6 ms·

Ask YC: what non-top-tier college to apply for?

• xlnt 18y ago
  FYI Harvey Mudd is very selective. Don't assume it's easier to get into than Caltech.
• hunterjrj 18y ago
  Have you considered the University of Waterloo? Its in Canada, but its highly regarded by companies like Google, Microsoft, etc. Tuition may be cheaper as well.
  • markm 18y ago
    Voted you up. Something else to consider when applying to Waterloo is the ridiculously high male to female ratio. If applying to Waterloo I'd recommend trying to take some shared credit courses with Wilfred Laurier students across the street. (Not sure if CS and Eng allow that, you might have to complain a bit)
    • hunterjrj 18y ago
      Not to mention the fact that the legal drinking age in Ontario is 19.
  • aheilbut 18y ago
    You might also consider the University of Toronto. It's a big school, but the CS department is among the best (and you get to learn computational complexity with Stephen Cook and neural nets with Geoff Hinton). Also look into the Engineering Science program, though that is probably as competitive as the very top US schools.
• iamdave 18y ago
  Completely off base here, but um I think it's still relevant for anyone who ends up down in the dumps and just wants to go to school no matter what: DO NOT GO TO ITT TECH.
  • hunterjrj 18y ago
    Bad experience?
    • iamdave 18y ago
      Horrible experience. - Staff with the exception of program chairs was always people who work entry level jobs in your industry, and have no idea how to teach the subject matter, or in some cases even interact with students - The administrative process was nearly impossible for every aspect of your academic career. While tending to family matters, I got absolutely no respect in regards to emergencies or crises - Education? Let me put it this way, after dropping out and getting to work on my Startup, ITT Tech seemingly had an innumerable amount of students who were willing to work, but because I knew the quality of information was terrible, I wouldn't hire a single one of them. Text books are published by an ITT Contracted company and is almost always filled with erroneous, and inaccurate information. Even the labs are awful. Operating systems, for example: we got to Linux. All we did was gather around a computer screen, the teacher went "THis is linux, this is what the terminal looks like" and that was as useful as it got. - Career services? The career services department probably has my resume memorized, and while I knew, and the IT administrator knew I was more qualified than every student currently attending the school, Career Services was always sending me to Best Buy and Circuit City for "jobs". - Then there was the whole thing with my buddy Chris. Around my 3rd full semester there, I was in the student lounge with Chris when a guy walked in wanting to inquire about getting admitted. Chris "You want to go to school here?" Guy "Yes" Chris "Don't" That little action caught the attention of the dean who refused to let him graduate on that alone, as a result his tuition skyrocketed because he couldn't take the classes if he was on academic probation, yet he was still registered for them (as you are automatically registered for classes, you can take no elective courses even if you pay foor them). He is currently filing a lawsuit against the school. Want me to go on? I will. Way overpriced, way overhyped by their marketing crews, this place needs to be DESTROYED.
• Alex3917 18y ago
  A lot of schools have a guaranteed transfer program. For example anyone can get into one of the second tier Wisconsin schools just by applying, and then if you get above a 3.0 you can transfer into Madison.
  • coglethorpe 18y ago
    I went to Madison and it was great. I think it all depends on what state you're in, but many states have great "second-tier" schools that offer cheaper tuition.
• bcutler 18y ago
  Try Brigham Young University, in Provo, Utah. They've got a competitive (if not top-tier) CS program, fantastic library, beautiful campus, and tuition is 20% of what you'd pay at other private schools. Warning: not a party school
  • coglethorpe 18y ago
    > Warning: not a party school Being Mormon helps as well. :-) You don't have to be Mormon to go there, but well over 90% of the students there are Mormon. That being said, it's a nice school.
  • pchristensen 18y ago
    +1 from a BYU alum. Tuition is $2K/semester, $1500 if you're Mormon. It's approx 80-90% subsidized by the LDS church. My uncle has been a software manager/VP in Boston and Utah, and he said he prefers BYU grads to MIT grads because they have a strong enough theoretical background and much better practical skills. Starts out in Java but also lots of C++ programming courses. It's not a party school, but great if you love sports, outdoors, mountain biking, hiking, camping, and skiing, it's hard to beat. If you really need to party, Salt Lake and the UofU are an hour north.
  • te_platt 18y ago
    I spent time at BYU and the University of Utah and I thought the U of U had a much more solid CS program. The U has a long history in the field. It is also where I was introduced to lisp, bigO notation, and algorithm analysis. BYU was more Java oriented. Of course that was many years ago so take it for what it's worth.
    • wallflower 18y ago
      Reminds me of University of Utah's famous alumni... Adobe, WordPerfect, Pixar co-founders... http://www.cs.utah.edu/dept/history/ http://www.cs.utah.edu/dept/history/
• PStamatiou 18y ago
  Try Georgia Tech, you might be surprised that it's not terribly hard to get into. warning: not many girls here
  • mbleigh 18y ago
    Georgia Tech is a great school for Computer Science (they model their program after the best of the top-tier schools) and will IMO give you a much stronger foundation than a liberal arts school with a CS program. I spent a year at MIT and transferred to Georgia Tech and I don't regret it in the least.
• dangoldin 18y ago
  You can take a look at Cornell. The grade criteria is not as struct as MIT/Caltech but the CS program is considered one of the best in the US.
  • Frocer 18y ago
    I second that, although I am a Cornell grad so I am biased :) Cornell also accepts a huge amount of transfers. It's somewhere around 20-30% when I was there. But be aware of the stats on sites like US News. The engineering school is much more competitive to get in.
    • dangoldin 18y ago
      Haha yep. I'm a Cornell grad too so I'm a bit biased. I wasn't strictly a CS major though. When I was at Cornell they had the Computer Science cross listed between Arts and Sciences and Engineering so you can get the degree in either school. I was doing Math as my primary major so I was in the Arts and Sciences school but I picked up the Minor/Concentration in CS through the Arts and Sciences school.
    • Alex3917 18y ago
      You can always apply to another easier-to-get-into program within Cornell and then transfer into the engineering school. You just need a 3.0 your freshman year. You can even take all engineering courses before you transfer if you want to, not that I'd recommend it if you're trying to get a good GPA. (Also a Cornell grad.)
      • maximilian 18y ago
        I'd recommend against that. A friend of mine did that, and its a huge pain in the ass. Just apply to the engineering school directly. They hold you to a pretty tough requirement to switch colleges, which puts a lot of stress on your first couple semesters.
        • Alex3917 18y ago
• msg 18y ago
  Public universities are not bad. I did my time in Univ of Washington and Utah State University, and I definitely feel like I got my money's worth. A warning, though. UW's proximity to MS and the other tech companies made the department really exclusive for undergrads while I was there. I majored in something besides CS, then did my master's in CS later. You'll want to learn about what the department's standards are (eg, competitive admission for starters) so you know what you have to do to get in. I recommend you email or call the department secretaries and ask for some information and a hookup with a current student. Assuming the secretary and the student are helpful, you'll learn a lot about what you need to know. OT, apply for scholarships like crazy. Don't make my mistake.
  • rcoder 18y ago
    UW and Utah State both have great undergrad CS programs, and they produce lots of solid OSS projects, which could help your visibility a lot when you're applying for jobs after college. I'm going to have to make my usual plug for my home state (Oregon) here, too, and suggest that the OP look at both Oregon State University, in Corvallis, and Portland State University, in Portland. Neither is "world-class" for CS, but they both have solid software engineering and math programs, produce a lot of open source, and have good connections to the tech employers in the region. Plus, western Oregon (and Portland especially) is a pretty damn nice place to live.
    • vthakr 18y ago
      I'd just like to point out that, if you have any interest in genetic algorithms, Dr. Melanie Mitchell is one of the professors at Portland State University and she pretty much wrote the book on GA's (see here: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0262631857/qid=1079374680/sr=8-1/ref=pd_ka_1/103-2986580-3109461?v=glance&s=books&n=507846 http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0262631857/qid...).
• bayleo 18y ago
  Not that this should be the determining factor, but with which state do you have residency? If you're concerned about costs someone may be able to recommend a good school you could get into and still have in-state rates the first 1-2 years.
• apu 18y ago
  What state are you in? Most states have at least one good public university, and these are generally fairly easy to get into and fairly cheap (if you're from in-state). If there's not a good one in your state, try one in a nearby state. It'll be more expensive and harder to get into, but still generally cheaper/easier than a private school. I can personally recommend UNC-Chapel Hill (nice campus, small town, good mix of social+intellectual life) and Georgia Tech (great CS professors and students, although poor social life). Also, as others have said, definitely seek out and apply for as many scholarships as you can. There are plenty available and you're almost guaranteed one if you apply to several. Especially focus on scholarships which are special to your situation (minority, athletics, service, etc).
  • demaratus 18y ago
    I'm in California, so Berkeley is an obvious option.
    • ryan_is_hungry 18y ago
      If you're in California, you might also want to consider Cal Poly SLO.
    • coglethorpe 18y ago
      If you're in California, you should have a variety of schools to choose from. I hear Berkeley is great. I think I'd jump at the chance to go there.
    • scw 18y ago
      If you're in California, definitely take a hard look at the UCs: in-state tuition is very reasonable, and the schools are among the best on the country for CS. Generally, the highest ranking UCs are: Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD, UCSB. All four of those schools tend to be in the top 30 for CS. Also don't forget PG's thoughts on elite institutions: http://www.paulgraham.com/colleges.html http://www.paulgraham.com/colleges.html
    • KaiP 18y ago
      Berkeley is awesome. Nothing you can't get here academically that you could get at another school. Great bang for your buck. (EECS senior)
• syalam 18y ago
  ASU (Arizona State University). Good party school, lots of hot chicks, and code
  • ibsulon 18y ago
    Too bad it's an awful school.
• boucher 18y ago
  Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about affording school just yet. A lot of schools offer significant financial aid packages, and there are plenty of scholarships available. Take it one step at a time. Figure out where you want to go, get in, and then figure out how you can afford it.
• krschultz 18y ago
  Where do you live? That will change the answers a bit. Having done a year where you need to get on a plane to get to school and back, it is generally not worth it unless the program at the other end is awesome.
• ericb 18y ago
  The SUNY (State University of New York) schools are great. There's pretty much a SUNY school that will cover you at most GPA-levels. Look at SUNY Geneseo (2 girls per guy!), SUNY Albany, Buffalo, and Binghamton for the best in the system, but there are easier-to-get-into schools there, too. If you're not going to MIT, or an IVY, I think very few other schools offer a return on investment that is comparable to a good state school.
• gm 18y ago
  Option #1) Go to a junior college, do your best and transfer to a real school. (EDIT: In Cali, your grades will count as full "university" grades, so a 3.5 GPA will be taken as a true 3.5 university GPA when transferring) Option #2) Simply try to get it the best school possible, top tier or not. If you aim low, guess what? You're gonna have low results. There are universities that exist to privide workers for the economy (ie, ITT tech). These schools just fill the vacant seats as currently required by the industry and don't teach you much that requires brains, or that will be required X years from now. These schools typically teach you the current popular programming languages and stuff like that. People like to call these "hands on," but it really means "no theory." "Better" schools provide thinkers to the economy. These schools teach you principles and will make you study Scheme/LISP and implement quicksort and other algorithms like that. These schools want to teach you principles that you can apply to any language. You learn specific useful languages mostly on your own time. They might adopt something like C++/Java/etc as a "core" language, but the emphasis is always on the algorithm, not the language. Sooo.... The choice is yours... Where do you want to study? What people do you want to surround yourself with? You still have time, make a good choice. EDIT: I see you live in Cali.... I stress option #1 above, that's the route I took. To put the two kinds of universities I talk about above, compare UC (University of California) system versus the California State University system. Why are there more CalState universities than UC? Because more labor is needed than brains, and more people just want to get out and work rather than think and go on to bigger things. Do your research.
  • strlen 18y ago
    I've worked with/known several SJSU (a CSU University) graduates and I definitely wouldn't call the education you get there anything like ITT. You can see the curriculum here: http://www.cs.sjsu.edu/Programs/bs_in_cs/requirements/CS_require.html http://www.cs.sjsu.edu/Programs/bs_in_cs/requirements/CS_req... (yes there's also Java and there are courses in UNIX system administration, so the "straight to work" track is definitely available but real theory - formal languages, data structures, architecture - is required). That being said, if you can afford a UC and can get in (particularly UC Berkeley) - including through the community college transfer option - you should go for it.
  • 18y ago
• robg 18y ago
  I was very impressed by UT-Austin and the community there. They also have a honor's program for CS majors (Turing) that you may be able to get into with okay grades but good experience. But even if you don't get into that program, you'll still be taking classes with those folks. Also think of the relationships between schools to get in the "back" door at places where the competition might be higher. For instance, at the Univ of Pittsburgh you can take one course every semester at Carnegie Mellon. The Pitt credits are cheaper but you get the instructors and knowledge at CMU. Of course, your degree would be from Pitt. Still, knowledge matters. I think the same is true of Tufts and MIT/Harvard. A third option is going to a local state school and getting your grades in order to transfer after a year or two. You'll probably be in school a semester or two longer (cause all credits won't transfer), but your degree will have more of a "name" and you'll benefit from increased competition/knowledge. EDIT: Sorry if this sounds disparaging of Pitt. I had a great experience there in a combined cogneuro Ph.D. program with CMU. But I know nothing of Pitt's CS department even as the cross-over of the communities made a lasting impression. You'd likely to have to work a bit harder to make those connections as an undergrad. But it is possible.
  • goofygrin 18y ago
    I was going to suggest UT (before I read that the OP is in Cali) simply because of the UT network. It constantly amazes me how many people either went to or support UT. Then again, I'm in Dallas, so take that with a grain of salt :)
  • unexpected 18y ago
    UT-Austin is impossible to get into if you're out-of-state. The acceptance rate for out-of-state kids is lower than Harvard's overall acceptance rate.
    • robg 18y ago
      If this is true, I'm not sure how CS is different. One of the CS profs involved in the Turing program told me they make a real effort to bring in out-of-state kids especially because they want it to be a national program. That may also be true of the department in general.
• imgabe 18y ago
  If you're certain you want to major in engineering or CS. I've read really good things about Olin (http://olin.edu http://olin.edu) If I were applying to colleges now, I'd apply there. http://wsjclassroom.com/teen/teencenter/05dec_olin.htm http://wsjclassroom.com/teen/teencenter/05dec_olin.htm http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/may06/3432 http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/may06/3432
  • prospero 18y ago
    When I applied there, I was told they only offered computer engineering courses, not computer science. That was before they had actually opened the school, though, so maybe that's changed.
• sethg 18y ago
  Cascadia Community College (in Seattle, Washington). http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2007/0709.careycascadia.html http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2007/0709.careycas...
• drewcrawford 18y ago
  All I can say is, make a list of places and go visit. I ended up at a (very) small private school about 400mi away. When I visited, the head of the CS department talked with me in his office for over an hour. From that conversation, I learned: A) He is completely brilliant and extremely competent B) He teaches about half of the upper-level CS courses C) His dissertation was in an area that strongly interested me After that it was a no-brainer. Obviously, going to a smaller, lesser-known school, I don't stand out as much on a resume. But at the "good companies", it matters more what you've done with your spare time than where you went to school. Turns out other competent people also followed my line of reasoning. My first year there, I found two cofounders for a startup. So not only do I have a good mentor (at least as far as the tech part goes), but we all get some leeway on assignments if we were up until 1am adding a new feature to our codebase.
  • bluelu 18y ago
    He must be a genious if he is an expert in half of all the available CS topics!
    • Retric 18y ago
      Undergraduate CS is like high school, after you pick up a masters you should be able to teach most of the classes.
  • chollida1 18y ago
    > He teaches about half of the upper-level CS courses Wow, how many upper-level courses were there? Even teaching 2 courses in a semester is considered a lot for most professors'.
    • drewcrawford 18y ago
      You have to remember, A) it's a small school B) he enjoys teaching I really didn't like the attitude of the larger schools where they would have an associate professor who teaches CS1 talk to you about computer games. I realize that profs like him are unusual. That's why I chose the school.
• andreyf 18y ago
  If you're interested in Math, I can recommend Rutgers - the math dept, esp. the honors track, is as good as any Ivy. The CS dept. is good, too, esp. if you're interested in the subject. I would imagine any major public research university having the same ...
• Spyckie 18y ago
  Go after those top-tier schools. If you're slacking off on homework working through SICP, you're probably top-tier worthy. People who go after their interests are by definition more interesting. Don't weigh yourself on the standard metric because you're not standard. And don't let that hinder the selling of yourself in your applications. I would much rather hire a person who has started a startup before than one from a corporate environment, and I think this principal holds true for colleges as well - they would much rather accept someone who does what they're interested in and pursues things beyond the norm. College is the first great opportunity for young people to learn how to sell. Think of yourself as a package - what differentiates you and makes you special? Then, arrange your application that way. It's foolish to put your SAT scores and grades up front as your flagship 'feature' that differentiates you from others, even if you've aced them. Take some time arranging your application centered around your strengths and things that you're proud of, and make them want to have you, or regret it every night for rejecting you. Again, go after those top-tier schools - being rejected is not as bad as regretting not applying to them.
  • demaratus 18y ago
    Oh, I'm certainly going to apply for the top-tier schools. I'd just like to have some other options open.
  • Prrometheus 18y ago
    >It's foolish to put your SAT scores and grades up front as your flagship 'feature' that differentiates you from others, even if you've aced them. I'm curious, have you ever known any smart, successful people that couldn't do well on the SAT?
  • jrockway 18y ago
    FWIW, I don't think top-tier schools care about "interesting" people. When I was in high school, I got mostly As and Bs, studied abroad (and hence spoke two langauges pretty well), and spent most of my time learning math and writing software. I also had 99%-ile test scores and was pretty good at writing. However, I also had a run-in with a history teacher, and failed his class. That pretty much guarantees that you won't get into a good school. I applied to CMU, CalTech, and MIT and didn't get in. I did get in to UIUC and UIC, and chose UIC since it was closer. HUGE MISTAKE. My classmates didn't speak English, my professors didn't speak Enlgish, and I had no friends. I dropped out after 2 years. All in all, this is irrelevant. My goal was to become a professor, but I learned that industry was much more lucrative than acadamia. If I want to do research, I can do it from my house. The classes I teach professionally pay more for 2 days than most professors make in a month. So in the end, it all worked out. It would have been nice to have a "formal education", though. Maybe I will move to Urbana-Champaign and get a degree from there... or maybe not. </rant>
• strlen 18y ago
  What state do you live in? If you're in California, a good option would be community college for two years and then transfer to UC of your choice (Berkeley is on par with MIT as far as EE/CS goes). I am sure your state has excellent universities and similar programs. I'd say any university in the UC system is an excellent bet, as is University of Washington, U Michigan, UMN Twin Cities, etc. You'd get an excellent CS/EE education any one of those places.
• gtani 18y ago
  hot off the press, came out today http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/grad/eng/comp http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/grad/eng/c... i think if you buy the mag, there's rankings for more than 10 schools. And i vaguely remember another ranking for best values in education, places like Rose-Hulman, Cooper-Union,
• akd 18y ago
  Of course try UC Berkeley. It's a bit of a crapshoot - I know people who have gotten into MIT and rejected from Berkeley but also the other way around.
• icco 18y ago
  I would highly recommend Cal Poly San Luis Obispo for a computer science curriculum. The location is beautiful plus the education is top notch. There is no graduate program so even though the school has 20,000 students, classes never get over 40 people. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Polytechnic_State_University http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Polytechnic_State_Un...
• kschrader 18y ago
  Are we really at the point where the only schools that count as "top-tier" are MIT and Caltech now? I can't believe people here are talking about Berkeley like it's some sort of a fallback option. Look at http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/grad/com/search http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/grad/com/s... Sure it's for graduate schools, but I have to imagine that it tracks pretty close. In my experience, most of the programs there in the top 20 are all pretty comparable. (FYI, University of Michigan, loved it)
• bluelu 18y ago
  Study abroad, for example here at the ETH Zurich. If you are good, there won't be a problem to do your master at one of the top US universities, or at least do an excahnge year there or a master thesis. But you must understand german ;)
• prakash 18y ago
  Rutgers
• Kevin_Johnson 18y ago
  Missouri University of Science & Technology (formerly known as the University of Missouri at Rolla, and before that the Missouri School of Mines) is a great engineering school. It's very affordable, the engineering and science graduates pretty much all make above the national average starting salary. A lot of career engineers came from there and have made it good at Boeing, LockMart, Raytheon, etc in aerospace and defense sectors for example. It also has a huge number of engineering degrees to choose from, and some of them are very unique. It was the first to offer a minor in Explosives Engineering in the country. Their Student design teams regularly win most of the undergrad engineering design competitions in the country (and a few notable world events). The downside is it's like being on a pirate ship. It's hard work, bad food, and no women. It's worth it though. Most fun I ever had in my life. The site is mst.edu <- check it out.
  • Kevin_Johnson 18y ago
    Forgot to mention: 1) It's super affordable. 2) Has many notable alumni (one good example is Tom Akers (Colonel, USAF, Ret.) was my bro's advisor in mathematics and holds the record for stick time on the space shuttle, broke the record for spacewalk duration, then broke it again the next day, flew on the HST repair mission, etc.) 3) Huge emphasis on undergrad education, and undergrad R&D work. 4) Recently started a program to bring big business engineering into the area (Rolla is a rural setting). A Jet engine manufacturer is setting up a facility there now. 5) You can get NRC licensed to operate a real nuclear reactor. That's just of the top of my head. There's plenty more where that came from.
    • Darmani 18y ago
      I visited Rolla (errr....S&T) a year ago for an admissions event, and was impressed by the CS program as it was presented to me by one brilliant, enthusiastic assistant professor. I then went home and reflected on the impression I got from the rest of the school, and it was not so rosy. Big-O notation is taught at S&T in the Data Structures II class, which they recommend taking as a sophomore. I welcome anything that would tell me otherwise (I would like to feel better about my backup school -- 'twould ease the nightmares of universal rejection), but, until then, I'll consider that a microcosm reflective of an overall slow pace.
• pg 18y ago
  It can't hurt to try for some top schools. There must be some admissions officers who can distinguish between people who are smart and those who merely get good grades. If you're smart, spots at top schools rightfully belong to you, so at least take a shot at claiming what's yours. Write your application essay about what you worked on instead of classwork and standardized tests.
  • Alex3917 18y ago
    The problem is that in the real world if the admissions officers admit people who are smart and didn't merely get good grades, the school's US News & World Report rank drops and the university president has all the admissions officers fired so that the board doesn't fire him.
• alaskamiller 18y ago
  I'm confused by this entire thread. 1. Where are you based? 4.1 weighted is a very very high GPA in California's 4.0 scale. 2. What's your SAT scores? That's more indicative of where you will be accepted than just the GPA.
• sachinag 18y ago
  I can't believe no one has said U of I yet - University of Illinois. Lots of top-tier coders, from Marc Andreessen to Max Levchin, went there. However, as with the case with all the other public schools (non-CA) mentioned so far, you will pay the out-of-state tuition rate. But you'd be at a very top tier CE school, as you saw on the U.S. News list.
  • dfranke 18y ago
    UIUC is a good suggestion. Undergrad admissions are not especially competitive, but their graduate CS department is one of the top 10 in the country, and that's bound to rub off on motivated undergrads.
  • hugh 18y ago
    I spent last week at UIUC and I was very impressed -- nice campus, good facilities, pleasant location, low cost of living, and an awful lot of very good research going on. I'd definitely stick it on the list.
  • justinweiss 18y ago
    Last time I looked, UIUC was in the top 5 for CS and CE, and it'd surprise me if it wasn't in the top 10 still. I'd definitely recommend it, as it gives you a top-tier education at a middle-tier price (or low-tier price, if you can swing in-state tuition).
  • smock 18y ago
    I went to U of I and am pretty happy with the education there. It is generally very good in engineering so you'll be able to explore a lot within that discipline (I started in computer engineering, and finished in physics), and engage in some great research opportunities. I was in-state and the extremely affordable tuition is probably the biggest reason I went, though I doubt the out of state tuition is unreasonable. I'm not sure what it takes to get legal residency in Illinois, but if you plan carefully you might be able to get it after your first year. And, you'll probably have a pretty decent social experience. Going to a Big 10 school with one of the largest greek systems in the country can be fun, even if you're not a big college sports or frat fan (and, who isn't a sorority fan?).
• markm 18y ago
  Stanford, do whatever it takes to get into Stanford.
• nradov 18y ago
  Go ahead and apply to HMC. If you're accepted they may be able to come up with enough financial aid to make it work. I didn't pay the full retail price.
• tstegart 18y ago
  I think we can all agree the University of Wisconsin si the best. No need to debate, we can shut down the comments now.. No seriously, great people, great town. :)
• cmos 18y ago
  My grades were rather bad in highschool as well (B minus average). I had great experience with science fairs. (state level science fairs can be a great way to earn money for college) and building robots and such. If your going to not have the best grades, you had better have some pretty amazing results with the free time spent not studying. I (somehow) got into Rensselear Polytechnic (www.rpi.edu) and loved every second of it. I have always been impressed that they looked beyond my grades. I had far more hands on experience as an undergrad than my friends who went to MIT, and met like minded people who also wanted to start a company after graduating college. RPI created the first 'incubator' in the US, and are very involved in getting technology from the labs into growing businesses. When I graduated (1997) I won RPI's $20k business plan contest with a friend of mine, giving RPI a small stake in our company. We then raised more money from small upstate NY VC firms who got their funding from insurance companies who received major tax breaks from New York State to help stimulate the upstate NY economy. While startups were begging to blow their investment money on crazy rents in SF and San Jose we were in Troy, NY surviving by having an incredibly low run rate. And I can safely say that all of this stemmed from the support we got from RPI. Find the school that promotes all the companies started by their alumni. Contact some of these graduates who have started companies. Ask them how their experience was. (i.e. if you were looking to get a job, you would ask alumni who graduated how their career service department was)
  • altano 18y ago
    Troy, the city RPI is in, is a really unique place. Most people would call it a dump, but I found it pretty darn awesome. As James Kunstler put it: "The late 20th century bypassed it so completely that it evaded the kind of false urban renewal that left so many other towns wrecked." If you walk around downtown you can be go from a modern ghetto to a '20s boom town and back again in 5 minutes. The mix is surreal and I've never been anywhere else like it. I'm glad after graduating I ended up in Boston, another city that has an amazing amount of preserved history. Otherwise, I'd be missing Troy a little too much. p.s. This talk by James Kunstler is awesome: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/121 http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/121 "Technosis externality clusterfuck" hah
• aleclair 18y ago
  Northeastern. The CS department is good, but co-op is better. I'm just finishing my first co-op and my marketable skills (the kind of things I'd put on a CV) have exploded. I don't have the time to go into full detail about the virtues of co-op, but I'll say this: it is the single best thing I have EVER done for myself, followed closely by quitting smoking and re-discovering exercising.
  • hendler 18y ago
    As a CS northeastern Alum (who didn't do co-op), I can say that the students there have a chance to taste the "real world" - and the alternation between co-op and school keeps knowledge of the applied and theoretical fresh.
• kynikos 18y ago
  Rochester Institute of Technology Pros: Lots of things that are brand new, solid CS and engineering departments, academically diverse campus, strong industry partnerships, growing entrepreneurial community, co-op work graduation requirement for most majors. Cons: No girls, weather, pricey, nerdy
  • chrismjohnson 18y ago
    I second a vote for RIT (recent grad). kynikos is spot on with the pros / cons. If you can stand the negatives you'll end up with a great degree and a name people recognize in industry.
• lyime 18y ago
  UC Berkeley (myvote) and Stanford are awesome school with startup culture. Must note: They are rivals, so if you are deciding between them, take your time. Also: Your scores are good, good enough for berkeley I think.
• rms 18y ago
  What is your unweighted GPA on a 4.0 scale? College Admissions officials unweight GPAs before they even look at the other number. Some schools use a 6.0 scale! Make sure to fill out a FAFSA as soon as possible and don't not apply to private schools just because they are expensive. Financial aid can be surprisingly generous.
• jtkipp 18y ago
  The honors program at your local state school is probably an extremely good choice. It will be affordable and you will likely get access to the resources of a big university together with a smaller community of students who are motivated to be in college and faculty who are more engaged in teaching. Paying out of state tuition to a state school quickly becomes as expensive as going to a private college once financial aid it taken into account. There are blocks of states with reciprocity agreements where you can go to another state college for near-in-state tuition. Compare the honors programs and CS curricula of those colleges. Do the classes and requirements sound interesting and challenging to you? If so, they probably to do other students who are like you. Does the college have a program for getting undergraduate students involved in research? This is another way to surround yourself with other students who are motivated to get a good education. Look at the university's research labs and institutes in other fields as well; There are always professors in other fields who desperately need computer help.
• MisterMerkin 18y ago
  Seems if your GPA is 4.1 with 4.0 being the highest you can take your pick of where you want to go and they'll probably pay for you, too.
• AndyKelley 18y ago
  Definitly not ASU. It has a really crappy computer science program. I have yet to get an English-speaking professor for a CS class. It's also obvious that they don't care about anything but money and racial diversity.
• jjguy 18y ago
  University of Washington in Seattle University of Maryland in DC University of Texas in Austin 3 top-tier programs at public schools.
• jsiegal 18y ago
  I go to Colgate University. The CS Program is good, not the best, but it is a liberal arts college and the people there are really interesting and smart and a lot of fun. The professors are the best part. I've eaten dinner at at least four of my professors homes with their families and see them all the time downtown and walking around the campus. My largest class so far has been 18 kids. Hit me up (my username @ students.colgate.edu) if you have any questions...love to help!
• richesh 18y ago
  According to a study by the ACM in 2007, (http://nirmalthacker.wordpress.com/2007/06/07/acm-rankings-for-graduate-cs-programs/ http://nirmalthacker.wordpress.com/2007/06/07/acm-rankings-f...) University of Maryland is a great program. I'm definitely biased since I went to school there, they were ranked 11th in computer science when I attended and have consistently ranked high since then. They have a great BS-MS combined program that I highly recommend. http://www.cs.umd.edu/ http://www.cs.umd.edu/