So I am currently a junior in High School. I take four AP classes and one honor level class.I have a weighted average of about 101 with the honors class bringing it down. I had no extracurriculars besides chess club but I am getting a part time job soon and a computer course during the summer. Haven’t taken the sat yet.
My dream college is Columbia University and a more reasonable choice is probably Stony Brook or rensselaer polytechnic institute
I am also an immigrant with the first in my family to get a college degree here if that makes any difference.
Why New York? Troy, where Rensselaer is, is completely different from NYC, and almost 3 hours away. What aspect of New York do you have in mind? And what do you hope to study? RPI is an intense STEM school - is that what you’re looking for?
Your GPA is good, but it takes grades, standardized test scores, AND impressive extracurriculars to get into super-reaches like Columbia. 1st generation status will help some, but regardless you need some solid match and safety schools in addition to the long shots.
New York because my parents aren’t too keen on me moving far away but if there’s an opportunity I can go out of state. I want to study computer science and have an interest in software engineering. I will be taking the sat soon and a math subject test (what grades should I aim for?). I’m wondering what is a reasonable but also an above average college I can go to around the New England area for computer science.
Take an SAT practice test or two https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/practice and see how your score range is looking.
Do you have any sense of how much financial aid you would qualify for? Depending on your family’s financial situation, it can vary which schools will be affordable for you. (For example, a SUNY school might be more affordable for a middle-income family, whereas a private university with good financial aid might be more affordable for a low-income family.)
1st generation status will help a bit, and if you’re an under-represented minority also, that will help too.
RPI is an great school for CS & software engineering. Grading is tough there and there are grade thresholds in the lower-division classes, to get into those majors. It’s a tough place but excellent. Does your high school award the Rensselaer Medal? It’s given to juniors and qualifies you for automatic merit aid when you apply as a senior. You’ll need some very solid scores there, especially on the math side.
A number of the SUNY schools are excellent. Basically, there are tons of good schools within a radius of where you live, but you need scores and financials, and anything else you can think of about “fit”, to start narrowing things down.
What’s your EFC?
Practice, practice, practice for the SAT. Go to the testing forum and use the “xiggi and silverturtle” method. Use Khan academy.
Are you a boy or a girl? Are you URM?
Look into RIT, Clarkson, and Union, too. Northeastern if you can score 1450+ on the sat.
(For subject tests, aim for 700+).
Run the NPC on Vassar , Hamilton, St Lawrence. These meet 100% need.
If your family qualifies for Excelsior(or stem scholarship), SUNYs are a must - Stony Brook, Binghamton, Buffalo in particular.
Also look at Lehigh. They’re an interesting combination of being fairly close to the NY metro area (closer than the upstate SUNYs or RPI), and yet being in a geographic pocket that is somewhat less diverse, meaning they make a particular effort to attract non-majority students (and even count Asians as URM, which few east coast schools do). They have a fully-funded Diversity Weekend for prospies who qualify (which of course I have no idea if you do, but FWIW). Engineering programs are strong. And they are another school that meets full need. (Not a no-loan school, but they cap loans at $5K/year. Typically only the super-elites with immense endowments can promise a no-loan package.) https://www1.lehigh.edu/admissions/undergrad/visit/dap
Thank you for your time aquapt and MYOS1634
To answer some of your questions I am a boy and of Asian and Middle Eastern Decent from Pakistan. I don’t know if that would qualify for URM. I am fairly sure I am also eligible for financial aid as I live in probably the most expensive place in America with only my father working (family of 6). English isn’t my first or second language.
I did my first practice sat exam from the link you gave on Khan academy just now, extremely quickly however with many distractions; i had 5-20 minutes remaining on some of the sections. I got a 1290 (670 math, 620 reading). I am extremely confident I can increase that number by 100-200 by properly preparing and taking more time.
Lehigh seems like a great option. I probably won’t bother with Columbia but I’m wondering Carnegie Mellon (good for computer science) as a super reach one just to try along with 3 other significantly more reasonable colleges; about 8/20 of applicants have gotten in Mellon from my school.
You are not a URM, but first-gen is a hook and may give you a boost.
There are many good choices in New York City, of varying selectivity:
Columbia
NYU
Fordham
Hofstra
St. John’s
CCNY
…to name six.
In the rest of the state you have Cornell, U of Rochester, SUNYs, Syracuse, RIT, RPI, and LACs like Vassar, Hamilton, Colgate, Bard, and St. Lawrence.
Connecticut has Yale, Wesleyan and UConn. New Jersey has Princeton, TCNJ, U of Scranton, Rutgers, Stephens, NJIT, Seton Hall. Pennsylvania has many schools, as does Massachusetts.
What are you looking for in terms of academics (majors, class sizes), environment (weather, urban/rural/suburban setting), and social vibe (sports, party life, things to do)?
I believe Lehigh would consider you a URM. Many other schools would not. That’s something to take into account on a case-by-case basis as you gauge whether schools are match, reach, or safety.
CMU isn’t a super-reach on average across the whole university, but for computer science it is. (Not all colleges admit by major or by academic division, but CMU does.) https://admission.enrollment.cmu.edu/pages/undergraduate-admission-statistics CMU CS is as tough to get into as an Ivy, but the financial aid isn’t Ivy-level. (Not a 100% need met school, and definitely not a no-loan school.) It’s a great program but consider it a long shot for both acceptance and affordability.
Sounds like you’re likely to be able to make a strong showing on standardized tests, which will position you well. As for the financials, every college has its own formula for the Net Price Calculator. If you know your father’s income, go ahead and run the NPC for a few schools of interest and see how the projected costs look. Here is Lehigh’s, as an arbitrary place to start: https://npc.collegeboard.org/student/app/lehigh
If your family can live in the most expensive place in America on only one income, you may not be eligible for as much financial aid as you think. Do your parents earn less than $125k? If so, you may be eligible for the Excelsior grant.
Look at Clarkson University.
A couple more thoughts…
It is very possible that a SUNY school will end up being your best bet - Stony Brook has the top CS program in the system, and Binghamton is the highest-ranked overall and has strong CS too. Also, there are some phenomenal Honors College opportunities within the CUNY system. (I’m not versed in which majors are available through those programs though.)
But in terms of admissions to high-end private and OOS public programs, colleges do value “geographic diversity.” Staying close to home comes at a cost when it comes to the realism of getting into a reach school, because there are SO many applicants from the same area trying to do the same thing, and colleges don’t want local kids to comprise too much of the class.
So, it’s worth at least thinking about where you can get to in one easy flight, that is far enough outside of your local-demand region to make you one notch more competitive as an applicant. Examples might be Purdue (2.5hr nonstop to Indianapolis - a public U with fantastic engineering and CS) and Case Western Reserve (2 hour nonstop to Cleveland, private U with top-notch STEM). Of course, you and your family can decide this doesn’t work for you. There’s just a trade-off in terms of admissions advantage, especially since you’re more likely to be favored as racially/ethnically “diverse” in the Midwest as well. (And these cities are on the close-and-accessible end of the Midwest.) Totally an individual decision, but honestly a straight shot to Cleveland or Indianapolis isn’t really any harder than getting to some of the Upstate NY or New England schools. (Also, both CWRU and Purdue attract lots of international students, so even though the domestic undergrad populations are less diverse, your cultural background is likely to be well represented in the international student community.)
CS programs are in high demand. There’s no doubt you’ll be able to study CS at a good school, but if you are determined to get into the most competitive program possible, then consider whether casting a slightly wider geographic net might be worthwhile. Nothing you need to decide for sure at this stage, just something to consider as you build your list.
Purdue won’t offer financial aid, but Case Western will. As will Grinnell. Of course there’s Northwestern’s CS+X program, too.
But yes geographical diversity is a big plus for you, especially if you fill out the request info form now and click on the mails they send you… and in the Midwest you’d be URM.
Grinnell would be a much longer trip, but their financial aid is awesome.
Point taken about Purdue & FA; that’s the problem with out-of-state public U’s.
Definitely look at CWRU though. The only reason they’re any less competitive than their coastal peer schools is the location. Cleveland isn’t a bad place to be a student, and getting between there and NYC is very straightforward.
Stony Brook will be my safe bet application it’s close to where I live and my parents seem alright with that. As for other options and colleges I might apply to, I’m ok with moving out of state and farther if a really good opportunity presents itself. Also @MYOS1634 I am wondering why Northwestern over Northeastern as an option; Northeastern has a higher acceptance rate and according to niche, better for computer science.
Anyways thank you all for your time and I’ve taken note of all the suggestions and colleges mentioned here. I definitely feel a lot better on what I’m looking for.
Northwestern is better-established as an elite university than Northeastern, which is more in the “up-and-coming” category.
Northeastern does have a very thoughtfully-designed CS program, with a extremely well-planned curriculum and many terrific options for blending CS for other areas of interest. One of my own kids almost went there for CS+design. The co-op system is terrific, not only yielding some respectable income for students at the time, but also leading to job offers after graduation in an impressive percentage of participants. I think Northeastern’s CS program is great, from an educational and experiential point of view. Their campus and location in the heart of Boston are great too. However, they don’t have an immense endowment, and they have fine-tuned the art of offering just enough financial aid to tempt students to attend, but not enough to make it truly viable. Their financial aid department has some unsavory behaviors, such as reducing grant aid when a student gets an outside scholarship, rather than reducing the loans they’re required to take out. So I guess what I’m saying is… it’s a great place to apply (and they have Early Action, so you can get your offer in December if you apply by November 1st), but try not to fall in love, because you’ll need to let the numbers decide whether it’s really practical for you to attend if you get in. I’ve seen a few low-income students get good offers, but I’ve seen many accepted students walk away in disappointment because of the financials. There are several reasons that less than 20% of admitted students attend - one is that many get into even more prestigious elite schools, but the other is that many simply can’t afford it. Doesn’t hurt to try, though - it can be terrific if the money is there.
I think you need to see where you’re at with test scores before you decide whether applications to super-reaches like Northwestern, Cornell, etc. are worth going for. You don’t have an extracurricular “hook” and you don’t have a perfect GPA (no criticism, it’s very good, but for a weighted GPA it’s not above-average for the super-reaches, and you need something to be above-average if you don’t have athletics or a super-special extracurricular record on your side.) So, while test scores may not matter as much to someone with perfect grades and distinctive activities, they may matter more for you. It seems clear that you will have a great SUNY option, so you don’t need to be worried. You just need the score info to gauge where the “sweet spot” is for applications to schools that you might choose over Stony Brook. Hope that makes sense. In the meantime I think your college-shopping energy is best spent on schools like Lehigh, Case Western (and maybe RIT, URochester, WPI, RPI, Bucknell, Northeastern)… potential match schools that might be attractive and affordable enough (with FA of course) to lure you away from Stony Brook, but that aren’t the longest-of-the-long-shot “lottery” schools. Check out what these schools have to offer and run the Net Price Calculator to see whether the financials are good enough to merit a closer look. Hope that helps!
OK… so you’re on LI.
Keep in mind… if you can afford the price difference, there are LOTS of schools within a few hours drive that re MUCH closer than some of the NY schools. We’re in Nassau-- my daughter will be going to New Hampshire (5 hours away) and my son went to a school near Philadelphia (3 hours away.)
Definitely include SUNY schools, but also include NJ, PA, MA, VT, RI and NH in your search.
@Domzftaz
There seems to be some real concern regarding distance from home. Be aware that CT , MA and NJ are closer than a lot of NY. Change your discriminating variable to distance, not State.
Many very fine schools have been suggested here. Anyone of this would meet your scholastic needs. This past year’s application round has indicated that STEM applications, in particular CS, have really jumped. Many schools that used to be backups for CMU, MIT and Caltech can on longer be counted on. This would include RPI, Stephens, WPI and Northeastern. This also makes FA more difficult. No matter what your scores or grades, when applying in some fields identify those solid universities with the excellent placement records.
Do not judge the level of admissions competition by the % of acceptances alone. “Self-selection” has already filtered out a lot of competition in the historically STEM universities. Look at the accepted applicant data available on the websites of most of these schools from the “Common Data Set” (CDS).
As competition increases, extracurricular activities also become more important.
Students/parents let themselves get too caught up in the “prestige” arguments. If concerned about employment opportunities or graduate school placement, ask the direct question and collect the relevant data. You will be very surprised how many of these less well known universities do very well in graduate placements. You can collect the relevant data on employment and graduate school placement by searching “outcomes” or “graduate school placement” on the respective university websites.
Clarkson University and NJIT are candidates you might look at for all of the above reasons. Look as carefully at these programs as the others. Don’t go apply to a school where you genuinely feel would not meet your needs because it could end up as your option. Pay attention to the full spectrum of suitable options. If you cannot find the relevant information ask guidance at your school, or ask the school directly. Be an informed consumer.
As an alumnus I am very familiar with WPI so I know my way around their website:
For student profiles accepted in 2017 see https://www.wpi.edu/search/google/common%20data%20set?query=#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=common%20data%20set&gsc.sort=.
For CS placement see page 19 of 2017 Post Graduate Report @https://www.wpi.edu/student-experience/career-development/outcomes
Well said, @retiredfarmer .
I think what OP is going to find is that there is a fairly narrow band of schools that are worth looking at closely. Certainly there are many fine schools where he could get a CS education with solid student outcomes. But with the SUNY system as his default, there’s really no point putting energy into “shopping” for schools that aren’t offering either a better education or a better financial deal, or both, than this baseline. And he stands to get a darn good education at a darn good price at Stony Brook (or several other SUNY options).
I think you’re right that while OP sounds fully qualified for the Northeastern/RPI/WPI category of schools (and I forgot about Stevens - that’s worth a look too), the flood of applications (particularly in CS) for these one-time “safety schools” is pushing the selection process to where many applicants with similar qualifications are being turned away, and the lack of an extracurricular “portfolio” may put him at a disadvantage. He may end up having to think of these schools as reaches. (That’s why I felt that compromising a bit on location might gain him a better shot at an academically comparable option, i.e. CWRU).
The question is, what is there in between these schools, and SUNY, on the desirability continuum for him? Yes, Clarkson, NJIT, Lehigh… there are quite a few possibilities, but when he looks at each (academically, socially, and financially) through a “would I really go here over SUNY?” filter, I think the list will shrink to a very manageable size. Not because the many solid options out there are bad, but because the default is so good.
OP is doing very well to get started now and figure out his strategy, as he will benefit tremendously by being ready for the early application cycle. Non-binding Early Action at Case Western, for example, has an almost 50% acceptance rate, vs 35% in the regular cycle. Northeastern, WPI, and NJIT have early action too. (Stevens, Lehigh, and RPI have binding early decision only, and CWRU and Northeastern have ED as an option. This could also be a possibility for him if he has one clear favorite that he would definitely attend over SUNY, and if he can afford to attend if they meet his financial need according to that school’s Net Price Calculator.)
Anyhow, point being that the zone between “not better than SUNY” and “not realistic” may end up being small, but OP is getting a good start at identifying that zone and positioning himself for a well-considered process.