I’m interested in computer science, but I don’t think my credentials are good enough to get me into the top-tier schools (Stanford, Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon, etc). I’m a senior, and I’ve applied to Cal Poly, University of Washington, and four UCs. I can probably get into most of those, but they don’t offer great financial aid, so merit scholarships are the only things that will enable me to attend. I’m looking for schools that are within my range, and that I could get good financial aid at. I’m not able to pay very much per year. I live in Oregon, and OSU and PSU are my safety schools. Both have okay CS, and I could likely afford both with FAFSA, financial aid, and some scholarships from either school. Here are my stats:
4.0 unweighted GPA
2100 SAT (750 CR, 640 M, 710 W)
Good extracurriculars (among them: four years of high school soccer, two years as a volunteer barista, and three years on the newspaper)
I have will have taken six AP classes at the end of the year
AP Human Geo : 5
AP US History: 5
AP Lang and Comp: 4
AP Chem: 2
I’m currently taking AP Calc and Lit
I prefer smaller environments, around 3000-7000, but size is not a huge deciding factor, as long as it’s a good college for cs.
Well, the out-of-state publics will probably not be affordable – did you run their net price calculators? Also, Washington is probably a reach for direct admission to the CS major; students who attend Washington without direct admission face a highly competitive admission process to get into the CS major (high college GPA, essay, holistic admission).
And deadlines are coming soon. For example, the deadline at the University of Alabama for the full tuition scholarship is today; whether you can apply in time depends on what time zone they use for the deadline.
Well the UCs do give very good financial aid to CA residents. As an OOSer who needs aid you are out of luck unless you can pay at least 35k a year. Waste of time. Not even the small environment. Cal Poly you are a full payer at same rate. Why did you apply to those?
What is your FAFSA EFC and your institutional EFC and can you pay that?
I would get some apps into modest privates right away. Almost any school is fine for CS, really you will learn on your own or on the job.
You won’t get aid at UCs or most other OOS publics. Each school has a net price calculator on their financial aid website page. Go run all of those with help from your parents. You can only borrow $5,500 freshman year.
UA in Huntsville seems solid, has on campus potential for NASA work, and should come with a full tuition scholarship.
Also has a 5 year option for BS/MS.
If you will consider Texas, Trinity University is Tier I in CS per Rugg’s Guide, and with your Stats you should get the Murcheson Scholarship, which will cut tuition substantially. You will still need about $30K per year, all in.
Great school, 2400 kids, and the CS department is in their brand new $213M integrated science building.
My S is a freshman CS major there now, and loves it, and he came down from Minnesota to attend. His stats were very similar to yours.
Other schools with good Merit aid and strong CS include Denison in Ohio and St. Olaf in Minnesota.
But time is of the essence for Merit aid applications, so you will need to act quickly!
You could consider UT Dallas. You SAT looks a little low for the big tuition scholarships, but as you fall into the range, it might be worth applying. UTD is a good school for CS. With a scholarship, you would qualify for instate tuition.
I’m guessing you’ll have good career options in CS if you go to OSU. There are plenty of jobs out there. A couple of things that really help (besides studying hard/getting good grades) are getting a good internship and also whether recruiters come to your campus (and surely they do come to OSU). I suspect OSU offers better internship/recruitment opportunities than small liberal arts colleges like Denison and St. Olaf. Don’t shy away from staying in state.
On the east coast, consider Marist College, where students often get internships at nearby IBM. Out west, think about South Dakota School of Mines & Technology, an engineering school with a solid Computer Science Department. Very reasonable tuition at Mines, also. Great career placement; Boeing, ConAgra, Cummins, Cargill, United Technologies Corp., Ford Motor Company, NASA, Intel are just a few examples.
UW is a reach for CS for pretty much everyone. They usually admit people with a 3.95+ GPA and a 2250+ SAT for the CS major (and you have to have a lot of CS related ECs and essays). If you don’t get into CS, don’t attend UW (too competitive as a regular [freshman] admit)
^ Those stats are for the handful of direct admits (who are almost exclusively Washington residents, although this year there seemed to be a few OOS all stars who were offered it). Another 250 or so in each class will be admitted to the department through regular admission after completing the prerequisites. You would want to be in the top quarter of the entering class for your best chance at regular admission (assuming you apply yourself to your studies), that is, above a 3.85 UW GPA and 32+ ACT (33 M)/2100+ SAT (730 M)). Although the department’s website says that no prior CS experience is necessary, it probably wouldn’t hurt.
Yes, SMU (Southern Methodist University) is a smaller private university located in Dallas. It isn’t religious and absolutely beautiful university. They give out really nice merit offers to top students. They have a great CS department.