What College is Right for me? (and what is meant when people say "research")

College Search & Selection
1

<p>To begin with, I would like some help in terms of choosing a college. I want to go into Computer Science, more specifically software engineering, and have quite a few choices in mind, but have no clue about any of their backgrounds, etc., things that would influence my decision if they were known.</p>

<p>In any case, I am looking for a college that has my major (obviously :P). But besides that, I am not so much into the "party" life, which is why (in terms of undergrad) UIUC, although close and cheap, is not all that desirable of an option. At the moment, my main considerations have been Stanford, Caltech, MIT, and UIUC. Though I am suddenly finding more colleges desirable (and some previously desirable colleges undesirable) and am truly worried about making a "wrong" decision in terms of my future. Whether or not I will be accepted into said college is to be considered later, but what I want to focus on now is which college to go to provided that I am, indeed, accepted. </p>

<p>Caltech's small student-teacher ratio is quite appealing to me, as although I wouldn't have much of a problem with a lecture-style class, it seems as if that would make it more personal and rewarding. </p>

<p>Stanford is... well, Stanford! It carries a prestigious title on any job application and seems to have what I am looking for education wise. (though having a car seems helpful)</p>

<p>MIT I don't know much about, but it sounds nice. ^_^'</p>

<p>UIUC is more of a safety (I know those terms now!) and I am really not all that interested in it, but for undergrad it seems as if it will do alright being a residential state school. </p>

<p>Any input is appreciated, thank you :)</p>

<p>And... also. What is meant when people refer to "research" both in and before college? What purpose does it serve? Again, thank you.</p>

2

<p>You’ve got the ratio of reach schools to match schools backwards. Given that Standford, MIT, and Cal-Tech are reaches for anybody, you really need to include more schools below that level. </p>

<p>As for what people mean by research, you’re interested in Computer Science, one thing you might consider is looking for schools that are ABET accredited. [Accredited</a> Program Search](<a href=“http://main.abet.org/aps/Accreditedprogramsearch.aspx]Accredited”>http://main.abet.org/aps/Accreditedprogramsearch.aspx) Other research would be to see if/how extensive of cooperative programs they have for your field and if it’s something you’re interested in. Check out the actual course schedules to see what and how many courses are offered each semester. Some people what as little as possible to do with anything that is not their major so you would need to check the college’s distribution requirements–how many semesters of English would you have to take? What are the graduation rates? Given the major you’re interested in, the five year rate would be appropriate. How much financial aid do they offer? You can find different aspects of this information on the common data sets, college board website, and college navigator. As you start looking at these things in general, you’ll begin to figure out which ones are more important to you so you can narrow your search.</p>

3

<p>[Undergraduate</a> Research Topics :: Princeton Computer Science](<a href=“http://www.cs.princeton.edu/academics/ugradpgm/topics.php]Undergraduate”>http://www.cs.princeton.edu/academics/ugradpgm/topics.php)
[Choosing</a> Phd Topics in Computer Science : Dissertation Topic for your PhD](<a href=“http://www.brighthub.com/education/postgraduate/articles/84012.aspx]Choosing”>http://www.brighthub.com/education/postgraduate/articles/84012.aspx)
[My</a> career at IBM Research: Shari Trewin](<a href=“http://researcher.ibm.com/view_project.php?id=2231]My”>http://researcher.ibm.com/view_project.php?id=2231)</p>

4

<p>While you’re checking out Caltech, take a look at Harvey Mudd. All the advantages of a LAC, but the entire Claremont Consortium (5 schools contiguous to each other) worth of students, activities, and resources.</p>

<p>However, HM will not solve the problem of your ‘reach heavy’ list of schools. It too is very selective.</p>

5

<p>

This is backwards. Once you know where you got in and what kind of finances you’re looking at, THEN you decide where you’ll go. Deciding where you’re going to go before getting accepted leaves the door open for you to possibly not get in, and there go your “plans.”</p>

<p>Your goal now should be to find a nice range of schools consisting of some that you know you’ll get into no problem, some that you should get into and fit right in with the average accepted student, and some that have average student stats above yours. Find schools you like in each category, because you never know what’s going to happen. If you bank on getting into your dream, “perfect” school such as Stanford and don’t get rejected, as is the case with ~93% of their applicants, then you’re stuck.</p>

6

<p>I think when people talk about research at the undergradduate level they are talking about a lab experiment or an analytical study, most likely carried out in conjunction with a faculty member, that has been submitted, reviewed and published in a recognized academic journal. Depending on your level of involvement – which depends a lot on the professor – you may get credit as a co-author. In addition, there may be opportunities to present work you’ve done at “poster” presentations, both on campus and off; it’s like a power point presentation with posters on an easel or tacked up along a wall.</p>

<p>Needless to say, research on that level is considered an enrichment and is in addtion to your regular classroom or lab work.</p>

7

<p>Research here at CC can also refer to the research that you and your family need to be doing in order to sort through the many, many possibilities out there so that you can make a list that includes at least one dead-certain safety school that meets these four criteria:</p>

<p>1) You can pay for it without any aid other than guaranteed federally determined aid (what you qualify for by filing the FAFSA), and/or guaranteed state aid (TAP, Blue & Gold, Hope, etc.), and/or guaranteed merit-based aid offered by the college/university itself.</p>

<p>2) You are flat-out guaranteed admission because of your stats (a lot of public universities post this right on their websites) OR you are 99+% certain of admission because your high school has years worth of data indicating that no student with your profile who has applied there has ever been denied admission.</p>

<p>3) Your major is offered.</p>

<p>4) You will be happy to attend if you don’t get in anywhere else that is affordable.</p>

<p>Many students have a home-state public university or community college that meets these criteria, so they don’t have to spend much time looking for safeties. If you don’t, then you need to do the investigation necessary to identify one or two safeties for yourself. If you absolutely do not want to hunt down a safety, then come up with a good Plan B for after high school graduation - gap year, military service, whatever.</p>

<p>Do I sound cranky this morning? Well, maybe. But then I just looked at the date on the bottom of my computer screen and remembered that eleven days from now this forum will be flooded with threads along the lines of “Affordable School vs. Dream School With Whomping Amount Of Debt” and, worse yet “Didn’t Get In Anywhere, What Do I Do Now?”</p>

8

<p>Thanks you guys. :slight_smile: I definitely have quite a few safety schools (and safety-safety :o schools for that matter) and will definitely research more into them as well :)</p>

9

<p>UIUC has a very high reputation in computer science, so don’t consider it a disappointment if you go there.</p>