What CS programs should my daughter consider?

College Search & Selection
1

What schools with Computer Science programs, should my daughter be considering? Looking for safety, match and reach.
I’m especially interested if you have information on schools with great merit or generous financial aid. I would love for her to consider the best schools she can get into that won’t leave her with college debt the rest of her life. Thanks!!

Demographics: White Female, Kentucky

School: Freshman-Sophomore at probably middle of the road school. Then accepted Junior year to early college residential high school; It’s a public school but you have to apply to get in. It’s been listed by the Washington Post as one of the “Top-performing schools with elite students.”

Intended major: Computer Science

GPA: 3.94 UW / 4.17 W

ACT: 35

PSAT: 1470 (sophomore year… went down a bit junior year, not sure if she’ll make NMF)

SAT: plan to take this spring

AP Courses:
US History - 4
European History - 4

Dual Credits:
Latin I

College Classes (her junior and senior years are spent taking all college classes):

Junior Year
College Chemistry
Lab College Chemistry
Hon CS I
Hon Calculus I
Intro Psych
Hon Adv CPS
Hon Calculus II
Symbolic Logic
American Government
Latin II
English II (tested out of English I)

Senior Year (first semester scheduled, so far… need to add a class)
Biology Cell Metab Genetics
Biology Lab
Computer Science II
Intro to Discrete Math

Research: She is currently working on a research project her Psychology professor is leading. She will work on it for at least three college semesters. She will present it to a professional audience before she graduates. She is programming for her part of the research project.

ECs:

Marching Band
Jazz Band
Symphonic Band
Drama Club (performer, costume maker, set designer)
Film and TV Club
Beta Club
Gay Straight Alliance
Community Theater (performer, costume maker, set designer)
Academic Team
Arts Council Poetry Out Loud

Has volunteered several hours a year since at least middle school. Her school actually requires 60 volunteer hours to graduate with a certain distinction so she will accumulate that many during her junior and senior years.

2

As the parent, have you made the financial plan about what you can contribute for her college costs?

Have you run the net price calculators on some colleges (including in-state publics and some privates of interest)?

If the parents are divorced, check carefully about whether each college requires both parents’ information (usually with the CSS Profile non-custodial parent form) or only the custodial parent information (usually FAFSA only, sometimes CSS Profile without non-custodial parent form). Take that into account when using each college’s net price calculator.

3

We are divorced. I’m a single mom. I started to try to do net price calculators, but it’s not helpful not knowing the ex’s info. I was hoping to to get a good target list before I ask for those details from him. And for some schools I assume I’d have to know the step-mom’s info too. I want to only ask for what I really need, which I won’t know without a preliminary list. Maybe I’m doing it backwards?

4

Check out the schools in the deep south like Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Ole Miss and Miss State. As far as I know, they offer the best nonresident scholarships. Here’s what I have from the University of Alabama:

Presidential Scholar
A student with a 33-36 ACT or 1490-1600 SAT score and at least a 3.5 GPA will be selected as a Presidential Scholar and will receive $100,000 over four years ($25,000 per year). Students graduating with remaining scholarship semester(s) may use these monies toward graduate school and/or law school study at UA.

5

Of course she doesn’t want to go south of Kentucky. But I’ll add those to our list. If her college credits transfer I believe that will take 2-3 semesters off a bachelor’s degree, so I like the idea of what’s left over going towards a master’s degree. Thanks!!

6

I hear the alligators are nice down there :slight_smile:

7

Will he be cooperative with financial aid forms and paying? If not, then those colleges which require both divorced parents’ financials for need-based financial aid will not offer it. Of the super-selective schools with good financial aid, only Chicago and usually Vanderbilt do not require the non-custodial parent information.

If he will not be cooperative, your daughter’s college search must therefore focus on colleges that are affordable at list price, affordable on financial aid and use only custodial parent information, or affordable with non-need-based merit scholarships.

For large merit scholarships, see these, but verify on college web sites because some have changed:

http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/21089443/#Comment_21089443 (automatic for stats)
http://competitivefulltuition.yolasite.com/ (competitive: reach)
http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com/ (if National Merit)

There may also be in-state-only merit scholarships at your in-state public universities.

8

She is eligible to apply for a Singletary Scholarship at the University of Kentucky, which would include full tuition for four years plus $10k toward R&B the first two years. That’s not exactly a full ride the first two years, but close. And I think there are some department scholarships she might qualify for that would get to full ride for first two years only.

Her dad will be cooperative in filling out information. But on FAFSA and CSA, don’t they get to fill it out on their own login or something. I’ll just bite the bullet and ask them for all the info for net price calculators.

Thanks for all your information!

9

FAFSA only requires custodial parent information. CSS Profile has a separate login for each parent.

Obviously, if he does not want to reveal to you his financials, that can make using the net price calculator difficult at colleges that want both parents’ financials.

Perhaps your daughter can ask him for the needed information, since he may be more cordial with her than you?

10

A few notes that might be helpful:

Consider the schools with automatic merit - links provided above by @ucbalumnus. I’ve heard good things about the the Alabama and Auburn programs. Wherever you go, be careful to check the required GPA to maintain the scholarship. CS classes are hard, so a high GPA requirement is a red flag for stress.

Consider the type of environment she is looking for (size of student body, city/rural, Greek community) as well as weather and cost of travel.

The Fiske Guide to Colleges is really good to have on hand. We found it was pretty accurate at describing the vibe at each school.

UKentucky has some great in-state scholarship opportunities. https://www.uky.edu/financialaid/scholarship-incoming-freshmen, plus an Honors College http://www.uky.edu/honors/.

Choose a few reaches that may offer merit aid but it’s not guaranteed. I suggest USC because they offer some 1/2 and full tuition scholarships and they really like kids who have a wide range of interests and accomplishments. But it’s like playing the lottery - chances are there but very low. Northeastern is another school that offers a limited number of kids excellent merit.

CS is an extremely competitive major. CS programs typically have much lower admission rates than the general university. This means if a school has a 50% admission rate, their CS could be closer to 20% (or less). Have a few reaches but focus on target and safety schools. To get a better handle on chances try to isolate CS acceptances from the general acceptance rates. Sometimes this is right on the website, or you might have to ask. I recently spoke to someone who said their student had straight A’s, perfect test scores etc. and they were shocked to be denied at many CS programs where they expected acceptances.

CS programs seem to come in all shapes and sizes. There are CS programs with BS or BA degrees, within their own department or part of engineering or math, within liberal arts schools or huge universities. It makes things a little confusing when trying to compare the programs.

Always ask about retention. How many kids come into the CS program vs the number that graduate.

Look for programs that offer opportunities to partner with other departments on projects and/or in clubs.

Disclaimer - both my kids are in engineering programs, not CS, so what I’ve written above is a combination of anecdotal and practical stuff I’ve picked up during our family’s two trips down the admissions rabbit hole just to get you started.

11

Two common reasons that retention may be low:

A. There is a secondary admission process to get into the CS major or a progression requirement that includes needing a GPA substantially higher than 2.0.

B. The college is not that selective overall and for the CS major, so many students there find that CS is too hard or too much work.

Case A above is intentional weeding, usually done because of departmental capacity limitations. Case B is unintentional weeding because many of the students are not academically strong enough to handle a rigorous major. Case A is generally more of a concern for an individual student.

12

Is U Tennessee affordable? It is a relatively small program (which hurts it in the rankings), but the small size can be a feature for undergrad. I have heard some good things about the program, but a downside is that it has a low percentage of women.

We (in the computer industry) have not done a good job attracting and retaining women, but we are working on it.

One of the top female-friendly CS environments is at Tufts (just outside of Boston).

https://engineering.tufts.edu/cs/news/2018/03/women-computer-science

The attrition rate of engineering at Tufts is actually negative (more enter than leave). Part of this success is due to selectivity, part due to advising, part due to support mechanisms, part due to role models and part due to curriculum

Research in this area has indicated that women tend to be attracted to applications of computers to other disciplines (such as what your daughter is doing with psychology). Tufts supports many of these interdisciplinary areas including some associated with psychology including Cognitive Science and HCI (Human Computer Interaction).

There is a strong arts culture, with top music facilities and a strong drama department. Tufts has a pep band, but no marching band.

It is among the most gay friendly schools in the country.

It meets full need, but the income of both parents is considered

The 5 yr masters program may be interesting to you.
https://engineering.tufts.edu/undergraduate/combined

13

There really is nothing wrong with going to UK if that turns out to be the cheapest option. The CS education there will be just as good as at any of the public universities in surrounding states.

14

That’s a lot of awesome info. Thanks!