S got accepted at Georgiatech with scholarship, Berkeley, Olin, UIUC. He is unable to make make up his mind. Likes small classes.
Which college would provide;
- best learning experience
- Intern opportunities
- Employment opportunities after school
Thanks
Net price at each school?
Was he admitted to the major or as undeclared at each school?
If not admitted to the major, please check here on the difficulty of getting into the CS major:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19262574/#Comment_19262574
For class sizes, try the on-line class schedules to see if class sizes are listed. But, given the rapid increase in popularity of CS in recent years, expect class sizes to be large.
For what students do after graduation, see the career surveys:
https://webapps.gatech.edu/cfcampus/adors/commencement/salary_report.cfm
https://career.berkeley.edu/Survey/Survey (“What Can I Do With a Major In…?” links)
However, be aware that economic and industry cycles can result in a very different job market four years from now. 1998-1999 CS frosh saw a very different job market at graduation in 2002-2003.
- best learning experience
Olin has been rated as having the best classroom experience. Small classes, project based engineering curriculum from day 1.
- Intern opportunities
I think all the schools will have good internship opportunities.
- Employment opportunities after school
I don’t think any school will be better or worse for job opportunities. I do know that at Olin this semester, they had more companies recruit on campus than they had graduating seniors.
What state are you in? Did you apply to an in-state public?
Berkeley is the best academically, Followed by UIUC,Olin, GATech.
Berkeley & UIUC will probably be more expensive than the other two.
Size
UIUC-45,000
GATech-23,000
UCB-37,000
Olin-400
Olin has the smallest class sizes, with an 8:1 ratio. Also everyone receives financial aid as a freshman there.
As of right now, GATech or Olin imo.
The Intro Computer Science class at Berkeley is about 1000 students.
Olin (the entire school) is about 350 students.
I believe that the people at Olin would find the concept of being “admitted to a major (or not)” rather fascinating…
Thank you all for your replies, much appreciated. Cost attendance right now is;
UCB- Instate price (34K-37K)
UIUC-Full Price (<45K)
GTech- (<29K may turn into full ride after presidential scholarship interview)
Olin - (45K after 50% Tuition)
As parents you want the best for your children, if it is pure economic decision, off the bat GTech it is, but then there is more to selecting a college than cost alone.
PS: It is our daughter not son.
http://financialaid.berkeley.edu/cost-attendance indicates that the UCB in-state price is about $33,000 living on campus, but falls to $28,000 for students who move off-campus (as most do in later years). Note that frugal students can live in the BSC co-ops that are about $3,000 less expensive than the room and food estimates in the off-campus budget.
Assuming that the GT scholarship decision occurs before the decision deadline, wait for that decision before deciding.
Thanks ucbalumnus. By mid April the scholarship decision should be out. Keeping our fingers crossed.
What kind of impression did Candidate’s Weekend at Olin make on your D? Seems like most kids end up feeling pretty strongly about the place one way or the other after that experience. Also, your Olin number may be a bit inflated. Keep in mind you can just keep your D on your insurance and not pay for the one they list on their COA page. And the $2600 laptop is a one-shot deal – you won’t be paying that every year.
My D is a graduating senior from Olin who majored in engineering with computing. She’s had a great experience and is off to a terrific job after she graduates. It truly is a remarkable place. Feel free to PM me if you’d like more info.
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- best learning experience
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Olin has been rated as having the best classroom experience. Small classes, project based engineering curriculum from day 1.
- Intern opportunities
I think all the schools will have good internship opportunities.
- Employment opportunities after school
I don’t think any school will be better or worse for job opportunities. I do know that at Olin this semester, they had more companies recruit on campus than they had graduating seniors.
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Yes, to all of the above. However, I don’t Olin would be the place to go if DD would like a fuller college experience.
@“CValley Dad”
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S got accepted… He is unable to make make up his mind. Likes small classes.
PS. It is our daughter, not our son.
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Hmmmm…seems like dad is unable to make up his mind… or maybe it’s really a mom.
Olin doesn’t have CS as a major. They may have something similar enough – someone mentioned engineering with computing – but it’s not clear that the OP is aware of this and/or has investigated it.
Also, I agree that it’s weird that the OP first used S/he/his to refer to their child, then said it was their daughter.
^This is true and worth considering. But you definitely can learn to program at Olin and go on to get a software dev job at a top company, as my D has done. I also believe Olin is working on beefing up their CS offerings right now, incorporating feedback from current and recent students. But yes, a student choosing Olin should want to embrace the broader engineering experience they offer, and not be narrowly focused on a pure CS curriculum.
Not in any way trying to cause trouble here, but just wanted to pass along that Georgia may pass (or may not) a campus carry law, similar to the one in Texas. This troubles me personally, but may not matter to the OP.
I’d go between GTech and Olin. Very different. A visit’s in order as they’re so different your daughter should figure out which one she likes - small, supportive, hands-on, 50-50 gender ratio, vs. large, prestigious, tough/weed-out culture, gender imbalance.
The OP’s son would have had attended Olin’s Candidate Weekend before the admissions decision , so he would understand Olin’s appeal or limitations, depending on his views. I’m personally biases since I have a son there. But they’re all great schools, though I’d hesitate with UCB’s huge class sizes.
@rayrick: I’d actually argue that CS is quite broad – programming and software development are just sub-areas within CS (although perhaps the most salient ones). In a way, this is just quibbling with your phrasing, but really it’s significant in that someone studying CS can go in a variety of different directions. And bringing this back to this thread, one needs to decide if what Olin offers is sufficient to match their interests; if there are other areas of CS they’d like to be exposed to, it woudn’t be the best choice.
Fair enough, @csdad2. My choice of words was not ideal. I really meant that you would need to be down with taking a bunch of other required engineering classes, and not want to have one’s STEM classes just be all CS all of the time. Your point about it not necessarily being a great fit for every kid (or perhaps even a typical kid) that wants to get a pure CS degree is valid.
CS is a demanding major, and GATech has a rep for being pretty darn tough on top of that. I would want my D to visit first, with the substantial gender imbalance duly accounted for. However, terrific internship opportunities at GaTech.
I agree with all above; wait for scholarship decision before making final choice.
Thank you guys for ur helpful comments. D off to Tech tomorrow for scholarship interview. Keeping our fingers crossed. If she does not get the full ride, likely to attend Olin after another visit. D thinks you get to see the best face of school during Candidates weekend.
@“CValley Dad”, pm me if you’d like me to put your D in touch with my D during her revisit to Olin. She’s a senior, has had two terrific software internships, and is headed off to be a software development engineer at a top firm next fall. She’s also finishing up a really cool SCOPE project that involved a lot of coding (that she can finally talk about after months of secrecy!).