John Hopkins for CS - yay or nay?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like others said, usually the only schools that make a big difference above the likes of UMD, Wisconsin, etc. schools for CS are -

Berkeley, Stanford, MIT, Carnegie Mellon. The larger Ivies also might get an edge in some locations due to being Ivies.

The next crop of schools after that are all large publics - Maryland, Michigan, Washington, UC San Diego, Georgia Tech, Wisconsin, Purdue, etc.

There's not much premium for T20 privates over the large publics for being T20.

I'm a hiring manager and I agree with this. I'll also say that I'm not even sure how much of a difference Berkeley, Stanford, MIT, Carnegie Mellon make; I've interviewed some real duds from these schools.

IMO, it's the DEI and holistic admissions they are using. Some CMU TA I spoke to said they are seeing a lot more CS undergrads who need a lot of help with the math classes.

Also, an A is not really an A in many of the HS anymore due to grade inflation, test retakes. SAT math doesn't go up to Calc, but obviously, CS majors have to take math classes way beyond Calc. This where they get tripped up.

That’s a huge problem with AA/DEI/“holistic” admissions. Colleges are not taking the best and brightest students.

You're confusing aptitude (potential) with ability (existing skills). It's easy, around here, to think that every kid can take a raft of AP/IB classes. But a friend from Pennsyltucky, for example, says that her high school doesn't offer any AP classes, and the nearest community college is an hour away, so DE isn't an option. That doesn't mean the kids there aren't capable of learning calculus or advanced physics. They just aren't able to take college-level classes until they go to college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BTW there is not much merit aid but a lot of financial aid via Bloomberg bucks.

Yup, Hopkins offers no loan financial aid (just grants and work study) to those who qualify for aid. It’s one of 20 or so schools that offer this level of aid.

True. Harvard, Princeton, Amherst, Rice, Hopkins, Columbia are the most generous elite schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like others said, usually the only schools that make a big difference above the likes of UMD, Wisconsin, etc. schools for CS are -

Berkeley, Stanford, MIT, Carnegie Mellon. The larger Ivies also might get an edge in some locations due to being Ivies.

The next crop of schools after that are all large publics - Maryland, Michigan, Washington, UC San Diego, Georgia Tech, Wisconsin, Purdue, etc.

There's not much premium for T20 privates over the large publics for being T20.

I'm a hiring manager and I agree with this. I'll also say that I'm not even sure how much of a difference Berkeley, Stanford, MIT, Carnegie Mellon make; I've interviewed some real duds from these schools.

IMO, it's the DEI and holistic admissions they are using. Some CMU TA I spoke to said they are seeing a lot more CS undergrads who need a lot of help with the math classes.

Also, an A is not really an A in many of the HS anymore due to grade inflation, test retakes. SAT math doesn't go up to Calc, but obviously, CS majors have to take math classes way beyond Calc. This where they get tripped up.

That’s a huge problem with AA/DEI/“holistic” admissions. Colleges are not taking the best and brightest students.

You're confusing aptitude (potential) with ability (existing skills). It's easy, around here, to think that every kid can take a raft of AP/IB classes. But a friend from Pennsyltucky, for example, says that her high school doesn't offer any AP classes, and the nearest community college is an hour away, so DE isn't an option. That doesn't mean the kids there aren't capable of learning calculus or advanced physics. They just aren't able to take college-level classes until they go to college.

Valid point, but what my kid is seeing in their HS (where there is access to MVC) is that at least half of the kids getting into your MIT / CMU are the ones checking DEI or sports box versus the students doing well in upper-level math classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like others said, usually the only schools that make a big difference above the likes of UMD, Wisconsin, etc. schools for CS are -

Berkeley, Stanford, MIT, Carnegie Mellon. The larger Ivies also might get an edge in some locations due to being Ivies.

The next crop of schools after that are all large publics - Maryland, Michigan, Washington, UC San Diego, Georgia Tech, Wisconsin, Purdue, etc.

There's not much premium for T20 privates over the large publics for being T20.

I'm a hiring manager and I agree with this. I'll also say that I'm not even sure how much of a difference Berkeley, Stanford, MIT, Carnegie Mellon make; I've interviewed some real duds from these schools.

IMO, it's the DEI and holistic admissions they are using. Some CMU TA I spoke to said they are seeing a lot more CS undergrads who need a lot of help with the math classes.

Also, an A is not really an A in many of the HS anymore due to grade inflation, test retakes. SAT math doesn't go up to Calc, but obviously, CS majors have to take math classes way beyond Calc. This where they get tripped up.

That’s a huge problem with AA/DEI/“holistic” admissions. Colleges are not taking the best and brightest students.

You're confusing aptitude (potential) with ability (existing skills). It's easy, around here, to think that every kid can take a raft of AP/IB classes. But a friend from Pennsyltucky, for example, says that her high school doesn't offer any AP classes, and the nearest community college is an hour away, so DE isn't an option. That doesn't mean the kids there aren't capable of learning calculus or advanced physics. They just aren't able to take college-level classes until they go to college.

DP.. I think it's one thing if the schools don't offer AP classes, but when they do, and kids take those classes, you cannot tell from the report card who got an A-/B- with a few test retakes from someone who got an A+/A+ with no retakes.

Grade inflation in some of these schools is not helping those kids.

Presumably, those kids are also taking AP BC Calc, but these colleges don't always take only the 5 scorers. Many of the strong STEM colleges also make you retake Calc in college irrespective of your AP calc score. Then, of course, there is math beyond calc II you have to take.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like others said, usually the only schools that make a big difference above the likes of UMD, Wisconsin, etc. schools for CS are -

Berkeley, Stanford, MIT, Carnegie Mellon. The larger Ivies also might get an edge in some locations due to being Ivies.

The next crop of schools after that are all large publics - Maryland, Michigan, Washington, UC San Diego, Georgia Tech, Wisconsin, Purdue, etc.

There's not much premium for T20 privates over the large publics for being T20.

I'm a hiring manager and I agree with this. I'll also say that I'm not even sure how much of a difference Berkeley, Stanford, MIT, Carnegie Mellon make; I've interviewed some real duds from these schools.

IMO, it's the DEI and holistic admissions they are using. Some CMU TA I spoke to said they are seeing a lot more CS undergrads who need a lot of help with the math classes.

Also, an A is not really an A in many of the HS anymore due to grade inflation, test retakes. SAT math doesn't go up to Calc, but obviously, CS majors have to take math classes way beyond Calc. This where they get tripped up.

That’s a huge problem with AA/DEI/“holistic” admissions. Colleges are not taking the best and brightest students.

You're confusing aptitude (potential) with ability (existing skills). It's easy, around here, to think that every kid can take a raft of AP/IB classes. But a friend from Pennsyltucky, for example, says that her high school doesn't offer any AP classes, and the nearest community college is an hour away, so DE isn't an option. That doesn't mean the kids there aren't capable of learning calculus or advanced physics. They just aren't able to take college-level classes until they go to college.

Valid point, but what my kid is seeing in their HS (where there is access to MVC) is that at least half of the kids getting into your MIT / CMU are the ones checking DEI or sports box versus the students doing well in upper-level math classes.

+1 same here. Students struggling in MVC getting into places like MIT. Students breezing through MVC getting shut out. The ones who are in check the DEI; the ones who don't, do not.

The question is not about whether such students are capable but just that these colleges aren't necessarily taking the strongest students in STEM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like others said, usually the only schools that make a big difference above the likes of UMD, Wisconsin, etc. schools for CS are -

Berkeley, Stanford, MIT, Carnegie Mellon. The larger Ivies also might get an edge in some locations due to being Ivies.

The next crop of schools after that are all large publics - Maryland, Michigan, Washington, UC San Diego, Georgia Tech, Wisconsin, Purdue, etc.

There's not much premium for T20 privates over the large publics for being T20.

I'm a hiring manager and I agree with this. I'll also say that I'm not even sure how much of a difference Berkeley, Stanford, MIT, Carnegie Mellon make; I've interviewed some real duds from these schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BTW there is not much merit aid but a lot of financial aid via Bloomberg bucks.

Yup, Hopkins offers no loan financial aid (just grants and work study) to those who qualify for aid. It’s one of 20 or so schools that offer this level of aid.

True. Harvard, Princeton, Amherst, Rice, Hopkins, Columbia are the most generous elite schools.

All of that is useless for the donut hole families that will be shelling out $80k/year on their $150k salaries in high COL area with other kids to pay for too.

[Anonymous]

I would only ever pay that much for CS for MIT, Stanford, CMU. I would never pay that much for JHU for CS. Not worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would only ever pay that much for CS for MIT, Stanford, CMU. I would never pay that much for JHU for CS. Not worth it.

+1

[Anonymous]

When you have University of Maryland right there – what a waste of money. And Baltimore sucks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like others said, usually the only schools that make a big difference above the likes of UMD, Wisconsin, etc. schools for CS are -

Berkeley, Stanford, MIT, Carnegie Mellon. The larger Ivies also might get an edge in some locations due to being Ivies.

The next crop of schools after that are all large publics - Maryland, Michigan, Washington, UC San Diego, Georgia Tech, Wisconsin, Purdue, etc.

There's not much premium for T20 privates over the large publics for being T20.

I'm a hiring manager and I agree with this. I'll also say that I'm not even sure how much of a difference Berkeley, Stanford, MIT, Carnegie Mellon make; I've interviewed some real duds from these schools.

IMO, it's the DEI and holistic admissions they are using. Some CMU TA I spoke to said they are seeing a lot more CS undergrads who need a lot of help with the math classes.

Also, an A is not really an A in many of the HS anymore due to grade inflation, test retakes. SAT math doesn't go up to Calc, but obviously, CS majors have to take math classes way beyond Calc. This where they get tripped up.

That’s a huge problem with AA/DEI/“holistic” admissions. Colleges are not taking the best and brightest students.

Wrong. The students they are taking are just as capable. They happened to have something your kid, who didn't get in, doesn't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like others said, usually the only schools that make a big difference above the likes of UMD, Wisconsin, etc. schools for CS are -

Berkeley, Stanford, MIT, Carnegie Mellon. The larger Ivies also might get an edge in some locations due to being Ivies.

The next crop of schools after that are all large publics - Maryland, Michigan, Washington, UC San Diego, Georgia Tech, Wisconsin, Purdue, etc.

There's not much premium for T20 privates over the large publics for being T20.

I'm a hiring manager and I agree with this. I'll also say that I'm not even sure how much of a difference Berkeley, Stanford, MIT, Carnegie Mellon make; I've interviewed some real duds from these schools.

IMO, it's the DEI and holistic admissions they are using. Some CMU TA I spoke to said they are seeing a lot more CS undergrads who need a lot of help with the math classes.

Also, an A is not really an A in many of the HS anymore due to grade inflation, test retakes. SAT math doesn't go up to Calc, but obviously, CS majors have to take math classes way beyond Calc. This where they get tripped up.

That’s a huge problem with AA/DEI/“holistic” admissions. Colleges are not taking the best and brightest students.

Wrong. The students they are taking are just as capable. They happened to have something your kid, who didn't get in, doesn't.

And you can prove that how?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When you have University of Maryland right there – what a waste of money. And Baltimore sucks.

Sorry your kid didn’t get in to a top 10.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BTW there is not much merit aid but a lot of financial aid via Bloomberg bucks.

Yup, Hopkins offers no loan financial aid (just grants and work study) to those who qualify for aid. It’s one of 20 or so schools that offer this level of aid.

True. Harvard, Princeton, Amherst, Rice, Hopkins, Columbia are the most generous elite schools.

All of that is useless for the donut hole families that will be shelling out $80k/year on their $150k salaries in high COL area with other kids to pay for too.

Families making $150k will get decent aid at theses schools…in fact they give aid at $250k

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:John Hopkins for CS - yay or nay? Is it a good program? Does industry respect it (I don't mean is it a plus like Carnagie Melon or the MITs of the world, but rather, is it not a negative. I'm worried people only see JH for pre-med).

Does JH give merit? Is it crazy competitive once you're in the CS program?

Hopkins brand. Big endowment resources. Sharp classmates. If you can get into Stanford or Berkeley then obviously go there but otherwise its a great opportunity for anyone who can get in and afford.

Hopkins does not have much of a brand in CS. Any help due to Hopkins brand for a CS grad will be from having been admitted to Hopkins, not having studied CS there.

But most hiring managers and recruiters that graduated 30, 20 or even 10 years ago don't know how difficult admissions to T20 privates are today even if they have kids applying to college. To them, Hopkins is just another good private school, not a school that has a 7.5% acceptance rate with a mid-50% SAT of 1510-1570 and however many extracurriculars.

This is why Ivy branding is so strong. It brings an aura of strong academic credentials even in subjects that the school is weak in.