<p>So I have a 3.2 gpa and I am wondering what I should be looking into for computer science schools. Obviously the dream is to work at a place like Google or Facebook after college. Here are some of my stats. I got a 1940 on the SATs, 640 in math, 690 in writing, and 610 in writing. I have only taken them once and went in with absolutely no studying so hopefully those will raise a little. Besides that location is not really an issue and neither is the cost of the college (fortunately). Any help would be incredibly appreciated. Thanks!</p>
<p>There are so many CS schools applicable to your situation that to list them is to limit them. Generally, any of the US News top 500 universities should have competent CS programs.</p>
<p>I applied to Fordham for their 3-2 program. You go to Fordham for 3 years (you can apply for Computer Science) and then you get guaranteed acceptance to Columbia, as long as you keep up your grades and finish all the course requirements. At the end of the 5 years you get two degrees. There’s a bunch of colleges that offer this program, and they arent very hard to get into</p>
<p>[Combined</a> Plan Program Experience | Columbia Undergraduate Admissions](<a href=“http://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/learn/academiclife/engineering/combined-plan-program]Combined”>Combined Plan Applicants | Columbia Undergraduate Admissions)</p>
<p>The program is kind of risky, and has its drawbacks, but it’s just an idea you may want to think about.</p>
<p>Check out San Jos</p>
<p>There is no really good answer to your question until you have a better idea of what kind of university you want to attend. Do you want an urban or rural campus? Public or private? Large or small student body? Research university or liberal arts college? What about geographic location and social environment?</p>
<p>If you answer these questions for yourself, you will narrow the field down considerably. Then go find out is Google or similar companies comes to interview to your selected schools.</p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>
<p>I think you’re good for any mid tier state school. Go to a state flagship and work your tail off to get internships and experience.</p>
<p>Pagieplan: That 3 - 2 program sounds really interesting. Do you know any other universities (besides columbia) that offer it?</p>
<p>Megmil21: San Jose and UT Austin have both been somewhat on my radar. UT Austin seems a little hard to get into (not impossible mind you but difficult). San Jose is a little confusing to me. I looked it up and apparently microsoft hires a ton of students from san jose yet it is pretty easy to get into and only has a C+ rating for academics on college *******. Do you know why this is? is the computer science program really good but the rest just not that great?</p>
<p>I can’t believe you are using that site to judge colleges. STOP.</p>
<p>Moving on to actually meaningful metrics. On the right sidebar, you will see the colleges google actively recruits from: <a href=“Redirecting...”>Redirecting...;
<p>I’m assuming San Jose is one of those colleges where it’s “easy to get in, hard to get out”. The CS program admissions may be much harder than the school itself. Plus, it probably helps that it’s near Silicon Valley!</p>
<p>Being a resident of San Jose myself, I agree with what NextElement is saying. San Jose State is fairly easy to get into, but it’s hard to enroll in classes you want, therefore it may take longer to graduate there than at another university. Plus, their CS major is impacted. However, since it is located in the Silicon Valley, hoards of companies go to SJSU to employ students every year.</p>
<p>Maybe u can try Carnegie Mellon!</p>
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<p>Regardless, it’s a good general list of colleges. It’s not so much the rankings but to offer people a good mix of colleges and universities.</p>
<p>All that site is good for is generating ad revenue through having students, who most of which have only attended that one college, to grade their school’s academics—while still attending the university!</p>
<p>Who wants to rate their experience with the planet earth?</p>
<p>@candy0615: CMU has about 6% admission rate for CS. THat’s similar to Harvard. OP, with a 3.2, doesn’t stand a chance.</p>
<p>I second SJSU. Also, look into South Dakota School of Mines (easy to get into, good scholarships), New Mexico School of Mines and Technology, Missouri School of Science and Technology, Stevens, wpi.</p>
<p>However, your state universities (especially the flagship but not only) should have good CS programs. Just check to make sure they’re ABET accredited and you’ll be fine. :)</p>
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<p>Most if not all of those universities on that list are very selective and probably would not accept a student with a 3.2. They are not reasonable to apply to.</p>
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<p>C+ so far… <em>sigh</em></p>
<p>Are there any other schools in the silicon valley that aren’t super hard to get into?</p>
<p>Schools in the Bay Area you should be able to get into are CSU East Bay, the University of San Francisco, and St. Mary’s.</p>
<p>I doubt you’ll get into Santa Clara. San Francisco State is a possibility, but a lot of people want to go there and I don’t know how many open slots there are for OOS students.</p>
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<p>CS accreditation doesn’t much matter, although it doesn’t hurt. Most of the top 100 CS programs in the US aren’t accredited.</p>
<p>ABET accreditation is typically sufficient but not necessary to say that a CS department is at least decent.</p>
<p>The patent exam is the special case where ABET accreditation per se actually matters in CS. Otherwise, it tends not to be important per se for hiring purposes.</p>
<p>However, if looking at third tier colleges, ABET accreditation is more important (I’m thinking of “schools that are easy to get into” as per OP’s request). First and second tier colleges with CS will not be a problem, accredited or not.</p>