GT has an overall acceptance rate of 10% for OOS and it’s much lower for CS. It’s also one of the top CS/STEM schools in the country.
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Wait..huh? Georgia Tech not a top STEM school? For Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering GT is ranked #2 in the country and #4 overall for engineering.
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9% OOS Acceptance rate 12.7% Overall
Just a few comments here.
I think that this is a very good EA list. I like the idea of prioritizing some particular schools to get the application done well and sent in early, and I think that this is a good list.
I think that applying to your in-state public schools in the EA round is a very good idea. UT Austin for example is an excellent university. Employers throughout the US know how good it is. Graduate admissions throughout the US know how good it is. TA&M is also very good, as are Purdue and Pitt. You are quite likely to get multiple very good affordable acceptances from this list.
MIT is a fit school. It is very academically demanding. You have to want to work that hard for a full 4 years without relief. While your ACT scores are excellent, and will help at almost every university in the US, I am not sure that 35 on the math part of the ACT will help at MIT. I am more familiar with the SAT score. There are plenty of students at MIT who got 800 on the math part of the regular SAT test, and also on one or more math and/or science SAT subject tests. I would expect there to be students at MIT who got a 36 on the math part of the ACT also. Mostly I think that MIT is unlikely enough that it is not worth retaking a test (whether ACT or SAT) in order to apply there. However, I am wondering if you are serious about maximizing your chances there whether or not you should consider retaking the ACT or taking the SAT. Unfortunately either would probably require studying for the test, and it is not clear to me that this is worth the effort.
Also, when I see a student applying to MIT, I wonder whether Stanford is also worth considering.
CS plus applied mathematics is a good combination in general. Whether UIUC has this I am not sure.
U.Mass Amherst is very good for CS (and for math). There is some merit aid available for out of state students.
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Yes I know.
I meant that not all of them are top schools.
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At one point I was considering Georgia Tech, but I felt that I would just be adding another reach to my list that has a really low acceptance rate.
I think you have to decide if you want to chase prestige or not. That’s really what I’m getting out of your posts—the conflict you feel about spending a lot to attend a highly selective/rejective school, not to mention the stress and pressure of attending there.
There is nothing wrong with attending more of a second tier school that is more easily affordable if that’s what you want.
I could be wrong—that’s just the impression I’m getting.
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A couple of other colleges I have in mind are UW-Madison, University of South Florida, Florida State University, Stony Brook University, Cal State Long Beach, and University of Maryland. Are any of these colleges worth applying for out of state and will have a good chance of getting sufficient merit scholarships or financial aid to cut the cost within 30k or at least between 30k-40k?
The main reason I want to chase some prestige is that I worked really hard to get to this point and I feel like im giving up to attend a university which I didn’t need to try as hard to get into in the first place. I know this isn’t the right mindset, but I feel that I have gotten too far to change it.
Reason for CSULB in particular compared to other CSUs?
CSULB is close to the coast, affordable, and has good programs in engineering (Ex: computer science).
Most CSUs are somewhat close to the coast and have similar costs of attendance. Engineering, where offered, should be good. CS can be more variable in terms of what upper level courses are offered.
Madison - no
USF - possible
Stony Brook - possible
Long Beach - no
UMD - no
FSU - yes
Those you need are auto merit - Bama, Ole Miss, Ms State, Arkansas, Louisville, KU, WVU, Wyoming, etc. - then some that could - U of SC, UGA, Miami Ohio.
You can’t just pick what you think are big names.
You have a budget and you need to pick schools ased on what they cost.
If you need $40K, take Pitt off your list as well as UIUC and even Purdue.
Are there any CSU schools in particular that have good oos merit scholarships that can potentially cover all of the tuition?
FWIW I agree with you—
But in many cases (certainly not all) you will have to pay for the prestige. (That’s why I mentioned Georgia Tech—it’s going to be less than some of the other schools on your list.)
So the question is—which prestigious schools are in X price range? You’ve thrown out different numbers—what is your ideal budget?
You should begin by running Net Price Calculators for the schools you are interested in (keeping in mind they are sometimes inaccurate). You know your family’s financial situation and we of course don’t.
Generally speaking, California state colleges and universities do not give a lot of merit to OOS students. Also Cal Poly SLO is the premier STEM school of the Cal State system. It is also close to the beach. Last year it would have cost us in the 50s per year.
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Public colleges and universities in California—whether CSU or UC—give next to no merit to out of state students.
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Ok for the ideal budget (my parents are flexible). They are willing to pay in the 60s for a good private school, in state <=40k is good, and for top oos public schools they are okay with also paying in the 60s. I on the other hand am a bit worried how the cost will affect me in the future, so that’s why I am looking for good schools that are also at the same time cheaper. So, as of right now there is no real budget to be honest.
Here is why hard work in high school is important:
Number 1, the most important issue by far: Your hard work in high school has set you up to be ready to do very well in university. You are likely to find university classes to be challenging. You will want to attend every class, pay attention, and keep way ahead in all of your homework and studying. However, you are also likely to find that you are ready for it. Someone who goofed off in high school is less likely to be ready to do well in the tough university classes.
Number 2: Doing well in the tough university classes might increase your chances of getting a good internship or research opportunities while you are in university. These opportunities are important and can help a student long term.
Number 3: Having very good results in high school increases your chances of either being accepted to a university that meets full need (important for students who are looking for need based financial aid), or to get merit aid. It also increases your chances for admissions to the best of your in-state public universities. All of this in turn is very likely to increase the number of affordable options that you have available to you in terms of which university to attend. This also might save you and your family a significant amount of money.
Number 4, and least important: Doing well in high school might at least give you some chance of getting accepted to the famous highly ranked reach schools.
You have done very well in high school. This is going to help you a lot one way or another.
By the way, I do know a very small number of people who did badly in high school, but were able to pull it together and do well in university. This is possible. However, getting it together to do well in university was very tough for these students and required a LOT of hard work.
You have very good in-state public universities. Your excellent work in high school at a minimum is likely to help to set you up to do well at one of your very good in-state options. Anything else is sort of like the cherry on top of your ice cream fudge sundae: Nice but not really necessary.
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I’m a little confused. If your parents are paying, how will the cost affect you in the future?
Obviously lower and middle incomes will qualify for need at many colleges. It is important to know though that if your parents are higher income ($175K to $200K a year), you can qualify for need at private colleges, but not at public colleges, making the private college potentially less expensive than an OOS public college. Baylor was BY FAR the least expensive of my daughter’s options.
Your cheapest options will be your in state publics and you already have those on your list.
What I mean by how the cost will affect me in the future is connected to my family’s hardships to put me through college. Even though it won’t directly affect my financial state in the future (maybe loans will), I still don’t want my family to pay too much because it could put them in financial strain.
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