Over the next month , S25 plans to research more on the major and likely visit schools in march to narrow the choice down.
Given the disruption in CS caused by AI, he will try to see if a CS+X or CE degree is a better option. If he wants a traditional CS degree if he will likely pick Purdue or UMD and not try to switch at UIUC.
Also suggest checking for secondary admission requirements, such as at Ohio State, Penn State, Minnesota, and North Carolina State (and progression requirements at Wisconsin).
Thanks for bringing this to my attention. Portal was updated with both Provost and National Buckeye Scholarships which add up to $15500 per year.
With only reach schools(UCs, some deferred schools) left, it is time to narrow down the choices. Some schools were eliminated based on secondary admission requirements, some due to higher relative cost (using purdue as the benchmark) and some because they were too far away to visit in one trip (sorry umd and umass). Please feel free to comment if some school,should still be in consideration.
S25 has indicated to me that these attributes matter to him.
1. Academics: Rigor, Reputation and Placement. (S25 uses computer science open rankings)
2. Dual Major/Transfer : He wants the ability to pivot and dual major/transfer to engineering (EE). Will make this decision in sophomore year if CS Jobs are severely impacted by AI. More a concern for parents than S25.
3. Sports: D1 Sports (especially Basketball and Football)
4. Fit: Diversity, Size, Crime and Fun Factor (needs to visit of course)
This is the short listed schools. Cost is not a factor as all are within budget
Santa Clara (CSE, College of Engineering) :
Academics: B Dual Major/Transfer: B Sports: D Fit: B
Comments: Too close to home.
Ohio State (Pre-CSE, College of Engineering)
Academics: B+ Dual Major/Transfer: B Sports: A Fit: C
Comments: Too big and crowded and Crime an issue off campus.
UW-Madison (CE, College of Engineering)
Academics: A Dual Major/Transfer: B Sports: B Fit: B
Comments: Dual Major is possible ECE+CS. GPA Requirements to declare major.
Purdue (CS, College of Science)
Academics: A Dual Major/Transfer: D Sports: B Fit: B
Comments: Hard to CODO and dual major. Students seem stressed. CS Dept is big (~ 3500).
UIUC (CS+X, College of Science)
Academics: A+ Dual Major/Transfer: D Sports: B Fit: A
Comments: Dual Major in Grainger needs ICT. CS+X not allowed to dual major in CE but EE is ok.
Another way to rank the list.
Cost (Highest to Least): UIUC > UW-Madison > Santa Clara > Purdue > Ohio St
Academics (Highest Ranked to Least): UIUC > Purdue = UW-Madison > Ohio St > Santa Clara
Ability to Dual Major/Transfer (Easiest to Hard): UW-Madison > Santa Clara = Ohio St > UIUC > Purdue
Sports(Best to Worst): Ohio St > Purdue > UIUC=UW-Madison > Santa Clara
Fit: Santa Clara > Rest (which are unknown and need a visit to check)
Thanks -
How are you determining academics? In other words, why is Ohio State a B+ but Wisconsin an A?
Why isnât SCU on the Cost High to low - but it is on the Academics?
I wonder if SCU is a good fit, will these large publics?
Are these all the schools? Initially you noted UMN, Penn State, some UCs and then Ga Tech, Duke, etc.
So youâve narrowed down?
Thanks for the update.
Iâm not sure you need to eliminate any right now while youâre still awaiting results. Itâs better to assess all your options in April once you know what youâre choosing between.
Given the attributes youâve mentioned, I would hold on to UMD and consider it later in comparison to your other options.
This is using computer science open rankings . I believe UW-Madison is higher than Ohio St if click on the us news, csrankings.org and placement tab there.
Santa Clara is in the middle on cost. Slightly more on cost than purdue and ohio st. Since he goes to school very close to Santa Clara, there are lot of students from the school district and fit is similar. The area sends a lot of kids to the midwest, so I assume the fit might be ok at the other schools. But we need to visit.
Yes. This is the narrowed down list. He unexpectedly got into too many schools, but not the really high reach schools like Georgia Tech.
Agree with the assessment. Thinking about a visit, seems hard to include these two schools with the other mid west schools.
a 3.84, 1500+, and a 5 in Calc BC as a Senior - I donât think it was unexpected 
Sorry about Ga Tech - but it seems like you have great opportunities - and I, for one, am not sure Ohio State is âlesserâ - but at this stage, I think itâs about fit for sure - and if Santa Clara fits, the large midwest schools - may or may not - so iâm glad you are going to see.
Sure. There is no overall ranking here, just 4 criteria being considered.
If sports is a bigger consideration, S25 might pick Ohio St.
If academics is the bigger consideration might be UIUC for CS.
If ability to dual major is the bigger consideration then UW-Madison might be the choice.
if he is not comfortable with the fit elsewhere then Santa Clara might get the nod.
But again, the vibe and fit during the visit will help decide.
I am surprised to see this considering thereâs no football at SC, and he ranked football/bkball access relatively high. And generally school spirit would be lower than at the Big 10 schools.
Has he considered travel to and from California to the midwest schools? All seem to require connecting flights, and some are quite far from the nearest major airport. He could fly to ORD and take a 2-3 hour school shuttle/bus to Madison, Purdue, and UIUC.
Does the potential double major at UIUC take more than 4 years? Not that it would necessarily be a deal killer, but something to think about.
Good luck on the visits!
Fit : Diversity, Size, Crime and Fun Factor (needs to visit of course).
Fit is some tangible and intangible factors that you get from a visit.
S25 has been to Michigan to attend a summer program on his own. These schools would need a longer shuttle than what he has experienced. His older brother visited purdue and said he wanted to stay in-state. So anything can happen, Santa clara is the only in-state option now, though he might get into UCR.
UIUC has significant roadblocks to dual degree going through ICT and engineering undeclared. I believe it needs 30 extra credits, but he is going in with roughly the same amount of credits. Anyway, he will decide in his sophomore year if he goes there. The advisors are willing to answer emails before enrolling which is a good experience. Dual Degrees | Undergraduate Academic Advising | Illinois
Some credits, if major related, he might want to retake. At our School of Mines Student panel session, that was the guidance from kids.
In my daughterâs experience, just because you have APs, it doesnât mean all are useful or that some are not good for the same class - she had 3 APs that all gave the same credit.
Best of luck.
I am being conservative when I say 30 credits. UIUC lets you check transfer credits using a third party website (Transferology) and it shows more than 30.
Only 8 (Calc I and II) are major related. The rest are courses like english, sociology, econ and history which satisfy gen ed.
Yes, thatâs an important consideration and another reason I said not to eliminate UMD so quickly. So many of my Bay Area friendsâ kids go there - thereâs a direct flight from SFO.
UMN is also a very easy flight from SFO
Just a note for future applicants that a lot of these schools are very helpful and answer questions before and after applying. Do use it. A few noteworthy mentions.
UMD: Regarding dual major in engg and CS, they suggested we apply to CS(LEP) and said it straightforward to add engg major later.
UW-Madison: Similar advice but suggested we apply to engineering and said it is easy to add CS later.
Purdue: Clearly indicated that CS and FYE are equally competitive and should not be first and second choice in the application. After admission, purdue recruiters were available to meet in the bay area for one on one conversation.
UIUC: Clearly answered questions on dual degree and said CS+X majors are not allowed to dual major in CE or CS-related majors at Grainger.
Compared to this, S22âs advising at a UC leaves a lot to be desired!.
Looks like you were right. UMD offered S25, Presidentâs Scholarship in the amount of $60,000 to be equally distributed over four years.
Keep in mind that the Big Ten schools are enormous institutions. Here are just the undergrad enrollments for the schools you are considering:
46,000, 75% instate, 5% Cal - Ohio State
38,000, 88% instate, 5% Cal - Purdue
38,000, 61% instate, 4% Cal - Illinois
35,000, 63% instate, 3% Cal - Wisconsin
So, all have 5% or less of their student body from the entire state of California. With student bodies of this size, even hundreds of students from your area can easily get lost in the mix. Iâm just saying that when you factor in some kids from home as contributing to whether or not itâs a good, it would appear not necessarily so. But maybe. So, it would probably be good to see if itâs possible to connect with one or more students in your area to answer questions about fit.