically paying private school tuition for public school services. My husband went to UCLA and USC. Both were great; top notch education for sure. But, at UCLA you were pretty much on your own. Not a lot of services or hand holding. UCB will be similar. If your daughter might need a little more of that, UTD sounds like it might be a better choice (or at least be more palatable as a parent because you aren’t paying $$$). Or pay the big $$ like you would at UCB for a private school that will have more of those support services. Are there other schools she is interested in?
@iAmACynic If she interested in a “traditional college experience” I would definitely look into UCF(University of Central Florida). It’s the school that I will be going to, assuming I make NMF. It also has a pretty strong CS program and has many internship opportunities like UTD. Unlike UTD, it definitely has a more traditional feel with lots of campus events, the availability of parties (if you’re interested, I am not so I’m just opting out of that social aspect), and a huge campus population. I’d say it’s definitely worth a visit if you can. They are having another NM event in March where you can talk with processors, students, tour, etc. UTD and UCF are two VERY different schools, but I would absolutely say that they both have the support system unlike UCB. They both have an honors college to make the university feel smaller, peer advisors and NM faculty advising. UCF also matches up their honors students with a professor to act as a mentor. Both are wonderful options!
On a side-ish note- I really do understand the “if I haven’t heard of it, it must not be good” feeling about colleges. BUT after visiting UCF and UTD I really saw that this is completely untrue. These universities have amazing opportunities and you can really understand this just by talking with the students and walking the campus.
@amominaz, you are correct. No hand holding at any of those schools. We looked at Rice in Houston, but she seemed to sour on it when she found out that the CS program at Rice was not something you would write home to mother about. When I registered here to ask questions about UTD, I thought we had placed too much faith in my analysis about UTD. But what I found from all the kind folks here gives me renewed confidence that, as parents, we may not be creating a mistake for her in asking her to go to UTD. Rather, we may end up earning a BS in CS for ourselves along with her 
What do you mean by this?
If you think your D will require so much help with ‘adulting’ that you think you should get credit for her degree perhaps she should take a gap year and spend some time growing up before moving on.
If you meant it as a joke because you put a winky face on the end, I don’t get it, could you please explain???
@sewin2music thanks. No she is not a party gal and could care less if the university was big or small. I would call her thin skinned and serious for her own good and a tad righteous. All qualities that we encourage her to lose in a hurry. I guess she wanted to show that her hard work got her into a recognized school. Except that we seem to have punctured that bubble when we told her about the burden she would have to endure at any of those schools to make good grades and the insanity of the daily grind. I totally agree UTD is a great CS school and she would thrive in that nerdy environment.
@3scoutsmom She definitely has a little growing up to do to gain more life skills, including driving, and we thought about a gap year. But probably won’t need a full year. She certainly needs some free time to spread her wings and we hope to travel quite a bit this summer and she will travel with her friends as well. So, the hope is she gains some perspective. I work in software/networking myself and thought I could work with her in her gaining a deeper understanding of the subject. That would qualify me for another BS in CS, no?
It’s one thing to be young and relatively immature but it’s a whole different thing if you feel like she is going to need your help in order to be successful in CS. Maybe being away where she would have to develop her own set of personal skills and academics would be better for her than needing to work cooperatively on a degree with you. A lot of CS is labs and if she is ever caught accepting help on her work she would be in huge trouble. If she needs help she should seek out tutoring at her school.
@LOUKYDAD How exactly does the UKY Patterson Scholarship change if the student is named a finalist? I didn’t see that anywhere on their website!
It’s one thing to be young and relatively immature but it’s a whole different thing if you feel like she is going to need your help in order to be successful in CS
I said she may require some help with her life skills. Nowhere did I mention that she needs my help to be successful in CS. Not that there is anything wrong with that. If she asked me to explain a concept in-depth (I am a devops engineer), I would do that until she understood. Like your parent fixing your swim stroke until it was perfect. The parent did not win the swim competition for you, but made you a better swimmer!
A lot of CS is labs and if she is ever caught accepting help on her work she would be in huge trouble. If she needs help she should seek out tutoring at her school.
Caught accepting help for her CS labs? You think we would risk her career after college by helping her cheat on a lousy CS lab grade? I would encourage her to work on her lab herself. But if she asked me a question on how something worked, I would explain that to her. Remember, I am helping her with how inheritance works in object oriented programming, not coding her CS lab. Two different things.
Not sure how you made that end run.
@2manycollegequestions4me Patterson is an automatic award if you make finalist and choose UK as your first choice school. You just have to notify UK you made it.
If you are a SF that doesn’t progress to F then you aren’t eligible.
UTD sent a fancy email invitation yesterday advertising dates for Finalist visits. I was a little confused with the timing of that, being the letters went out recently. I felt sorry for those who may have received the email after receiving the letter. Anyone else get see that email?
@sewin2music I have an assumed NMF son with UCF at the top of his remaining 3 schools planning on a second visit to UCF in March. He plans to study CS. Would you happen to remember the date of the NM event for March? I seemed to have misplaced it and can’t find it on the website. We will be in the area (from Illinois) for Spring Break the last week of March and will schedule a visit through Luke for one of those days if the NM event isn’t while we are there. Thanks for your great posts. Very detail oriented.
@dbhawk There is a dinner on March 23 and the programed day is the 24th. Invitations will be mailed early Feb. I’m glad you found my posts helpful!!
Luke is awesome ! 
Thanks for the info. Should be a talented group of young adults starting there in the fall. Go Knights!
Completely different perspective. Son ED acceptance to Northwestern (McCormick School of Engineering) with no financial aid (expected). NMF will get at least $2,000/year. Assuming he will be one since haven’t received a “rejection” letter. Interesting the range of dollars available from private schools as a NMF.
@AltaSki64 - same for our kid last year - EDII at UChicago. $2,000 / yr college -sponsored. However, in her case they also met demonstrated need.
Your son should find out about the scholarship on or around May 1. It’ll be on his portal.
@dbhawk My son (with no rejection letter yet) also has UCF as one of his top choices as a CS major - we’re from SC - looking forward to the March visit!
@BoysInTheHouse Glad to hear another expected NMF from out of state is interested in CS at UCF. At our fall visit we were impressed. My son plans on an individual second visit a weekday during the last week in March this time.
So I see SC & Illionois, and we’re from Texas, any other states have UCF as one of their top choices?