So I have been accepted to the University of Washington and their honors program as a pre-science major, though I applied for computer science. I was also accepted to Northeastern for computer science. Both universities seem to have great CS programs, but I am slightly worried that I won’t be able to get into the CS program at Washington. I’m wondering if being in the honors program help my chances of getting in. Also, I have heard great things about the co-op program at Northeastern, and was wondering if Washington’s was as good for CS.
Hi, @Tatious. Congrats on your admission to two great schools! If you are definitely set on computer science and all other things are equal (tuition/fees, location preferences, etc.) I would go for Northeastern. You have a spot already guaranteed and won’t have any hoops to jump through later. UW’s program is still competitive even after you are in to the school and I don’t think the Honors program distinction will help improve your chances later on.
I used to recruit undergrads for a tech company and know that both UW and Northeastern were some of the top schools where we went to find CS students! Northeastern’s co-op program is great and tons of students work for companies in Seattle and the Silicon Valley while finishing their degrees. UW doesn’t have the same robust co-ops program, but of course many students are doing the more traditional summer internships.
UW department’s website says, “The Department of Computer Science & Engineering admits approximately 200 students per year. We typically have space for approximately 40% of students who apply. Cumulative GPAs of admitted students generally range from 3.4-4.0. The minimum GPA to be considered for admission is a 2.5 average in prerequisite courses.”
There is something to be said for the certainty provided by Northeastern, but if you were accepted to the UW Honors Program, which has a middle 50% unweighted GPA of 3.87-4.00 and SAT of 1950-2200, and assuming you continue to apply yourself to your studies in college, I would think you could hang with any applicant to UW’s world class, top ranked CS and CE departments.