Which CS schools should I be looking at?

College Search & Selection
1

Hi all,

I’ve been lurking for a while and I posted this in the college search & selection as well. Having read thru numerous posts, most advised waiting until your junior year before worrying about college. So now I am a rising junior who will start school in about 4 weeks and I’m wanting to zero in on some top computer science colleges to start considering.

Current stats: 4.0uw GPA 4.5w GPA
33 ACT(8th grade) will take again
PSAT 1450(10th grade)
Class rank 1 of 604 Public HS Florida
White male

8th grade HS credit: Algebra 1 honors, Geometry honors, English 1 honors, Earth/Space honors, Physical science honors

9th grade courses: APHG, English 2 honors, Biology honors, STEM 1(Into to Engineering design), Spanish 2, Algebra 2 honors, Leadership(only freshman admitted/teacher approval only)

10th grade courses: AP World, Spanish 3 honors, Chemistry honors, Pre-Calculus honors, STEM 2(Principles of engineering), AP English, AP Computer Science A, Leadership

11th grade courses: AP US, AP Calculus BC, AP Spanish, AP Lit, Physics honors, STEM 3(Digital electronics), Leadership

12th grade courses: AP micro/macro, AP Physics, STEM 4(EDD), HOPE(graduation requirement) and not sure AP Stats, Linear Algebra or Multivariable Calculus

Awards:

STEM Alliance Scholar 9th grade
Gold Medal Florida Science Olympiad 9th grade(Captain)
TSA Nationals Qualifier Quiz Bowl 9th grade
TSA Nationals Qualifier Quiz Bowl and Computer Coding 10th grade
Honor society
DUKE TIP
Certified Gifted

EC’s/Clubs

Volleyball JV 9th/Varsity 10th Team Captain
Football Varsity 9th/10th Recruited
Class Vice President 10th grade
Class President 11th grade
TSA(Technology Student Association)
FCA
Longhorn Leadership
Approximately 200 volunteer hours(Tutoring, Church, fundraising and coordinating school events)

Florida resident. Parents make < $60,000 but pretty high assets I have a Florida prepaid scholarship to help pay if OOS. Also $4500 in scholarships so far. I am looking for a top CS school but I plan to also play football in college. I would have to consider not playing if it meant getting into a top program. I plan to get my bachelor’s degree and then enter the work force so no cost for Graduate to consider. I have run the NPC for some top schools and would come out to around $9600 per year which would mostly be covered by the FPP so that’s not a factor. If I choose to attend some public schools such as UF I would enter with about 60 credits and should also be qualified for Bright Futures.

I have been able to attend quite a few colleges to get an idea of feel/fit: UF, UCF, FAU, FIT, UNLV, Duke, Cornell, Dartmouth, Princeton, UPENN, Yale, MIT and Harvard. I feel Princeton and Dartmouth to be more of what I’m looking for in undergrad teaching, size and area so far. I am unsure at this point whether I’m leaning towards theory or AI.

2

If you play football, will you be a recruitable athlete, and for which level (D1 FBS, D1 FCS, D2, D3)?

Be aware that football is a huge time commitment in the fall semester or quarter; you may find quarter system schools preferable, since football season will overlap with 1/3 of the academic year at most quarter system schools (versus 1/2 of the academic year at semester system schools). CS courses with programming assignments and projects can be time consuming and may be more difficult to manage during football season.

Remember that not all college will be as good with financial aid as your in-state publics or super-selective private schools. Run the net price calculator on every school that you may consider. For many colleges (particularly out-of-state public schools), you may need substantial academic or athletic scholarships to afford them.

3

@ucbalumnus Yes I am a recruited athlete but I don’t want that to determine my school of choice over academics per say. Another words I would “likely” choose an MIT or CMU over a D1 college(save Stanford lol). My parents financial income puts me in good shape for Princeton or Yale and that is an option over any D2 school imo. The only Ivy school I know with a quarter system is Dartmouth but they don’t have the greatest CS program.

4

Any ABET accredited CS program should be a good choice. Umich (my school) is quite known for the CS program, but I’m not sure if the size of this place is one that you would like?

5

I would warn you that Yale SEAS is separate from Yale College and in some very picky circles might not be considered as prestigious. It is physically cut off from the main campus and I’m not even sure their undergraduates live within any of the gated Yale residential colleges which are half the reason for attending Yale in he first place. Pretty sure it wouldn’t stop you from playing football as a Bulldog, though.

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@circuitrider I guess I will have to look more into that. When I toured there in June they specifically said " each Yale College student is a member of one of the fourteen residential colleges ." I agree part of the big draw is being part of the residential colleges so if what you are saying is correct, it could change them as a consideration.

7

http://map.yale.edu/16/41.31299/-72.92452 shows Yale SEAS in what appears to be a non-isolated location relative to other things on the campus.

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@ucbalumnus Thanks that is great. It’s actually not very far from the Payne Whitney Gym where the players hang out.

9

From Wikipedia:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yale_School_of_Engineering_%26_Applied_Science
You should be good to go. :slight_smile:

10

@circuitrider Thanks for that. The campus itself is beautiful but the surrounding area not so much. Our guide described 1 particular building where a secret society meets where nobody knows how they enter the building. For some reason they have the highest water bill every month at Yale but nobody knows why. He had been nominated to join so he was pretty happy. He was an ex football player that had stop playing due to concussions. Another cool fact was that there are tutors available to anybody on campus. The tour of the Payne Whitney gym was amazing to see first hand. Looks like a church from the outside.

11

Consider Penn and Cornell for CS.
CS is the largest major at Penn SEAS and possibly at Cornell. They have very challenging programs and you will know a lot when you are done, and they have excellent placement. Cornell students are more focussed on CS. Penn students are more likely to have broader interests. D is at Penn. She has added math minor and is one class short of a statistics minor. Penn also has the NETS program that could be worth considering, but requires a separate application (www.nets.upenn.edu/).

I would strongly suggest Multi-variable calc for senior year.
That will make your life easier later. Stat is more useful, but easier to learn later if you have calculus down. D had a 5 on BC as a Junior, took MV as a senior. She did well in that class, and her Penn faculty advisor placed her out of MV calculus and directly into linear algebra and differential equations.

Assessing CS program quality
Look at the career surveys that schools publish. The better schools tend to provide more details.
Copy and paste the URLs below for the MIT and Penn SEAS surveys.

MIT: https://gecd.mit.edu/sites/default/files/about/files/2016-gss-survey.pdf

Penn: http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/files/2016_Senior_Survey.pdf

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@Much2learn Great info thank you.

13

One thing I found fascinating and I’d be curious to hear opinions on is the fact that undergraduates from Penn go straight into the work place at a 76% clip while MIT students go at a 52% rate. Furthermore MIT students go on to graduate school at 37% while 20% for Penn. Quite a difference for some reason.

14

Now we know where Keebler cookies come from.

15

Lol they joked either waterfalls or beer.

16

@Luska19
Penn students tend to be hands-on, practical and not overly theoretical. A legacy passed down directly from Benjamin Franklin. Many Penn students want to get some work experience before deciding about graduate school.

Additionally, about 1/4 of Penn students are business or nursing majors. Those students are probably less likely to go directly to graduate school. Many will go back to college for a graduate degree, often an MBA, after they get a few years of experience.

17

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with Yale CS. If you can get in and you like the school more than other schools, go there. Yale was one of the pioneers in AI, and their joint program in CS and Psychology looks pretty interesting.

18

Bump