Visited 16 colleges ..narrowed it down..Is this college list well rounded enough?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>My Son wants to major in Computer Science. Here are his stats:
GPA 3.8 uw 4.2 w
Class rank 48 out of 870 or so..top 6 %
ACT 33
All honers or AP classes.. will have taken 7 by the end of senior year hardest schedule the school offers,
EC - average community service stuff, track team and summer job and my husband civil engineering company.
State - NY
Prefers a school with Div 1 sports teams and not in the middle of nowhere( just got back from Ithaca and Cornell and he did not like like there.)
We have visited 16 schools and this is where he is applying too.</p>

<p>Boston College - 1st choice - Early Action -reach ( not sure if we should go EA or RD)
University of Richmond - Regular -low reach
U of Michigan - Early Action- reach
Butler University - Early Action - match/safety
SUNY BUffalo - Early Action- match
Marist College - Early Action safety match
The college of New Jersey - Regular - match</p>

<p>I feel like we are missing something.... </p>

<p>Thanks in advance.....</p>

2

<p>Boston College
U of Michigan </p>

<p>SUNY BUffalo
University of Richmond
Butler University
Marist College
The college of New Jersey </p>

<p>There is a large break between BC/Michigan and the other schools listed. Is there a reason he didn’t want to apply to other higher profile schools that may be easier to get into than BC/Mich? I think there should be at least one or two higher profile schools in between the top two and the rest of the pack. Maybe look at the other ACC/Big East schools if he likes D1 sports schools on the east coast. There are a few in both conferences that seem up his alley and would be targets.</p>

3

<p>Which of these is the rock-solid academic and financial safety? If he’s got one of those on his list, I say you’re done.</p>

4

<p>The only reason not to go EA would be if he just doesn’t get everything together in time. He won’t need first semester grades (which would show up for RD but not EA) to boost his record. EA would be a nice canary in the coal mine; if he doesn’t get in, he’ll have time to reconsider his list for RD.</p>

5

<p>Michigan is not a reach, more of a match. Did you check out Northwestern and Rice? Those would be good reaches. </p>

<p>Also check out Texas-Austin, Washington (Seattle) and Wisconsin-Madison as matches.</p>

<p>But honestly, your son should give Stanford a shot. It is definitely a big reach, but he does have the stats to get in.</p>

6

<p>Hi All,</p>

<p>Thanks for suggestions.</p>

<p>He application and essays are ready with a few minor changes needed. But, he is going to submit all applications by November 1st.</p>

<p>I did feel that he needed a couple more higher profile schools… but we can’t seem to find one that I think he has a reasonable shot at getting in…He like UVA but that is too difficult for out of state students. He had Villanova and Wake Forest on the list after we visited and not sure whey he took them off… </p>

<p>He likes Marist Campus and great computer science dept… but its only 20 minutes from our house and wants to go away…But I would say Marist and SUNY Buffalo would be are financial safeties… As I know he would get great Merit Aid at Marist. I think Richmond would be a good academic school that I think he has reasonable chance to get in</p>

<p>He has always mention Stanford but just felt it was out of reach… and I just mention Rice to him last night… </p>

<p>I almost think we saw too many schools and now he just wants to hit submit and go on these schools and whatever will be will be as he is burnt out… And I just want to make sure we covered everything… and I feel like we are missing something…</p>

<p>Thanks…</p>

7

<p>Have you looked at RPI and Case Western?</p>

8

<p>You could look at my thread for a similar question and some good replies by the community: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/999677-all-he-knows-he-wants-computer-engineer.html?highlight=puzzledparent[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/999677-all-he-knows-he-wants-computer-engineer.html?highlight=puzzledparent&lt;/a&gt;, although my son is more aiming for Computer Engineering. He also loved BC, but it doesn’t have engineering - we may add Tufts as a reach. The other obvious difference is we live on the west coast.</p>

<ul>
<li>PuzzledParent</li>
</ul>

9

<p>Thanks puzzledparent… will take a look…We also took a look at Tufts… he hated it… no offense to anyone but he felt like everyone was trying to save the world and that is just not him… he works hard, a great student… but rather spend free time watching any sporting event…</p>

10

<p>As has already been posted, his two reach schools are definitely “within range”. I think your son will be accepted to BC, his first choice. Even though they don’t have a school of Engineering, they do have a good CS dept. My daughter is an Eagle, in Carroll School Of Management majoring in Accounting, and absolutely loves it there! We are also from CA. Good luck to your son…</p>

11

<p>Hi I’m the son, ironic that I’m an Jets fan and she’s a giant fan.
Thanks everybody for the help.
However she doesn’t mention that I’m possibly interested in pursuing the medicine field like pharmacy which is why I’m looking at some of those schools.</p>

<p>I really like my list but I would consider adding one more REACH school but I would have no idea where I could find a school with good computer science, and a major with pharmacy or medical technology that has D1 athletics and wouldn’t cost me $40,000+/year.
UMich might cost me alot for being an OOS. I’m looking into Rice further.</p>

12

<p>Computer Science + DI athletics eliminates a lot of schools. Given that, Georgia Tech and Penn St. come to mind quickly.</p>

<p>Some privates would be Boston University, SMU, and Villanova… yeah, ask him why he took Villanova off his list. Seems a perfect match.</p>

13

<p>with these stats, what are the chances for northwestern? Is it too high of a reach?</p>

14

<p>*
He likes Marist Campus and great computer science dept… but its only 20 minutes from our house and wants to go away…But I would say Marist and SUNY Buffalo would be are financial safeties… As I know he would get great Merit Aid at Marist.*</p>

<p>Can you afford to send him wherever he gets in? </p>

<p>If not, then UMich is expensive for non-residents (CONJ might be as well). He might get some scholarship money, but I don’t know how much with an ACT 33. Do you know??? How much can you afford to spend each year?</p>

<p>BTW…how much would he get from Marist? Just curious. :)</p>

<p>If you want/need merit and your son wants to go away, shouldn’t he apply to a school or two that is OOS and would give him good merit for stats?</p>

15

<p>Marist… he would get around 20,000 in merit but would try for one of their 12 Full Rides for Computer Science. </p>

<p>I think we would get good FA at place like Richmond which are 100% need blind as are EFC is probably close to 0. Although, if I had to we could come up with about 20,000 a year.</p>

16

<p>“EFC is probably close to 0”</p>

<p>“probably” isn’t good enough. </p>

<p>“if I had to we could come up with about 20,000 a year.”</p>

<p>“if” isn’t good enough either. </p>

<p>You need to have a definite idea of how much money will be available, and where it will come from each year. You also need to know how much your EFC is going to be. Take the time to run the EFC calculators at [FinAid</a>! Financial Aid, College Scholarships and Student Loans](<a href=“http://www.finaid.org%5DFinAid”>http://www.finaid.org) and at [College</a> Calculators - savings calculators - college costs, loans](<a href=“College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools”>Calculate Your Cost – BigFuture | College Board) If you want to see just exactly how different factors affect the FAFSA, print out [College</a> Calculators - savings calculators - college costs, loans](<a href=“College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools”>Calculate Your Cost – BigFuture | College Board) and do the calculations by hand. Once you know your real numbers, you will be better prepared to determine which institutions are truly affordable for your son.</p>

<p>Your son has a very good profile. He should take a look at this thread: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

17

<p>Need blind does not mean great aid. How does a family with a possible efc of 0 afford $20k per year and $80k overall?</p>

18

<p>What about Georgia Tech, VTech, UW, UNC, Florida, Villanova, Wake Forest, Maryland or Miami. Just some schools to think about with decent academics combined with decent sports programs and good school spirit.</p>

19

<p>UVA and UNC seem like they would be good fits. Neither is located in a city but both are in excellent college towns, strong academics and DI sports programs. Can not go wrong with BC.</p>

<p>Not sure if anyone mentioned it but BC is generally harder to get into EA than regular admission.</p>

20

<p>Holy Cross, Bucknell.</p>