I’m rising senior. I have 3.9(unweighted)GPA and 30 on ACT. Extracurricular is math club( I hosted AMC and HIMCM), interact club(vice president in senior year), and youth for unity. Also, some volunteer hours.
I am making college list and I can not really decide the colleges I want to apply. I strongly want to get a job right after I graduate. Also, I want to major in computer science. I heard that research universities don’t teach programming language a lot and schools in cities have advantage of getting jobs. I want to get some suggestion for my college list. I prefer California and New York(home state).
*Because I am international student(Korean), I am also interested in getting visa after graduation and diversity in college.
Computer science degree with a good record with any decent university leads to good jobs, right after the BS degree, these days. I don’t know where you got `research universities don’t teach programming languages a lot’ … it is true that a stronger the student group, you spend less time going over syntax etc. (and have students learn that on their own for completing projects).
`Schools in cities have advantage of getting jobs’ … I suppose there is some advantage being in a city with major tech. employers, like San Jose or Austin, because of ease (and lower cost) of running an on-site interview. But tech employers are looking hard and won’t overlook graduates of a good program like UMass Amherst or Purdue or Penn State.
Now comes the hard part. Getting sponsored for a visa (H1B). This is quite hard these days with a bachelor’s degree, but becomes easier with MS degree. You may want to look at schools with a BS/MS program where you graduate with an MS degree within 5 years of starting your undergraduate (and plan for additional cost of attending school for 1 or 1.5 years).
I have never heard 5 year program! Thank you so much. I will consider that.
So your recommendation is 1) Go to competitive universities and graduate with BS degree or 2)Go to moderate competitive universities and do five year program right?? Because I searched about five year program and most of schools require 3.5 or higher GPA to get in. I think that means I should be the head of a dog not the tail of a lion.
*Also, I’m thinking about some SUNY schools, but I didn’t see SUNYs a lot when I searched about computer science major. Is SUNY(Stony Brook, Buffalo, polytech) not good as much as UMASS Amherst??
I don’t think a 5-year MS is necessary for someone who wants to work right out of college in computer science/software development. That could be interesting for someone who was interested in getting an MS for some specific reason, but a regular 4-year BS is more than sufficient for working in the field in the vast majority of entry level positions.
Ordinarily, you don’t need to go to a “competitive university” in order to get a job out of college with a BS in computer science (or anything really). Many good colleges will do, and getting the job is really more about what you do in college and what kinds of skills and experiences you have when graduating. I don’t know if needing a visa complicates things in that regard, though.
You will learn at least one programming language wherever you major in CS; that’s usually a core course. And being in a city isn’t necessarily a prerequisite for getting a job - there are many more rural universities with strong reputations in CS (like UIUC). However, being in a city may help you with getting an internship and/or getting involved with professional organizations and networking.
Getting the H-1B will be the challenge, since there are a limited number available. There are more H-1Bs available for those with a Master’s degree from a US university, so it wouldn’t be right to think a Bachelor’s from a competitive university is the same as a Master’s from a less competitive university.
You can still try to find a job that will sponsor you for an H-1B after you get your Bachelor’s, but it would be easier (though not guaranteed) if you had a Master’s. I hope that made sense.
Your point about BS degree being sufficient is correct for domestic students. However, for international students needing H1B (and subsequently green card) sponsorship, MS degree makes a big difference. There are separate quotas and different rules for STEM MS (and PhD) holders.
Thank you so much about H1B information. I am keep looking up for colleges which provide five year BS/MS program. While I’m doing research, I saw BA/MS computer science program. Does BA and BS have lots of difference?? It doesn’t look big difference but I just want to make sure about BA degree.
Also, I made college list!!! It is not final version but I just want to get some feedback about it.
Dream
NYU(w/ FA),
Match
UW Seattle, PSU University Park, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, SUNY Stony Brook
Safety
SUNY Buffalo, WSU, Mercy College
I don’t know why there are lots of public schools but this is what I made. I really want to go to school that is in urban. Again, thank you for your replies.
I have some complex family problem about paying tuition. So I am applying to colleges that I have to pay full tuition and colleges that I can get need based/merit scholarships( UT Dallas, UT Austin, Perdue, Lewis & Clark College, Loyola Marymount University, University of Mississippi Oxford, UNC Charlotte, Scripps College) Well, thank you about your fast reply!
Your chances of merit at many of those schools with your stats and being international are highly unlikely. You need your financial picture to be crystal clear and you need to look at schools for your stats, and take out the reaches (UW, UT, for a start,merely based on stats).
@Sybylla
So I should find more safety schools right? Like Mercy College and WSU? If you know any college that fits me, please tell me. I am keep searching for universities and cannot really find the schools ;(
(Also, my family’s income is about $50k so I’m eligible for most of need based scholarships.)