Hi, I am a current freshman at NYU Tandon majoring in computer science and I am looking to transfer to another college my sophomore year because of many reasons (a lack of a cohesive campus community, etc.) Some of the top choices on my list are UPenn SEAS, Brown, Columbia Engineering, and Stanford but I do not know much about the specific details of their CS programs. What are some reasons that make these schools better (than NYU) for computer science? Anything from course breadth to CS clubs to research would be of great help! Also any non-CS-related reasons why these schools would be a better choice would be greatly appreciated (other than rank/prestige)! I know that each person has a different fit and preference, but general reasons such as a more intimate relationship with professors, greater attention given to students, etc. are also good! Thank you in advance.
For the CS departments, yes. These 4 are better than NYU CS because of the reasons you listed. But for students, maybe or maybe not. CS depended on your skills and ability.
Do you know San Jose State University? The university doesn’t have national rank but the CS students in that university have no difficulty to find a job in Silicon Valley, many of them go to Google, Apple, Cisco or some big companies like that.
What are the specific characteristics of each CS department that sets it apart from NYU/other colleges?
I haven’t heard of it, but I know that NYU also sends some of its students to big tech companies. I was more curious about the learning and college experience (both CS-related academics and campus life) of the 4 colleges mentioned.
I doubt that anyone on this forum has direct experience with all four schools.
You might want to browse their online course listings and faculty bios, then visit the final contender(s).
Keep in mind that many “elite” universities are even more selective for transfers than for first year, first time admissions. Some of them may be looking for certain kinds of life experience. Stanford, for example, seems to favor military veterans in transfer admissions; recent admission rates have been about 1-2%.
https://news.stanford.edu/2017/11/01/small-mighty-cohort-transfer-students-joins-stanford-community/
From over in my corner it looks as though you didn’t do as well as you hoped/expected in the first go at college admissions, ended up at a safety and are now looking to “trade up”. But you don’t really have any good reasons (except, ofc, rank / prestige) so you are trying to get other people to help you write your essay / justify why Shinier Name college has an objectively better program.
I’m not a big rankings person, but it doesn’t help your case that CS at NYU actually outranks 1 of the places you list, and is bunched pretty tightly with 2 more (Stanford is notably higher in the rankings- but as @tk21769 pointed out, it’s transfer admission rate is 1-2%). There are a bunch of places you aren’t looking at that are higher ranked for CS than NYU and would be likely to welcome you, but (perhaps coincidentally?) aren’t as shiny names (flagship state universities heavily feature in the top 20 CS programs).
Your odds on transferring “up” to a fancier name are minuscule to start with: remember, the class doesn’t get bigger in year 2- the only spaces come from people who leave, and all 4 of those colleges have very high retention rates.
@tk21769 Yes, I am aware that no one probably is in direct contact with all four schools. However, information on any of the schools would be greatly helpful!
@collegemom3717 Actually, I was excited to be attending NYU until I realized and felt how isolated Tandon is from the rest of the schools. We never get to interact with those on main campus and it feels like we aren’t a part of the school. The high tuition with bad FA also poses a huge financial burden on our family. I am definitely going to apply to some of the “less fancier” colleges but I was just wondering about those particular colleges to start off with.
My understanding is that transfer students are usually ‘full-pay’ students. Check out each school’s policy. For CS, your state flagship school might be a much better choice if you don’t want to pose a huge financial burden on your family. See https://www.brown.edu/about/administration/financial-aid/transfer-applicants-fa-policy for Brown’s policy.
@nrtlax33 I heard that Brown is need-aware because they have limited aid for transfers but do you (or anyone reading this) know if the other schools are need-aware or if they provide scholarships/FA to transfers?
edit: I looked at Columbia’s website and they said they were need-blind and meet the financial needs of transfers 100%
NYU Tandon, until recently, used to be a part of Polytechnic University, which was a ranked in the 100’s… They just bought it and slapped the NYU logo on it.
Actually, it was the entire Polytechnic University. It became Polytechnic Institute of New York University, then New York University Polytechnic School of Engineering, before getting a large donation from Tandon.
Note that some decades ago, Polytechnic acquired NYU’s engineering division.
Are you a NYS resident? The SUNYs have great programs and the cost is much more reasonable.
@WildestDream Yes, Tandon has been acquired only 4 years ago if I recall correctly. I am guessing maybe that’s why not a lot of resources are available for CS majors despite being one of the most popular Engineering majors here.
@austinmshauri Yes I am. Do you recommend any specific SUNYs for CS? However I also want to take a shot at the four schools I mentioned because, if accepted, they may provide good FA.
Have you run the online net price calculators on these or any other colleges?
It may be debatable whether P/B/C/S would be worth a big net price premium, for CS, over one of the SUNY schools. A CS degree from just about any reputable school with a decent program is likely to be very marketable. If P/B/C/S students seem to command higher salaries, it may be (mostly) because those schools tend to admit stronger, more ambitious students to start with.
On the other hand, I think your chances of getting adequate need-based aid from at least some of these 4 schools (Penn/Brown/Columbia/Stanford) are better than they’d be at many less selective, less wealthy institutions with similar sticker prices. So that may be your best reason to apply to one or more of them. Of course, you first have to be admitted (and the transfer odds appear to be quite long, especially for Stanford.)
@tk21769 Yes, my EFC comes out to be 0 actually. Thank you for your help!