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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?

#101

Post by jrockway »

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…

FWIW, I don't think top-tier schools care about "interesting" people. When I was in high school, I got mostly As and Bs, studied abroad (and hence spoke two langauges pretty well), and spent most of my time learning math and writing software. I also had 99%-ile test scores and was pretty good at writing. However, I also had a run-in with a history teacher, and failed his class. That pretty much guarantees that you won't get into a good school. I applied to CMU, CalTech, and MIT and didn't get in. I did get in to UIUC and UIC, and chose UIC since it was closer. HUGE MISTAKE. My classmates didn't speak English, my professors didn't speak Enlgish, and I had no friends. I dropped out after 2 years.

All in all, this is irrelevant. My goal was to become a professor, but I learned that industry was much more lucrative than acadamia. If I want to do research, I can do it from my house. The classes I teach professionally pay more for 2 days than most professors make in a month.

So in the end, it all worked out. It would have been nice to have a "formal education", though. Maybe I will move to Urbana-Champaign and get a degree from there... or maybe not.

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

#102

Post by acgourley »

hugh wrote: post #73
SwellJoe wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was just going to say, "Pick the best public university in your state." But you beat me to it. So, I'll add that admissions are usually nicer to in-state students (the UT system in Texas is extremely generous about who they admit from state high school graduates, for example, and cheap to attend for Texans). Since the OP has revealed he's in California, he's even better placed, though I think state schools are sign…

Hmm, I work at Davis and I wouldn't say it was particularly good for comp sci -- I think there are better options among the UCs. I wouldn't personally recommend Davis at the undergrad level for much except agricultural and life sciences.

I graduated from Davis in 06 as a computer science and engineering student. I would rate the faculty very highly, they are the right combination of professor and teacher. I worked with them as a student and a researcher and enjoyed it.

I wouldn't rate my classmates so highly. My class was the last of the surge created by the first bubble.. and I felt everyone was in the major to please their parents and secure a boring but safe future in engineering. There were certainly some exceptions, but they were just that. I felt these people lowered the difficulty of the classes. I learned a lot more when I found the smart ones and worked on projects with them outside of the curriculum.

Anyway, the CS dept has had a big drop in enrollment now because it has still been 4-5 years since CS degrees were not highly in demand. I assume the classes are of a higher quality right now as the people in the classes have purer motivations. And I assume the quality of students will drop again as the second surge hits.

Feel free to email me if you want more details.

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

#103

Post by hendler »

aleclair wrote: post #68

Northeastern. The CS department is good, but co-op is better. I'm just finishing my first co-op and my marketable skills (the kind of things I'd put on a CV) have exploded. I don't have the time to go into full detail about the virtues of co-op, but I'll say this: it is the single best thing I have EVER done for myself, followed closely by quitting smoking and re-discovering exercising.

As a CS northeastern Alum (who didn't do co-op), I can say that the students there have a chance to taste the "real world" - and the alternation between co-op and school keeps knowledge of the applied and theoretical fresh.

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

#105

Post by endlessvoid94 »

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'm at U of I right now (senior) and there are some smart people here. The ONLY thing its lacking is a spirit of entrepreneurship. Most of the cs people I know (in ACM especially) don't seem too interested in business, they just want to work for Microsoft R&D or something along those lines.

I want a startup. I have no doubts that I'll find others like me, especially from such a diverse and intelligent school.

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

#106

Post by g00dn3ss »

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.

I went to a public university in my state (NC) and a top 20 public CS grad school - so I can recommend them. I have also worked with a lot of folks from all the other top CS grad programs across the country.

The thing I have found that is different with the folks who went to undergrad at some of best schools, like MIT, is that they spent more time focused on their studies than I did. And I'm saying this having been top of my class in both undergrad and grad school. So I'm not sure if that says something about public schools, liberal arts, or the kinds of people who target MIT. Probably all of these. In any case, I think you can get the same level of education at public schools if you're willing to put in a lot of your personal time. If it turns out that you don't want to be so hard-nosed about it, then I think you'll find a lot of cool things to do at a public school.

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

#107

Post by jsiegal »

I go to Colgate University. The CS Program is good, not the best, but it is a liberal arts college and the people there are really interesting and smart and a lot of fun. The professors are the best part. I've eaten dinner at at least four of my professors homes with their families and see them all the time downtown and walking around the campus. My largest class so far has been 18 kids. Hit me up (my username @ students.colgate.edu) if you have any questions...love to help!

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

#108

Post by hugh »

SwellJoe wrote: post #80
hugh wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hmm, I work at Davis and I wouldn't say it was particularly good for comp sci -- I think there are better options among the UCs. I wouldn't personally recommend Davis at the undergrad level for much except agricultural and life sciences.

Interesting. I just know a few of the Summer 07 (I think?) YC groups came out of Davis--and they all seem really smart and capable. YC doesn't care about schools (much) and smart and capable people can come from any school, so this is probably not meaningful.

My original comment may have been a bit harsh. I'm sure there's a lot of good people both in the faculty and in the student body. I actually don't know much about the CS department at all, so by all means listen to somebody else's opinion over mine.

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

#109

Post by richesh »

According to a study by the ACM in 2007, (http://nirmalthacker.wordpress.com/2007/06/07/acm-rankings-f...) University of Maryland is a great program. I'm definitely biased since I went to school there, they were ranked 11th in computer science when I attended and have consistently ranked high since then. They have a great BS-MS combined program that I highly recommend. http://www.cs.umd.edu/

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

#110

Post by altano »

cmos wrote: post #65

My grades were rather bad in highschool as well (B minus average). I had great experience with science fairs. (state level science fairs can be a great way to earn money for college) and building robots and such. If your going to not have the best grades, you had better have some pretty amazing results with the free time spent not studying. I (somehow) got into Rensselear Polytechnic (www.rpi.edu) and loved every sec…

Troy, the city RPI is in, is a really unique place. Most people would call it a dump, but I found it pretty darn awesome. As James Kunstler put it: "The late 20th century bypassed it so completely that it evaded the kind of false urban renewal that left so many other towns wrecked."

If you walk around downtown you can be go from a modern ghetto to a '20s boom town and back again in 5 minutes. The mix is surreal and I've never been anywhere else like it.

I'm glad after graduating I ended up in Boston, another city that has an amazing amount of preserved history. Otherwise, I'd be missing Troy a little too much.

p.s. This talk by James Kunstler is awesome: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/121 "Technosis externality clusterfuck" hah

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