Small colleges with computer science and a low to moderate breadth requirement?

College Search & Lists
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Looking for small to medium sized colleges with a solid computer science program and a low to moderate breadth requirement. Hoping for a friendly, collaborative learning environment, not too competitive or stressful. My student is interested in tech but is also a relatively social, extroverted person. Various technical institutes (e.g., RPI, WPI, RIT, etc.) could maaaaybe fit…? But they could also wind up being a little too dry.

  1. Unweighted GPA 3.9, 4-5 AP classes, low extra-curriculars. Interested in test-optional colleges only.

  2. Intended college major: computer science.

  3. Non-academic preferences:
    a. region: any except deep red states
    b. politics/religion: liberal, preferably not much religion in curriculum
    c. size: <7,000 students
    d. campus: a well-defined & vibrant student community, not too urban (like NYC)
    e. social: not big on spectator sports or fraternities, balanced gender ratio

  4. Cost: ran NPCs on many LAC’s to create list below:

Safeties:
U of the Pacific
U of Portland
U of Puget Sound

Targets:
Bard
Brandeis
Clark University
Connecticut College
Rochester Institute of Technology — gender balance is an issue
St Olaf — seems great! But 16 core classes seems too many
Wheaton (MA)
Willamette University

Reach:
Macalester

Possible fit but came out too expensive on NPC:
Bennington – probably too small
Carlton
Colorado College
Hampshire – probably too unstructured
Rensslaer P.I. – gender ratio is an issue
Worcester P.I. – gender ratio is an issue

Open to suggestions & discussion. Thanks.

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RPI has a great program. I am an alumni & my kid is a first year. I know Compsci is supposed to be good too.

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@cc88288 why are you concerned about the gender ratio?

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For this criterion, this site may be of interest:

From your current list, for example, St. Olaf and UPS appear.

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Both Bennington and Hampshire have very unique cultures. I don’t associate either of them as being particularly strong in CS.

Bennington is known for its heavy focus on the visual and performing arts (dance, drama, music, visual arts) and literature. Its website lists 11 faculty in Literature and only 2 total faculty in CS (one a visitor).

Hampshire leans in hard to welcoming LGBTQ students, I would say leading the country in this campus culture. Over 50% of students are LGBTQ and over 25% are trans or nonbinary. A brief look at its CS webpage lists non-serious CS courses. It looks like your student would need to take CS courses through the 5 college consortium to take serious CS courses. Of course, UMass Amherst is a member of that consortium and UMass is phenomenal in CS.

Anyway, I suggest your student take some time to do a deep dive into each CS Department at the schools they are considering. Not all small schools are strong in CS.

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To what level of selectivity would this student like to reach? Would Macalester, for example, roughly represent an upper limit?

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Are University of Rochester and University of Denver too big? Just how small are you hoping for?

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One daughter was offered unexpected merit aid at Bennington College (the NPC had not predicted it), with stats that were not all that far off from your child (she did submit SAT results). She ended up going somewhere else. Bennington might have been a bit small for her also.

I expect that you will find a lot of colleges and universities in the US that fit your criteria very well. One wild thought that is a bit further afield and that fits all of your listed criteria is Acadia University in Nova Scotia. I think it has about 4,000 students and is in an attractive small town right on the Bay of Fundy (just over one hour from Halifax, and almost exactly one hour from the Halifax airport). They do not ask about ECs and will not consider SAT/ACT scores for admission. Instead admissions largely is based on GPA plus references, and 3.9 should be fine and might bring in a moderate amount of merit aid. The currency conversion rate is quite favorable for us Americans.

Many decades ago I attended a university that had a very skewed gender balance. To me this seems like a perfectly reasonable criteria as part of a longer list of criteria. Basically it is reasonable IMHO to want some semblance of normality in your life experience over four years of university.

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Would Macalester, for example, roughly represent an upper limit?

Yes, approximately.

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One daughter was offered unexpected merit aid at Bennington College (the NPC had not predicted it)

Great to hear NPC isn’t always right!

want some semblance of normality in your life experience over four years of university.

Thanks, exactly that! My student has a bit of a talent for mingling and conversing with all kinds of people, although he’s definitely tight with his close friends.

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I would remove St Olaf. The religious part bugs you (other thread) as does extensive distribution. Yes, many say great things but it doesn’t fit you.

The first I thought of was Rose Hulman but then saw the political environment column.

Then I thought Colorado School of Mines. If it’s loaded with tech people, the distribution must be ok - I’m guessing. Not sure the $$ will work.

The First LAC I thought of and had extensive merit is Kalamazoo. Why ?

“Our flexible curriculum allows you to explore your interests or immediately dive into your existing passions. Be a physics major with a history minor or a psychology major with a concentration in community and global health. With minimal general education requirements, no pressure to declare a major until your sophomore year, and with 32 majors, 22 minors and 13 concentrations to choose from, you will have the time and opportunity to find your niche—or niches!”

The merit will be outstanding.

Others that will throw crazy merit at you are Allegheny, Washington College and Susquehanna but you’d have to read about each’s core. Susquehanna seems to give aggressive aid. A more tech oriented school would be Clarkson - my colleague is paying $40k for his kid there (or maybe a tad less).

Ithaca is known for big merit. Marist maybe and St Mary’s College of MD (the public Honors) are three more to research.

Just more ideas to research - but School of Mines and Clarkson are more tech focused so maybe the requirements are less. Michigan Tech may be another.

SUNY Oneonta ahd Wisconsin Eau Claire were both rated very LGBTQ friendly by by Bestcolleges (whoever that is) and Ithaca #1. Eau Claire is about 8500 undergrads so a bit over your limit

A few notes -

If you gave a budget vs dating the NPCs worked, we might find more names.

Don’t assume a deep red state is necessarily bigoted or racist. I know many say it’s the laws but I bring this up bcuz a rural CA or Oregon or NY could be. States have diverse ideologies depending on the area is the point. You can check campus pride index to see how those listed rate.

Please check the depth of the offerings. Small schools may lack.

Finally an interesting article was recently posted. It talked about how CS in and of itself is out, when combined with more advanced math and other things, that’s what has value. So when kids are looking for - less core (it’s good to be well rounded), they should also want an employable degree. I’m not saying a CS degree isn’t but there was interesting thoughts in the article about maxing out math, physics and EE offerings too to ensure viability in the future (it’s how I read it anyway). @ucscuuw posted on another thread.

Mines (listed above) is engineering focused. Their core is extensive but maybe in a good way. You can judge. I think it fits in nice with the article. I’d hate to complete a degree but maybe not be ready to compete.

Good luck.

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Many NPCs don’t include merit.

It’s best to provide a budget figure and find schools that meet your price as full pay.

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How about Denison?

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My D had a great experience at Lafayette College which may be worth considering.

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Have you looked into William and Mary? My nephew had a great experience there as a Comp Sci major and even stayed on for an MS. Your kid’s stats are good for William and Mary, though OOS admits are harder than in-state. They don’t give much merit aid, either, so it would be worth running the NPC.

Based on your other preferences, you might also consider Dickinson and Lewis and Clark.

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What are his APs in ? STEM I assume.

When you say low ECs, does he have one or two with depth or tenure ?

A match me might help you find more - if we could learn more detail about the student.

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How about Champlain College? If you were intrigued by Hampshire and Bennington, it might be worth a look. It’s something between a Hampshire and an RIT. We know kids who have gotten great merit and it fits your non-academic preferences.

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University of Rochester is flexible with the general education requirements.

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