I am a current senior who is trying to narrow down my college choices, for the schools I have been accepted to. I will not receive any need-based aid, so comparing merit offers would be helpful. I am a first generation student, so my family is insistent on paying the least of the EFC, leaving me with little hope of reaches.
Here is where I have currently been accepted.
GT (Georgia Institute of Technology) (Stamps Finalist - Waiting for final interviews, but have Gold In-state tuition at least - Computer Engineering- mainly my first choice, will know official award in March)
Northeastern (computer engineering and computer science - no official letter yet but not likely anything)
Case Western Reserve (25k /yr merit - I like how they are gearing their programs for new fields like AI and ML)
Colorado School of Mines (14k /yr merit - School of CS - really like location)
RPI (Computer and Systems Engineering - Medalist 30k/yr and 5th year masters scholarship - I like how the program allows you to duel major in CS)
University of Utah (- Honors Program - have not yet received aid)
Clarkson (scholarship to cover full tuition. - computer engineering)
University of Rhode Island ( Chemical Engineering - state school - tuition would be 9k and would need to pay room and board )
Waiting to Hear From a few others and reaches: /U of Washington/ U of Florida /Cornell / Brown / Carnegie Mellon / U of Rochester
Need to know the all-in costs to recommend but GT sounds like your best option. All are good options though. There’s a large mix to your list. Big, small, urban, rural, east, west…what things are you looking for? Golden, Colorado is beautiful.
Consider that if you have AP/dual enrollment credits that transfer you can knock off a semester or two which can be huge. State schools seem to be more generous. S20 carried 51 credits to GT last fall. Not saying that’s the best route but it’s an option. Although if you have in-state tuition I’d go the full 4 years.
Also hard to tell at the moment but some schools offer study abroad and tuition is usually at the in-state rate.
Remember to add travel costs. They can add-up with flights, Uber, etc. Consider a minimum of 2 round trips every year. Throw-in holidays and breaks too to be safe.
Some other ways to narrow choices are to look at and compare the specific program courses, the enrichment opportunities (i.e. the study abroad a previous poster mentioned), how much of a partner the institution will be in helping you secure internship/co-op opportunities, and to ask to be connected with some recent graduates in your program to ask them about their job search (how well they were prepared for their job, how their degree from that institution was received by the companies they were applying to, whether the school’s alumni network was helpful in opening up doors, etc). I would also look at what support is offered to first gen students too.
Great suggestion. Drill down into each school and their requirements for the major and to graduate. If S20 had done that from the beginning rather than after acceptances he probably could’ve dropped a few applications. One of his schools had considerably more required classes to graduate rather than electives. He didn’t like the options.
Thank you, with my APs this year I should hopefully have about 50 credits, and duel-enrollment transfer is huge. Thank you! definitely something to consider for out of major classes.
@Eeyore123 is correct. Carrying extra credits doesn’t automatically mean you’ll graduate early. You need to make sure they fulfill requirements. Pretty much all schools list which AP/IB classes and scores will transfer. I believe AP Stats doesn’t get credit at GT. They also have a handy tool to lookup classes at other colleges and the corresponding GT class and if it transfers.
Then there’s the how well do AP classes “actually” prepare you for college? Probably depends on your high school and your major. For S20 he doesn’t have to take the usual English comp, History, Social Science classes. We’ll see how well Calc BC prepared him. On paper he can graduate in 3 years but we aren’t banking on it, especially with internships or study abroad.
I think public schools are more lenient than private schools with transferring credits which makes sense.
I want to urge you.
(a) If you get many transfer credits - you’ll expose yourself to more
difficult courses early increasing the stress of already pretty stressful
schools/programs.
(b) DO NOT BE IN THE RUSH TO GRADUATE EARLY - just take more graduate courses, maybe get a masters in 4 - 4.5 years.
Stay in college for full 4 years - these are the best years of your life!!!
Cannot agree more, take courses outside of your major and explore. The world needs computer scientists and alike who know the technical sphere, and especially those who also know the humanistic sphere and understand the connections and inter-dependency of the two.
Thank you everyone for all your help during this process. I am grateful for the now brainless decision. I have accepted a full ride Stamps Scholarship to G Tech!