College recomendations?

[jcmkk]

I'm searching for a good college and need some suggestions. For now, I'm picking computer science as my major, but I figure that I'll probably finish college with a different major. I would love to go to one of the top colleges like MIT or Standford, but they're a little over my head academically and money wise. The only college that I'm planning to apply to at this point is the University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign.

 

[bmacd]

Apply for as many scholarships as you can. Be sure to check into Financial Aid. Community College (despite the rumors) is a very wise choice for your first year or two.

-=bmacd=-

 

[ElFenix]

UT is good at CS. what state are you, illinois?

 

[bmacd]

Originally posted by: ElFenix
UT is good at CS. what state are you, illinois?

It appears "Kansas City, MO"

-=bmacd=-

 

[amnesiac]

Financial aid (Loans, grants, scholarships) is your friend. I have plenty of friends getting loads of help via financial aid..there's no way they'd be able to pay the $30,000 / year tuition here by themselves.

IMO, it's a bad idea to pick a college solely based on the major you want. A significant number of people graduate with a very different degree than they intended when starting school. In any case, I'd recommend picking up one of those college catalogs at a bookstore. They're pretty helpful.

 

[The Wildcard]

I also heard that University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign has a good CS program. They also have a pretty good mechanical engineering program too.

 

[gopunk]

u of i has a *top* CS program.

 

[AvesPKS]

It depends on what you want. If you want focus, check out Illinois Institute of Technology. It's only about 2 hours north of U of I Champaigne, and it's got great engineering programs, as well as computer science.

 

U of I sucks. Go to Western IL. Its better.

U of I is overrated...many of my friends hate it there.

 

[amdskip]

Originally posted by: FallenHero
U of I sucks. Go to Western IL. Its better.

U of I is overrated...many of my friends hate it there.

I'm going to Western

What's with the name change?

 

[worth]

Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech.

 

[shikhan]

Originally posted by: gopunk
u of i has a *top* CS program.

If you want to do cs here (or even CompE) you want to make sure you're not in CS thinking your just going to learn multiple programming languages. We're heavy on theory and in fact, the entire department is making a move to the point where very few courses even teach you the language you are to program the MP's (machine problems) in. Its expected of you that you get taught the theory and picking up syntax from a book on your own. So be ready to learn alot on your own and/or goto people for help.

There are other colleges out there with a CS department who teaches you the actual languages and everything, but I don't know which one's they are. There is one college like that in IL that is pretty good but I forget the name. [edit] Ah yes, its IIT. I knew a few people from there and they can hold there own ground for most intents and purposes.[/edit]

Anyways, if you have more specific questions about CS here, feel free to pm me sometime :-D

 

[shikhan]

Originally posted by: FallenHero
U of I sucks. Go to Western IL. Its better.

U of I is overrated...many of my friends hate it there.

Depends on what your friends went to UIUC for....

I personally enjoy UIUC here much more than any of the other colleges i've visited and my friends currently attend. But again, its personal prefrence. I wouldn't say one is better than another hands down, no questions asked.

 

[Ryan]

Scholarships are your friends! Even I got a 75% scholarship for 4 years with a 3.2 gpa, and 21 on my ACT, and a 990 on my SAT If someone as dumb as me can get one, so can you! I also recieved $1,400 in ohter scholarships, and am riding my way free through college (currently community college).

 

[WinkOsmosis]

No one read his post? He said he may change majors.. why recommend schools that are only good at tech stuff?
Don't go to Vanderbilt... a friend who goes there gets 10 hours of sleep PER WEEK. Several all nighters per week, and on the other nights, very little sleep, just to make Ds. That's not learning, it's maintaining your reputation of being a "good" (read 'hard') school.

 

[rgwalt]

If you are in KCMO, look into KU as you might be able to swing in-state tuition. KU has a solid engineering/comp sci program, it would be close to home, cheap, lots of hot women, and you'll get a good, well rounded education. Be a Jayhawk.

Ryan

 

[CanOWorms]

Originally posted by: Jellomancer
No one read his post? He said he may change majors.. why recommend schools that are only good at tech stuff?
Don't go to Vanderbilt... a friend who goes there gets 10 hours of sleep PER WEEK. Several all nighters per week, and on the other nights, very little sleep, just to make Ds. That's not learning, it's maintaining your reputation of being a "good" (read 'hard') school.

I go to Vandy. What's your friend's major?

Urbana Champaign is a good school. It has a really good reputation.

 

[RabidMongoose]

Originally posted by: Jellomancer
No one read his post? He said he may change majors.. why recommend schools that are only good at tech stuff?
Don't go to Vanderbilt... a friend who goes there gets 10 hours of sleep PER WEEK. Several all nighters per week, and on the other nights, very little sleep, just to make Ds. That's not learning, it's maintaining your reputation of being a "good" (read 'hard') school.

Wow, what the heck does your friend do? I go to Vanderbilt, too, and I plan on getting 10 hours of sleep today alone! And I'm an EE major.

 

[ed21x]

UI: Urbana Champaign, UT: Austin, Georgia Tech, Cal Poly: San Luis Obispo, MIT, Stanford, and Berkeley are your best CS departments.

 

[gopunk]

Originally posted by: ed21x
UI: Urbana Champaign, UT: Austin, Georgia Tech, Cal Poly: San Luis Obispo, MIT, Stanford, and Berkeley are your best CS departments.

if you're going to put GIT in there, you ought to also put UWash in there.

 

[Jugernot]

Goto a local college, it's cheap and with the market in it's current form... it doesn't really matter where you got a degree. In most cases, if you have a degree at all....

 

[DanTMWTMP]

my xgf goes to umkc.... u of illi urbanna cham is good....very good...(anything engineering)

yeah come here to UCSD! about 2 hours south of UCLA.....nice school! best weather!! has a decent eng program...basically an all around school...ranked top 10 public, top 50 (i think 30th?) in nation...yay \

well one thing's for sure...wherever you go...don't be disapointed...u'll love it...trust me..u will have fun!

 

[AvesPKS]

Originally posted by: shikhan

Originally posted by: gopunk
u of i has a *top* CS program.

If you want to do cs here (or even CompE) you want to make sure you're not in CS thinking your just going to learn multiple programming languages. We're heavy on theory and in fact, the entire department is making a move to the point where very few courses even teach you the language you are to program the MP's (machine problems) in. Its expected of you that you get taught the theory and picking up syntax from a book on your own. So be ready to learn alot on your own and/or goto people for help.

There are other colleges out there with a CS department who teaches you the actual languages and everything, but I don't know which one's they are. There is one college like that in IL that is pretty good but I forget the name. [edit] Ah yes, its IIT. I knew a few people from there and they can hold there own ground for most intents and purposes.[/edit]

Anyways, if you have more specific questions about CS here, feel free to pm me sometime :-D

IIT (which I currently go to) has a great CS program, but admittedly is very limited in lib arts and social sciences; the only two I can think of off the top of my head are poli-sci and psych. You will get at least half tuition if you apply here (85% of students have some financial aid).

 

[FeathersMcGraw]

Originally posted by: jcmkk
I'm searching for a good college and need some suggestions. For now, I'm picking computer science as my major, but I figure that I'll probably finish college with a different major. I would love to go to one of the top colleges like MIT or Standford, but they're a little over my head academically and money wise. The only college that I'm planning to apply to at this point is the University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign.

If you already think it's likely that you'll switch majors, going to a large university is to your benefit, since there will be a wide variety of major programs to choose from (although the requirements to switch may add time to your program).

Another thing to consider is whether or not you intend to pursue a graduate degree. If you think this is likely, your choice of undergraduate institution becomes a lot less critical, inasmuch as the program there gives you the necessary basis for your graduate work (although even that's not entirely necessary either, as I knew some people who were history or psychology undergrads in my computer science Master's program).

UIUC is a good school -- it's my father's alma mater and was one of the places I applied to when I was looking at undergraduate programs in electrical engineering. The only disadvantage it has (and it might not be a disadvantage to some) is its size; it may be difficult to get face time with your professors in a class of several hundred, which may relegate your questions to grad students (who stereotypically are some of the worst places to try to get questions answered).

 

[jcmkk]

Thanks for all of your responses. I figured I'd clear some things up. I'm actually not going for computer science as my major, but computer engineering. I just figured that more people would be familiar with schools known for computer science than computer engineering. I basically want to design hardware, at least for now. I'm not really set on any given path yet, that's why I want a good all around college. I know a couple people suggested that I go to a community college or a cheap local college, but I want to get away from Kansas City for a while. If you could, maybe stop assuring me that UI:UC is a good college, and give me suggestions for other good colleges. Unless, of course, you have something negative to say about UI:UC; in that case give me your reasons for not liking it. Thanks again, and keep the responses coming.