Some possible ideas (Pell being a proxy for unpreppiness):
University of Texas - Dallas: 33% Pell, in Dallas, but ~40% commuter, in Texas (family politics)
University of Hawaii - Manoa: 30% Pell, in Honolulu area, but ~50% commuter
San Francisco State University: 43% Pell, in San Francisco, but ~50% commuter
University of California - Santa Cruz: 39% Pell, in Santa Cruz beach town, but CS is mildly impacted (2.8 college GPA needed to enter)
Arizona State University - Tempe: 29% Pell, in Tempe (Phoenix area) (note: the other campuses like Downtown and Polytechnic are more for non-traditional students)
@Knowsstuff the DePaul CDM school is located downtown and I’m guessing the majority if not all the CS classes are in downtown. There are a lot of Liberal Studies classes in Lincoln Park though and it’s not uncommon for students to take classes at both locations.
I rent out a house very close to SFSU students and quite a few over the years have been CS students. Let’s just say they wouldn’t be people I would be hiring.
Try Tarleton State University. It’s in Stephenville, which is a small college town just an hour outside of Fort Worth. The school has around 8,000 students. It’s part of the Texas A&M system, which makes Stephenville like a miniature Aggieland. The CS department is strong, but it’s not competitive.
A good option is UTSA. The school is going to be fairly sizeable (30,000 students), but San Antonio does a really good job of behaving like a small town. It’s well known for being a friendly campus, but not a party school. It’s very diverse, so he shouldn’t have a problem finding people with similar interests. They also have a strong CS department that’s not competitive. Football is strong and school spirit is great.
He could also try Texas State. The CS dept is not competitive, but they require a 2.75 GPA, which is manageable. It is a known party school, but it’s also very diverse. Despite the reputation, the school has very strong academics.
For publics, have a look at Western Washington U, U Texas-San Antonio, U New Mexico and U Utah.
I agree with a previous poster who suggested ASU. The Barrett Honors College at ASU would provide a smaller academic environment within the context of the much larger public school.
For privates, look at Loyola Marymount in LA, Willamette in OR and Seattle U in WA.
Chapman and Santa Clara are both solid picks.
I’m not sure ASU CS is a good fit for a kid needing to build confidence. Plenty of weed out type classes there.
University of Arizona has a smaller and perhaps less cutthroat environment, as I recall from visiting with my D a few years ago. It might be worth a look.
Just had a cs kid from DePaul going for his masters and his current job is paying 50% of it He went there undergrad and loves it. He commutes daily from the suburbs and yes all his classes are downtown as stated. He said everyone is getting hired by well known companies and start up a list like any other school. FYI
Chapman and Santa Clara may be a reach depending on the SAT scores and are definitely going to have an upper level income feel to them that may or may not be comfortable. Seattle U is a solid option, UW Bothell for a smaller campus feel without the competitiveness of UW Seattle but all the same resources. UW Seattle will be a reach with the SAT for the major and will be a bit brutal (as well as very competitive) if low on college prep.
I would look at Colorado State, you’d get WUE exchange pricing (auto merit) with the WA residency and a solid but less competitive group. Western WA is a solid option and would be a great safety. If willing to pay full price UC Boulder is an option but as with Santa Clara/Chapman will have a high degree of affluence.
How high is the rigor with the 4.0? That will play a factor as well in terms of options, it is a solid GPA but if low on rigor (and the low college prep makes me think it may be) you will want to factor that in as CS is one of the most competitive majors right now.
If he wants to be a big fish in a small pond, you’ll want smaller schools and lower ranked schools in general, and for the major which can be hard to find unless you are looking at LAC’s or Honors Colleges. To that end, perhaps look at Barrett Honors at ASU, the honors college at Northern Arizona.
Thank you so much, everyone! He/we have done some research on the colleges you all have suggested, and based on your feedback his top picks right now are:
DePaul
Western Washington U
U of Tulsa
ASU - Barrett
Santa Clara
Chapman
Loyola Marymount (LA)
Also:
Clarkson (but probably too far from WA to be worth it, going to be 11+ hours to get there)
Willamette (but CS seems too small there)
He also really likes U Rochester as a reach, if his SAT scores don’t improve. To me, U Rochester seems like a great match for him-- their CS program looks good, their economics program looks good, and he can also more easily participate in music, drama, intramurals than he would at a big public school. It is smaller, yet big enough to offer a diverse array of courses and also has a more diverse student body. I sure wish it were closer to WA.
He would really like to get away from the TX heat, so didn’t like the TX suggestions.
His list is quite varied-- publics, privates, large, medium, small-- schools with very different student bodies and social atmospheres, so it will be interesting to see what happens next.
I have a kid at school in TX. Arizona and Texas heat aren’t really the same, and the school year is not the hottest time in Phoenix. It’s actually when everyone comes here on vacation, so he should be fine if ASU ends up the winner.
