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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?
#52Missouri University of Science & Technology (formerly known as the University of Missouri at Rolla, and before that the Missouri School of Mines) is a great engineering school. It's very affordable, the engineering and science graduates pretty much all make above the national average starting salary. A lot of career engineers came from there and have made it good at Boeing, LockMart, Raytheon, etc in aerospace and defense sectors for example.
It also has a huge number of engineering degrees to choose from, and some of them are very unique. It was the first to offer a minor in Explosives Engineering in the country. Their Student design teams regularly win most of the undergrad engineering design competitions in the country (and a few notable world events).
The downside is it's like being on a pirate ship. It's hard work, bad food, and no women. It's worth it though. Most fun I ever had in my life.
The site is mst.edu <- check it out.
Re: Ask YC: what non-top-tier college to apply for?
#53It can't hurt to try for some top schools. There
must be some
admissions officers who can distinguish between
people who are smart and those who merely get good
grades. If you're smart, spots at top schools
rightfully belong to you, so at least take a shot
at claiming what's yours.
Write your application essay about what you worked on instead of classwork and standardized tests.
Re: Ask YC: what non-top-tier college to apply for?
#54Missouri University of Science & Technology (formerly known as the University of Missouri at Rolla, and before that the Missouri School of Mines) is a great engineering school. It's very affordable, the engineering and science graduates pretty much all make above the national average starting salary. A lot of career engineers came from there and have made it good at Boeing, LockMart, Raytheon, etc in aerospace and de…
Forgot to mention:
1) It's super affordable.
2) Has many notable alumni (one good example is Tom Akers (Colonel, USAF, Ret.) was my bro's advisor in mathematics and holds the record for stick time on the space shuttle, broke the record for spacewalk duration, then broke it again the next day, flew on the HST repair mission, etc.)
3) Huge emphasis on undergrad education, and undergrad R&D work.
4) Recently started a program to bring big business engineering into the area (Rolla is a rural setting). A Jet engine manufacturer is setting up a facility there now.
5) You can get NRC licensed to operate a real nuclear reactor.
That's just of the top of my head. There's plenty more where that came from.
Re: Ask YC: what non-top-tier college to apply for?
#55I'm confused by this entire thread.
1. Where are you based? 4.1 weighted is a very very high GPA in California's 4.0 scale.
2. What's your SAT scores? That's more indicative of where you will be accepted than just the GPA.
Re: Ask YC: what non-top-tier college to apply for?
#56Have 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.
Voted you up. Something else to consider when applying to Waterloo is the ridiculously high male to female ratio. If applying to Waterloo I'd recommend trying to take some shared credit courses with Wilfred Laurier students across the street.
(Not sure if CS and Eng allow that, you might have to complain a bit)
Re: Ask YC: what non-top-tier college to apply for?
#57I 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.
Re: Ask YC: what non-top-tier college to apply for?
#58Stanford, do whatever it takes to get into Stanford.
Re: Ask YC: what non-top-tier college to apply for?
#59I 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.
UIUC is a good suggestion. Undergrad admissions are not especially competitive, but their graduate CS department is one of the top 10 in the country, and that's bound to rub off on motivated undergrads.
Re: Ask YC: what non-top-tier college to apply for?
#60Go ahead and apply to HMC. If you're accepted they may be able to come up with enough financial aid to make it work. I didn't pay the full retail price.