Need targets and safeties for comp sci [CA resident, 4.0 GPA, 1470 SAT]

College Search & Lists
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My son is finalizing his college list. He plans to apply for comp sci but is willing to consider adjacent / alternate majors such as data science, applied math, and computer engineering. I want to ensure he has a balanced list. We are in state in CA. He has a 1470 SAT (800 math), 4.0 unweighted, 10 AP’s (5’s on 5 STEM AP’s, 4 on AP lang). His EC’s include vaccine research with a UC Davis lab over the summer (with a strong letter from his mentor), 15 months of part time work at a coding school teaching kids to code, and competitive year round swimming (15 hours a week training).

In addition to the UC’s and Cal Poly, he has the following schools on his list.

Michigan

Purdue

Maryland

GA Tech

CO Mines

Harvey Mudd

Pomona College

WPI

Case Western

Santa Clara

Given how competitive CS is, I want to make sure we have enough targets and safeties. Curious which of these schools are targets/safeties and open to other suggestions as well. He is flexible on location although a direct flight from SFO would be nice.

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I think UMD is a target, low reach in general, but, CS is a Limited Enrollment Program, very difficult to be admitted as a freshman.
See some adjacent programs

What is highest math thru jr yr, what math will be taken sr yr?

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Are there any limits on cost?

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Without knowing his budget and his classes taken (English, Math, Science, Foreign Language and Social Science) - so assuming full pay, you only need one assured and affordable school - and after that it doesn’t matter.

If the answers come back that they’ve covered all those bases, I’d say you are fine - but expect rejection:

Michigan - unlikely

Purdue - unlikely - engineering would have better odds. If you did math, then it goes to likely.

Maryland - target - could go either way

Ga Tech - no

Mines - safety

Mudd - unlikely

Pomona - unlikely

WPI - safety

Case Western - target - make sure to express initerest

Santa Clara - likely

You have enough - and I wouldn’t say CS is overly competitive at most places. The reason you have enough is because you have at least two acceptances. Here’s the other thing - you have LACs (where you don’t even pick a major), mid size and big. You have Jesuit. You have city schools, small town schools, and one in the middle of nowhere (that’s large) although it has everything one needs (except maybe a non stop from SF).

Let’s start with - what does he want in a school - size (small, medium, large), environment (rural, urban, suburban), big time sports?? greek life?? Religion - you have Jesuit on your list.

Let’s go from there and find schools that fit. I’d imagine smaller schools will have less CS - hmmm - offerings in regards to specialties.

I personally think you pick major over school - so if you want CS, why would you do applied math? if you want math, then why CS?

Study what you want - there’s a million schools your student will get into and for CS short of a few huge names, it likely won’t matter much.

But a top public in CS, as an example, that would be more likely than Michigan, Purdue, Maryland, or Ga Tech - would be UMASS. But if you want to be close to home, would it be that much better than U Colorado or U Arizona, etc?

But let’s see what type of school does he actually want…

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He has taken AP calc AB, AP physics 1&2, AP chemistry, and AP comp sci A so far - all 5’s. Senior year he is taking these AP’s - calc BC, bio, stats, and Econ.

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He has taken through honors Spanish 4 for foreign language. Took AP lang junior year and English 4 senior year. He requested AP lit but the school could not make it work in his schedule with his other classes.

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OK - my thoughts above stand then -

I say, what does he seek in a school and go from there - but the list above, he’d certainly get into School of Mines and WPI and I’m pretty sure, especially as you are full pay, Santa Clara. UMD and Case Western are possible.

But - I’d rather not chase random names - and find the right school for your student - unless you’ve visited these all and are sure on them.

I hate to switch majors to attend a school. I’d rather you go to SCU for CS than Purdue for math - if you were to make that change so you can get in. It’s a great major - but not if it’s not what you want to study. Purdue is a great name but there are many great names and you want the degree to set you up for what you want to do in life, etc.

Good luck.

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He doesn’t have a ton of preferences. He is ok with big or small. Doesn’t care about big sports one way or the other. Unlikely to join a fraternity. He just wants a strong school with good outcomes that he can get into. Budget isn’t a major concern. We are prepared to pay for Harvey Mudd or Pomona if he gets in but would hope for some merit at Santa Clara, WPI, or Case. He has been considering whether to add Wisconsin or Virginia Tech to his list. He also is wondering his chances of getting into CS at the UCs (except Merced and Riverside) and Cal Poly. If he knew he had a good shot at a CA school, I think he’d choose that over a school ranked slightly higher but far away. He’s open to going far away if it’s his best option.

At Berkeley, he may apply for applied math or data science because the chances of getting into CS or EECS are very low. Maybe at Purdue he should apply computer engineering if that would be more likely than CS.

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I think you are over estimating the power of most names. I think CS is a bit different but if your son wants to stay in CA, he will have those opportunities. I think many salaries will be location specific with the Bay Area obviously commanding much higher than anywhere else (while you might think an SCU outperforms - but I’m guessing a U Portland, LMU, USD student would perform equally well if given the same opportunity).

If you have SCU (fine for business), why not LMU or USD.

If he doesn’t want to go away, why apply far - but if he is, a UMASS is a top school for CS as is RPI - I don’t see either on your list. And both are likely (with RPI safe).

But he wants to stay out West - if you have an SCU, why not a USD, LMU, etc. Why not an ASU, U of A, Colorado, Oregon State, etc.

Harvey Mudd is obviously exceptional with $102.5K median salary. Sadly they don’t break out by major. But with less than a 10% acceptance rate and I think he needs to apply test optional, it doesn’t look good. Pomona is equally unlikely but an Occidental would certainly happen.

One thing I’d wonder - does a smaller school (not saying Mudd) - but a smaller school have the course diversity he’d need.

CS is an odd one for sure.

Let’s look at some outcomes - and you’d be surprised:

Va Tech - $93K average salary. 12% seeking employment. This was 2025. You know who is easy to get to though - and has a $90K average salary - yep, non stop flights - NC State.

UMD people tend to end up in DC so draws higher salaries. UMD in 2024 reports $105K median with 2% not finding jobs.

UMASS includes both CS (BS and BA) and informatics majors which are about 1/7 and doesn’t give a salary but a range (I assume 25/75) of $93K and $105K. I imagine the CS students skew higher.

Purdue shows math of $74.3K and you’d get in but it’s not what you want to study. Computer engineering of $94K - but Purdue has first year engineering. You don’t get your major til 2nd year and sort of have to qualify your way in. Purdue is $103.9K for CS.

Rose Hulman shows $88.5K for CS and $87.3K for CE. Fine school - small.

RPI showed a CS average of $105.1K in 2024 - but the range is wide and a lot will depend on where you live. The bay area - you’d be higher, etc. In Indianapolis, lower (with any school).

Wisconsin is a fine school. Recently a poster here got a very good outcome from Rutgers, having turned down Wisconsin. Rutgers is an easier admit - but if you like non stops from SF and you want an easier admit, Wisconsin wouldn’t be the play but UMN would be. You may get into UWisc. You will get into UMN. The average salary is $85K.

There’s many rankings and you can find them all over - but of course the world is changing (CS grads have struggled in some cases) and technology is changing daily. For example, I learned that Dakota State (a regional school in South Dakota) is one of the top for Cyber. I think Stony Brook and Utah do well in CS - and Utah is a WUE school with non stop flights from SFO. Interestingly, and Utah shows this themselves in a report that grads of Utah Valley U make more than the U of Utah.

Don’t forget - these are averages or medians - not everyone earns these amounts - and a lot of it is based on industry (if you work for a Lockheed Martin, you might make less than if you work for Space X - but the latter may have more equity comp.

Well there’s a lot of names - but I would hope you’d look at the Arizona Schools and Oregon State (WUE) to stay closer to home - but UMASS and RPI are two more distant names as well as UMN (over Wisconsin) and NC State over Va Tech - given your travel desires. I think they are all substitutional. Pitt is another with non-stop flights and you can likely take some classes at Carnegie Melon as they have cross registration. Reported salaries are a bit lower but that’s likely based on the where they take jobs and not the jobs themselves.

Anyway, good luck - but going East is a big move for a student - unless they’re truly comfortable.

But I suspect, your student will make their success moreso than the school, short of a few names.

One last note - everyone wants to dismiss UCR and Merced even though both rank highly in US News.

If you look at Purdue overall engineering for 2025 $81,379 and UCR for 2024 (so Purdue has a year on it), $80,350 - they are virtually identical. And you will find it at most schools.

CS is a bit more name centric I suppose but those who are dismissing UCR based on - it’s easier to get into - are making a big mistake.

If someone truly wants to be out West for school, closer to home, why wouldn’t someone go there - they’re likely to do similarly as they will at most other schools you mentioned. The “reputation” or embarrassment these kids put on it as if they failed - is entirely untrue.

Best of luck in your son’s pursuits.

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Just a note on Purdue. Last cycle the acceptance rate for CS was 42%. It was 34% for engineering. This is a shift from years past. At one point the acceptant rate for CS was below 20%. I think the softening job market had students pivoting to other majors.

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If there is a chance your son would apply for computer engineering over CS, is AP physics C and option at his school? If so, I’d recommend that over AP bio unless he’s had no level of biology.

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There are some excellent suggestions given on this poster’s chance me/match me thread. Their budget is $100,000 a year which would fund just about any college in this country.

Since this student has the UCs (all of them?)…would he be happy to attend one of those if the others don’t work out (but I think some will…)?

Here is the chance me/match me for others for reference:

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Consider retaking SAT to try to bump up the verbal score.

Even if not, I would submit that score everywhere, even Mudd. In my opinion, better to submit 800M than not, regardless of the verbal score.

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AP physics C is not offered at his school. He has taken all the STEM AP’s offered.

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I think most people would agree that the top five colleges for undergraduate computer science are Carnegie Mellon, MIT, Stanford, UC Berkeley, & University of IL Urbana-Champaign. If Essenay’s son has decided to pursue this degree, I would apply to at least one (or two) of these schools with an 800 SAT math score & "5"s on five STEM AP exams, plus the 4.0 unweighted GPA.

Why? Because enrollment in computer science, both undergraduate & graduate programs, has fallen by double-digit percentages and projected to continue falling. In the 2030 job market, where you graduated from will matter more than today as a freshly-minted CS graduate (rise of AI & tightening job market).

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We’ve considered UMASS, Colorado, Arizona, and Utah. UMASS is cold and hard to get to like Wisconsin. Seems we should only add one of these and not sure how to choose.

We are trying to keep the list from getting too long. If we were to add one of Arizona, Utah or Colorado, which one? I know the rankings but are they all basically comparable? They aren’t top 20 so does the ranking matter at all? I know Arizona has had some budget issues and not sure if that has impacted student experience. Utah is cheap with WUE and Colorado is expensive. Why go to Colorado unless it’s a much better education, outcome, or experience? Both are mountain towns with skiing and access to the outdoors. He already has CO Mines on his list. Arizona has nice weather and an honors college, but is it as good for CS as some of his other target/likely options? He isn’t excited about OSU for some reason.

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In the interest of managing list size, he chose Santa Clara out of the CS privates (LMU, USD). He has a decent chance of acceptance to Santa Clara and would pick it over the others based on location in Silicon Valley.

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He is applying to Berkeley but they don’t consider SAT. His EC’s aren’t as strong for CS as he was a swimmer and doesn’t have a huge portfolio of coding projects. He is thinking of applying for a less competitive major at Berkeley (data science or applied math).

He is not planning to apply to Stanford, MIT, or Carnegie Mellon as his SAT score seems too low to have a real shot. Is this a mistake? As for UIUC, he was looking at the stats+CS major which has a higher acceptance rate vs CS. He isn’t super excited about the campus/location/weather but might consider it if it ends up being this or one of his safeties.

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At least he’s applying to UC Berkeley. If he isn’t interested in Urbana, then he shouldn’t apply since he likely wouldn’t enroll anyway. I would apply to at least one Ivy - perhaps Brown or Yale, if he’s interested. Prestige would be a significant factor in considering college choice for computer science, given current market conditions & his stats. I do agree that he should try to increase the SAT reading to >=700 or try the ACT, advice I have given before.

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But 28% of cs grads did not answer the survey. Are they unwmployed?

Out of 959 total graduates, responses were collected from 687 students, yielding a knowledge rate of 72%. Among those, 80.5% reported entering the workforce, while 12.4% chose to pursue further education. Only 1.9% of graduates remained unplaced at the time of reporting, and 5.2% were still finalizing plans.

Among students who accepted full-time jobs, the median starting salary was $105,000, with most reporting salaries between $88,000 and $127,000. About 175 students reported receiving a bonus, with a median bonus amount of $10,257.90.

Internships remained a key factor in employment outcomes. Of the 390 respondents who answered questions about internships, 84.4% had completed at least one internship while at UMD. Among them, 67.2% completed two or more internships, and 89.1% said they had at least one paid internship.

Many students credited internship experience as the path to their current jobs. Sixty-two percent of those who responded to job search questions said their internships led to job offers. Other commonly cited methods for securing employment included non-UMD job platforms, personal contacts and UMD career fairs.

Survey respondents accepted positions across a wide range of employers, including Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Capital One, Lockheed Martin and the National Security Agency. Common job titles among graduates included software engineer, data analyst, product manager and systems developer.

A majority of graduates remained in the region. Of those who reported employment locations, 28% said they were working in Maryland, 25% in Virginia and 5% in Washington, D.C. Combined, 62% of the class reported working in the greater DMV area. Other popular destinations included New York, California, and Washington state.