Match a rising junior for colleges with good defense/intelligence community pipelines [VA resident, 4.0 UW, CS, <$50K/yr]

Chance Me / Match Me
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Demographics

  • US Citizen
  • Mix of rural and suburban
  • Virginia resident

Cost Constraints / Budget

$50k a year would be the absolute limit, but I’d prefer $40k and lower.

Intended Major(s)
Computer Science

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 4.0
  • Weighted HS GPA: 4.396
  • Class Rank: 43/461
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 1230 on PSAT 10 (zero study before hand so I fumbled it, preparing for SAT)

List your HS coursework

  • English: Honors English 9, Honors English 10
  • Math: Algebra 1, Geometry, Honors Algebra 2, DE PreCalculus 1 and 2, AP CSP
  • Science: Environmental Science, AP Biology
  • History and social studies: AP Human Geography, AP World History
  • Language other than English: Spanish 3

Awards
Won Introduction to Programming and Introduction to Information Technology competitions at FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) regionals, going to states later next month

Extracurriculars
My main extracurricular is a long-term programming project centered around a fairly popular Minecraft: Bedrock Edition modification (150k+ downloads), which I’ve been involved with since late 2022. I work on reverse engineering, launcher/tooling development, and adding new features to integrate into the game based off of the reverse engineered Minecraft code. Futhermore, I coordinate translation of the modification with volunteers for multiple languages.

I also contribute to open source, mainly to a popular but niche open source rhythm game. In addition, I do FBLA and recently qualified for states after winning in Introduction to Programming and Introduction to Information Technology at regionals. I also judge for my county’s middle school debate league.

Current schools considering: Virginia Tech, UVA, William & Mary, GMU, etc.
Looking for: strong CS, good outcomes, ideally within budget, and preferably with access to defense/IC-adjacent internships or recruiting.

I’m planning to apply in-state to Virginia state schools because there’s a lot of defense/IC work in these areas, but I genuinely have no clue about which ones are better than the other in this area, or if I could apply out of state and get similar pipelines.

Might also be relevant to note that while my mother is fine with me going to an in-state school, my father is adamant that I need to go to an ivy-league school like Harvard or Yale or MIT, so prestige might have to be a factor in which school I go to..

I also don’t really know if I should try to grind for more awards or to keep working on more self-directed projects. I heard that awards like USACO Gold and Platinum are easier for colleges to gauge then a bunch of projects/open source work, but it takes a lot for me to motivate myself to actually practice towards it rather than just working on the stuff that already interests me.

Another kind of unrelated question: do colleges look down on mostly online ECs? I haven’t done a ton of browsing here, but I don’t see anyone else with any kind of similar ECs that I have, so I don’t know if colleges just prioritize in person ECs that are with your geographical community rather than an online community.

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Has he used the net price calculator on the schools he prefers to see if the net prices after financial aid are within budget?

MIT is in the NEWMAC, not the Ivy League. Ivy League schools also do not necessarily have the highest prestige for CS, except in traditional Ivy League industries like Wall Street and management consulting.

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I doubt he’s used any price calculator yet, but since I’m from an upper middle class family I think it’s safe to say that I’m not getting any need-based aid.

Yes, you’re right, MIT isn’t an Ivy League school. My point is that he wants me to go to one of the colleges that everyone in the world has heard of, which is a long shot of course given the acceptance rates, so I’ll have to manage to convince him that for the career path I want to go for (software developer with a security clearance in the DMV) a prestigious undergrad CS degree isn’t necessary.

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Have you looked at the list of top ranked CS schools? As @ucbalumnus said, they’re not the ones you might think they are.

Here’s an aggregated ranking list that’s often referenced:

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If your max budget is 50k/year and you won’t be getting any need based aid, the Ivy League schools and MIT are well beyond your price range. They all will be over 90k/year.

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For what it is worth, people who matter very much HAVE heard of Virginia Tech, UVA, W&M, George Mason, and so on, particularly in the sorts of circles you are talking about. Whether or not some rando in some other place with no connection to your desired careers knows much about them is totally irrelevant. In other words, it is all about effective networking, not impressing people who can’t actually do anything for you.

Between your in-state options, I think you should first see what offers you get and what they actually cost you.

For other options–first, definitely check NPCs, some families are pleasantly surprised.

Second, depending on what you get in terms of test scores and how your grades continue, you may ultimately be able to chase merit as well. A college like RPI, for example, could potentially get on budget, and would be a viable choice for your current interests. If you would be willing to consider smaller undergrad-focused colleges, you might check out Gettysburg, which is very plugged into the DC network.

ETA: Oh, I would also check out Iowa State. Very well-networked, and has automatic rolling admissions AND automatic merit.

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For the top 20 on that list, specifically for systems, it was kind of eye-opening seeing the amount of public universities there. Kind of expected them all to be private schools barring some exceptions like UC Berkeley

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Since you are a rising junior, I would also encourage you to prepare for this Fall’s PSAT/NMSQT, which is the one that is tied to National Merit. Becoming a National Merit Semi-Finalist or Finalist can bring some big scholarships at some schools (which tend to be less ‘prestigious’)

Make sure to take chem and physics in 11th/12th.

Is this projected thru 12th grade?

Continue doing activities that interest you.

It is important to demonstrate you can work with people and as a part of a team. Doing that in-person does require a different set of skills than online, so I encourage you to continue with FBLA (progressing to a leadership role if possible) and continue with your involvement with the middle school debate league. Do you work with the students in that league, or is it only in a judging role? You might expand to coaching too, if possible and of interest.

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Rankings methodologies which focus more specifically on academic factors almost always have a lot of representation from various public research universities. Of course a given individual may also be interested in other factors as well when considering their undergrad choices, not least financial, but also a variety of other things. But it is good to know about all these excellent academic options.

Again, in your case, Virginia specifically has plenty of representation on those lists. I think if you did a personalized ranking which combined general academic excellence in CS along with networks in the defense/intelligence communities, all of Virginia Tech, UVA, W&M, and George Mason, say, would be much higher still. In short, you are easily in one of the top few states for the total range of public options in this area.

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Here is a link to a joint program by Purdue with the DOD.

It looks like Virginia Tech and University of Arizona have similar programs. They may be worth a look.

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Purdue in fact would potentially be another excellent choice for a non-VA option, although I believe it would also be pushing the outer bounds of the OP’s budget for full COA. Still might be worth looking into.

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If he could get into the program for DOD civilians he could get a good scholarship and monthly stipend. This is in addition to internship opportunities.

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Oh right! That scholarship + stipend should make it very competitive on cost as well.

This is a great lead, OP!

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This is all of the math coursework I’ve completed so far (currently in DE PreCalculus 2 though). I plan to take AP Calculus AB next year (highest calculus course my school offers) and then AP Stats in senior year

I see. Thanks for the insight

Officially I only judge, but I always try to look through the constructives and crossfire arguments the kids in the Debate Club I was apart of in middle school have for their competitions and give tips for what they could improve.

I’ve thought about going to my middle school’s Debate Club for some coaching, but the only issue would be transportation, so I’d just need a plan for that and I could do coaching

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It looks like Virginia Tech and University of Maryland have this kind of program for seniors as well, and this is basically everything I wanted in a defense pipeline. Also looking more into Virginia Tech, it looks like they’re pretty good at the systems side of CS, which is a major interest of mine.

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I am happy to share it!

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Yes, Virginia Tech seems like an obvious great fit for you, really even before considering such a program, and even more so with it.

I note this doesn’t always have to be hard. Sometimes there is an obvious best fit for a kid, they get admitted early, and they relax and enjoy the rest of senior year. You’re a long way from knowing that is the right path for you, but if it ends up that way, that’s a good thing!

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If you are interested in RPI, I’d let your guidance counselor at the end of your first semester junior year so that they can consider you for the RPI medal. It is a $160,000 merit scholarship awarded at the end of your junior year. The great thing about receiving the award is that you know what your merit will be before you even get your acceptance (acceptance is not guaranteed, but I’m pretty sure you’d get in), so you at least know it will be affordable and you can use that as a comparison.

You can apply online to Iowa State in July before your senior year and get an immediate acceptance as you will meet their minimum RAI. The official letter will come about a week later. It’s awesome to go into Senior year with a viable acceptance already under your belt.

You should definitely think about adding UMASS and Maryland to your list. There are people that turn down ivies for UMASS + honors when it comes to CS. Especially when you factor in budget. Don’t be fooled by their general admission numbers. They are much more competitive for CS.

You’re better off taking CALC B/C if you want to go into CS

I don’t think anyone can say how your application will be viewed at each school, but showing that you are passionate about something and have gone deep into the activity (rather than spreading yourself superficially over many activities) often looks good. Especially if you can supply metrics. You are going to go fine in admissions as you have identified some nice match schools. I wouldn’t worry about it.

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Unfortunately the highest math class my school offers is AP Calc AB, with AP Stats being the 2nd highest if you don’t count DE Precalc 1/2. Since I’m on the most advanced math track my options are either:

  1. Take AP Calc AB my junior year and AP Stats my senior year
  2. Take AP Stats my junior year and AP Calc AB my senior year (which I’d prefer not to since I’d be one year out of precalc knowledge)
  3. Take either of these junior year and skip math senior year (bad for rigor considerations)
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