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Ask YC: what non-top-tier college to apply for?

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Re: Ask YC: what non-top-tier college to apply for?

#81

Post by Prrometheus »

Spyckie wrote: post #36

Go after those top-tier schools. If you're slacking off on homework working through SICP, you're probably top-tier worthy. People who go after their interests are by definition more interesting. Don't weigh yourself on the standard metric because you're not standard. And don't let that hinder the selling of yourself in your applications. I would much rather hire a person who has started a startup before than one from…

>It's foolish to put your SAT scores and grades up front as your flagship 'feature' that differentiates you from others, even if you've aced them.

I'm curious, have you ever known any smart, successful people that couldn't do well on the SAT?

Re: Ask YC: what non-top-tier college to apply for?

#82

Post by chrismjohnson »

kynikos wrote: post #72

Rochester Institute of Technology Pros: Lots of things that are brand new, solid CS and engineering departments, academically diverse campus, strong industry partnerships, growing entrepreneurial community, co-op work graduation requirement for most majors. Cons: No girls, weather, pricey, nerdy

I second a vote for RIT (recent grad). kynikos is spot on with the pros / cons. If you can stand the negatives you'll end up with a great degree and a name people recognize in industry.

Re: Ask YC: what non-top-tier college to apply for?

#83

Post by bootload »

jigg4joe wrote: post #79
sachinag wrote: post #57

I can't believe no one has said U of I yet - University of Illinois. Lots of top-tier coders, from Marc Andreessen to Max Levchin, went there. However, as with the case with all the other public schools (non-CA) mentioned so far, you will pay the out-of-state tuition rate. But you'd be at a very top tier CE school, as you saw on the U.S. News list.

I went to UIUC for CS undergrad and I can attest that it is a great program. And very difficult. I graduated near the top of my high school class, but I felt very average when compared with my peers in college. There are some very, very smart people in the CS curriculum at UIUC. Another great thing about UIUC is the diversity. It likes to present itself as an engineering college (and rightly so, top 10 in many engine…

"... Another great thing about UIUC is the diversity ..."

This is the mark of a good learning ecosystem. One that supports diversity. Diversity means less of your "own kind". (by "own kind" I mean, same geo, monetary, political peers, etc) A greater chance to use and view different ideas. This is a real problem with "top" Universities who support and advertise meritocracy, but end up supporting mono-cultural ideals. This might be good if you want to pass school and work the system. It is bad if you want to succeed past school and subvert the system and become not only a good technician, practitioner (I avoid the professional lable) to become an Entrepreneur.

Re: Ask YC: what non-top-tier college to apply for?

#84

Post by aheilbut »

hunterjrj wrote: post #2

Have you considered the University of Waterloo? Its in Canada, but its highly regarded by companies like Google, Microsoft, etc. Tuition may be cheaper as well.

You might also consider the University of Toronto. It's a big school, but the CS department is among the best (and you get to learn computational complexity with Stephen Cook and neural nets with Geoff Hinton). Also look into the Engineering Science program, though that is probably as competitive as the very top US schools.

Re: Ask YC: what non-top-tier college to apply for?

#85

Post by drewcrawford »

chollida1 wrote: post #69
drewcrawford wrote: post #30

All I can say is, make a list of places and go visit. I ended up at a (very) small private school about 400mi away. When I visited, the head of the CS department talked with me in his office for over an hour. From that conversation, I learned: A) He is completely brilliant and extremely competent B) He teaches about half of the upper-level CS courses C) His dissertation was in an area that strongly interested me Afte…

> He teaches about half of the upper-level CS courses Wow, how many upper-level courses were there? Even teaching 2 courses in a semester is considered a lot for most professors'.

You have to remember,

A) it's a small school

B) he enjoys teaching

I really didn't like the attitude of the larger schools where they would have an associate professor who teaches CS1 talk to you about computer games. I realize that profs like him are unusual. That's why I chose the school.

Re: Ask YC: what non-top-tier college to apply for?

#86

Post by ibsulon »

iamdave wrote: post #12
hunterjrj wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bad experience?

Horrible experience. - Staff with the exception of program chairs was always people who work entry level jobs in your industry, and have no idea how to teach the subject matter, or in some cases even interact with students - The administrative process was nearly impossible for every aspect of your academic career. While tending to family matters, I got absolutely no respect in regards to emergencies or crises - Educa…

This jives with what an acquaintance went through. He ended up ~20k in debt to work at entry level support for Comcast.

I listened to him talk about the program, and I couldn't believe my ears.

Re: Ask YC: what non-top-tier college to apply for?

#87

Post by rms »

What is your unweighted GPA on a 4.0 scale? College Admissions officials unweight GPAs before they even look at the other number. Some schools use a 6.0 scale!

Make sure to fill out a FAFSA as soon as possible and don't not apply to private schools just because they are expensive. Financial aid can be surprisingly generous.

Re: Ask YC: what non-top-tier college to apply for?

#89

Post by jtkipp »

The honors program at your local state school is probably an extremely good choice. It will be affordable and you will likely get access to the resources of a big university together with a smaller community of students who are motivated to be in college and faculty who are more engaged in teaching.

Paying out of state tuition to a state school quickly becomes as expensive as going to a private college once financial aid it taken into account. There are blocks of states with reciprocity agreements where you can go to another state college for near-in-state tuition. Compare the honors programs and CS curricula of those colleges.

Do the classes and requirements sound interesting and challenging to you? If so, they probably to do other students who are like you. Does the college have a program for getting undergraduate students involved in research? This is another way to surround yourself with other students who are motivated to get a good education. Look at the university's research labs and institutes in other fields as well; There are always professors in other fields who desperately need computer help.

Re: Ask YC: what non-top-tier college to apply for?

#90

Post by Prrometheus »

demaratus wrote: post #17
apu wrote: post #13

What state are you in? Most states have at least one good public university, and these are generally fairly easy to get into and fairly cheap (if you're from in-state). If there's not a good one in your state, try one in a nearby state. It'll be more expensive and harder to get into, but still generally cheaper/easier than a private school. I can personally recommend UNC-Chapel Hill (nice campus, small town, good mix…

I'm in California, so Berkeley is an obvious option.

California! You have a TON of options. Stanford (free tuition!) and Berkeley are obviously two of the best in the world. UC San Diego and Caltech also have awesome programs, and I hear nice things about the sciences at UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara. Get yourself a college guide and check these places out!

As far as Berkeley "being an option", you realize you just named a school that most people rank tied for first in the world, right? The "B" in "BSD" stands for "Berkeley".

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