The student in question is currently a Sophomore, so UC costs may be even higher when and if they apply. Sounds like UCSD is not an option even at $45K which is where some of the Cal states are currently at in COA.
2 Likes
Appreciate everyone’s feedback, thank you very much. We are in Missouri but the local option would be University of Kansas, which would be ~24K/yr. I have a daughter as well who is currently a freshman at Smith. She got merit aid as well as financial aid to bring the cost to 50K. As he is a soph I know it’s early, but he is struggling to even put a list together for visits. First it was MIT only, but I think I convinced him it was kind of ridiculous and he wasn’t willing to pursue all of the activities in HS a competitive application would require there. UCSD was the first school he found on his own, has also mentioned Berkeley(ridiculously hard also). He’s always said he wants to live in California. Trying to find options for him. He likes playing sports but doesn’t care about watching them. It annoys him that most of his friends don’t really care about school. I think he’s hoping to surround himself with more studious peers. He doesn’t really care about old, traditional he likes newest, most technically advanced. My daughters bf is at UW and we looked at that for my daughter, but didn’t apply. Maybe that is a possibility?
I’m kind of rambling trying to answer various questions. Really appreciate the info and suggestions. I think he likely ends up at KU, but trying to come up with options I can afford and he can get into. I would look at 40 or maybe even 50, but no more than that. I imagine it prices me out of most California options. He’s been to SD, LA, SF on vacation and loved all of it, but it’s vacation. I do have some family in San Jose. Maybe something like UC Vera Cruz?
There’s many many OOOS options you can likely afford at your budget and for CS it likely matters less where you go. CA may be tough though. But Arizona is close !! How bout k State or Iowa State. Or schools in the South?
KU Honors is highly rated.
Best of luck.
The UC OOS price is above $50,000. UCs give no merit for the most part so it would be hard to get to a $40-50 price range. How about San Diego State? Our Cal State system is more affordable that our UC system. Also, maybe look at some private schools in CA that offer merit for high stat students. That might fall in your range. California is a beautiful place to go to school, however, remember to factor in the high cost of the rental market in many of our UC and Cal State school areas.
1 Like
UC Vera Cruz, no UC Santa Cruz is still a UC with the hefty price tag and no need-based FA so as I stated previously you should expect to pay full fees which will be close to around $70K+ by the time he applies.
CS is a very marketable major and I understand his desire to go to school somewhere different and possibly warmer. He does not need to go to a top school to do well in the CS field.
As mentioned by several posters including me, Cal States will get you under the $50K range except for Cal Poly SLO. San Jose State would meet your budget and has a well respected and competitive CS program. Their graduates are highly desired and the location is perfect for any tech graduate. Santa Clara University is also in San Jose with a very good CS program.
Some California private universities where he could get some merit to bring down costs could work. I mentioned Loyola Marymount, Occidental, Chapman, University of San Francisco, University of San Diego, University of the Pacific, Harvey Mudd, Pomona College, Claremont McKenna to name several.
I would have him do further research and run some NPC’s just to get some estimates. Since you have time, things can change.
Arizona State and University of Arizona are popular schools which give good merit for competitive students. Oregon schools such as University of Oregon and Oregon state. University of Washington CS program is also a great option but again highly competitive with admit rates for OOS applicants below 5%.
3 Likes
It is much more uncommon to find college kids who don’t care about school. I would be careful about labeling that as studious. As was mentioned up thread, there are schools where students have very active social lives (UofA, ASU, SDSU) but where they also care about their studies and doing well in school. I’ll throw UCSB into that list of schools as well.
1 Like
Californian here. It’s expensive to be here - especially if you have student loans, or have paid extra money to attend college from out of state.
If your son is very serious about living in California, and is already considering his college options, then he should research top CS programs he can get into (in any state) that will be affordable options (via merit). Merit is hard to get and he needs to understand the profiles of accepted (and not accepted) students. Many CS schools are reputable. He needs to find one where he can get exceptional experiences that recruiters on campus will notice.
Then, at his college he’s attending, strive to get competitive internships each summer with firms that interest him (some pay very well). Or find a firm that will take him for the summer (a small start-up doing cutting-edge work, for example).
Currently a sophomore that’s soft on ECs and no hooks? He has time to build up his life skills, which will build his character, and then can be listed as ECs. He can start to find relevant comp sci volunteering/work experience now (helping others with their computer needs, a job at a repair shop, building code, etc.).
He has time now to see just how impacted this major is, and how competitive the student profiles are at any schools he wants to apply to for CS. Whatever school he gets into, he should take a rigorous course load and get work experience each summer that makes him stand out.
Lots of people move here after graduation for tech jobs. With good grades and work experiences, he can improve his chances of being one of them.
4 Likes
Basically, I agree with @GumbyMom (I got distracted and she posted most of my recs).
San Diego State (about 31k undergrads) seems like a good option to consider, based on what you’ve indicated about your son. But for the most part, I think that private schools in California are going to be your best bet to meet budget.
Very reachy admissions for all
-
Cal Tech: about 1k undergrads. Very reachy, but if he gets in, then I think the financial aid will probably work out
-
Claremont Consortium, made up of 5 colleges, has about 5k undergrads total, so they’re small school that combined feel more mid-sized. These are generally considered generous with financial aid.
-
- Harvey Mudd: about 900 undergrads
-
- Claremont McKenna: about 1400 undergrads
-
- Pomona: about 1800 undergrads
-
U. of Southern California: About 21k undergrads
More attainable admissions (where merit and/or financial aid might bring them within budget)
-
Chapman: about 7700 undergrads
-
Loyola Marymount: About 7100 undergrads
-
U. of San Diego: About 5700 undergrads
-
U. of San Francisco: about 6k undergrads
-
U. of the Pacific: About 3300 undergrads
1 Like
Anecdotally… my son has a lot of friends applying for CS at CA schools this year, and it sounds like Chapman has been offering excellent merit aid. CS admission is really tough at many schools in CA. The kids seem to think Chapman hits a sweet spot of a desirable school that is also likely to admit and give merit to a strong applicant.
2 Likes
My son is at UCSD CS. But SDSU is one of his top choices. So, if your son wants to be in CA and can afford COA about $45,000, I will say it is worth taking a look at SDSU and Cal Poly Pomona.
I am sharing his profile so your son may be using it as a guideline for the EC choices and AP courses during high school.
High School: CA public, about 2000 students, 500 in the graduating class (2021)
GPA: 4.23 weighted. Top 9% of his HS.
AP courses: AP Chem, AP Physics 1, AP Physics Mechanics, AP Physics E&M, AP Com Sci, AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, AP US History. All A’s, except B in Physics 1.
Community College dual enrollment: Data Structure, Assembly Language
EC’s: 4 years of HS Robotics Club (Secretary in 11th grade and President in senior year), Lead programmer for his club, Led team in robotics competitions, FIRST Tech Challenge Dean’s List Semifinalist, AP Scholar Award, volunteer tutor for middle/hs low income students, worked as a tutor at Mathnasium, First-degree Black Belt & medalist in Karate. He also lived aboard for 3 years during middle school and participated in robotics competition in Taiwan.
Here are where he applied and got accepted to CS or Computer Engineering: UCSD, UCSC, SDSU, Cal Poly Pomona, Colorado School of Mines.
Here are where he applied CS and got rejected: UCLA, Rice, Harvey Mudd, Carleton, UCSB, Cornell (S&L), Cal Poly SLO, UCI
As you can see from my son’s result - more rejects than admits. Your son will need to build a better EC choice related to CS for his junior and senior year, and takes available AP STEM courses offered at his high school. Good luck!
1 Like
Applying CS direct admit to UW is insanely difficult as an OOS student–here are the admit rates found on UW’s website for Fall 2021:
Washington resident: 27%
OOS: 3%
Int’l: 4%
Overall: 9%
When they upgraded facilities and expanded program several years ago, they specifically talked about the benefits accruing to in-state students, which are not known to a lot of OOS applicants (including us) and would have saved us the application fee and DS the time for writing the supplemental essays had we known then. DS and his 2 high school classmates who were accepted into Caltech CS and Stanford CS from two years ago were all rejected by UW CS and offered Pre-Sciences only with Purple & Gold scholarships of $3K per year.
1 Like
What are the attributes that he likes about UCSD? Is it the surrounding environment (weather, beach proximity, etc), or is it the “vibe” of the school itself (rigor, studious student population, residential colleges, etc)?
Coming to California from out of state can be pretty pricey. As others have said, there are some excellent CS programs in the CSU system, including San Jose State.
A California-adjacent option with strong CS (and lots of new construction on campus - for example, https://www.architectmagazine.com/project-gallery/university-of-nevada-reno-university-arts-building ) is U of Nevada, Reno, which is only about 15 miles from the CA border, close to Lake Tahoe and the nearby ski resorts. It’s about a 2.5 hour drive from Sacramento. The “sticker price” is about the same as the CSU schools, but with better merit aid. UNR has an Honors College with its own residential community, which could supply the more studious environment you’re looking for.
Similarly (but a bit farther from California), check out the Honors Colleges at both U of Arizona and U of Utah, as tsbn already suggested.
If your son is interested in business as well as CS, check out the Raikes School of Computer Science & Management at UNL, which would be extremely affordable with midwest reciprocity. It’s a cohort honors program with a core curriculum spanning business, CS, and design; within that framework, students can elect any related major including CS. https://raikes.unl.edu/ Lincoln is a very student-friendly small city.
I’m not clear as to whether you’d qualify for need-based aid at full-need-met schools. A new CA option that meets need is the Northeastern University satellite campus, formerly Mills College in Oakland. Northeastern University Oakland | Undergraduate Admissions
Thanks again for all the great info, especially the willingness to share your sons profile. My son has 3 APS under his belt (CS I, CS II, Physics) and is ranked 3/473 in his class. Next year he starts IB classes. No test scores yet, but soon, April. He needs to step up his ECs, especially as it relates to CS. He plays Varsity Tennis and Soccer while putting in quite a few hours with Chinese Honor Society. Not much CS related though. His school has a great Robotics program, but he’s not interested.
I didn’t realize UW CS is so crazy competitive. My daughters friend is a psych major. Don’t see us applying there.
As far as why he likes UCSD, it’s a good question. He loves California, in particular SD as we went for vacation a couple of times. He likes that it seems modern (library) and is noted for CS. Not sure it’s any more than that at this pt, he’s 15. Also he thinks it’s an easier path to Silicone Valley than the Midwest.
Of course, CS is the most competitive major to get into at SJSU. While many majors there admit frosh with HS GPA of 2.6, CS needed a 4.3 or so in recent years (HS GPA as recalculated with limited weighting for honors and AP courses). See here for fall 2023 admission thresholds (the admission index is HS GPA * 800 + applicable extra points).