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Don’t go bankrupt on an undergrad. Don’t saddle yourself - or him - with insane amounts of undergrad debt. Scores will get him serious looks, but he should also look beyond academics. What will he do in his free time? Does he like the people he’s met? Does he want to be out of region from everything he’s grow -up with?
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign! Underrated but excellent CS program and many alum are now major players in Silicon Valley (Yelp, YouTube, PayPal, Oracle, etc founders are alum of U of I).
MIT, Duke, Stanford, Vandy
Move to Georgia and do Ga Tech
If he is interested in Comp Sci and doesn’t want to do Ivy there are really only three options.
1. CMU
2. MIT
3. Stanford
PLEASE let him have some fun before wasting his life away behind a computer. Comparing my experience with my brother’s state school experience - I sometimes regret my decision. We now have very similar jobs with very similar incomes except I’m still paying off loans. Sometimes I wish I spent a bit more time having fun as a kid. Just a thought...
There is definitely value in visits. It let's him learn what criteria might be important to him.
Honestly some kids don’t see value in a visit UNTIL they visit. With comp sci, I think the school matters a little less than for a major like business in undergrad. However it’s such a tough major that you should consider the possibility of him dropping the major and going to another program, which at an Ivy is less risky. He should look into Cornell and Michigan as well the schools mentioned above. Both comp sci/engineering programs are really strong
Do you have anything against Ivys? Cornell has a strong CS program, and a ton of kids end up getting jobs at Google, Uber, FB. It’s not a small campus / student body either - its about 15k people. Also close to NJ. It doesn’t feel elitist up there. Point is if you’re looking at CMU, at that price point might as well look at Cornell.
Send him to Canada - University of Waterloo
Having gone to Rutgers I would strongly advise avoiding it. It ranks well but the actual academics/professors are pretty awful. I would lean Uconn/Penn State if you’re talking state schools.
CMU, MIT. Berkeley, UIUC, and UW have strong CS programs too, but debatable whether worth paying OOS tuition.
Also worth considering whether he’s open to a major change or graduate school for CS - those will also dictate where he should apply and go.
Top 5 computer science undergrad programs per US News: MIT, UCB, Stanford, CMU, UIUC. Best bang of the buck options would be UCB and UIUC
Def benefit in name brand of the school. You can argue its not worth it, but the value is there. If your son has opportunity to go to a MIT or CMU, he definitely should be trying. College visits are good way to signal interest and, depending on your relationship, good bonding experience. I did one with my dad and it was a hoot - missed the tour cuz we stopped for food
IN STATE, PUBLIC SCHOOL.
I have an M.Ed in Higher Ed, and I can promise you that he can get a great education at a fraction of the cost. Internships matter far more than college brand names. Encourage him to pick an in state public school and set aside money for unpaid internship opportunities around the country.
Carnegie Mellon and Penn State both have quality CompSci/tech programs and that’s only a state away from Jersey
Check out Deloitte University
uiuc
I second C3 comment on Univiersity of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana (UIUC) - it has a incredibly strong computer engineering program which has produced powerful tech Titans. Larry Ellison at Oracle is arguably the most well known (albeit he dropped out to start Oracle).
As someone from a non target...reflecting back I would not recommend picking the state school. I am the first consultant out of undergrad at my school and it is lonely knowing that there is no one above me and probably no one below me. Consulting and High Finance culture does not exist here and its just frustrating.