Please suggest college for comp sci major for below average student

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. This is all very helpful. To answer some PP's questions, I am in the DC area but posing the question for a dear friend who asked my advice and is on the West Coast. They've explored CA schools, but it's very difficult to get the comp sci major at schools that might otherwise be likely admits.

I'm originally from CA.

Have the kid go to community college then transfer.

Or go to any lesser known CSU schools - San Bernardino, LA, East Bay, Dominguez Hills.

Is your friend not aware of the different public colleges in CA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. This is all very helpful. To answer some PP's questions, I am in the DC area but posing the question for a dear friend who asked my advice and is on the West Coast. They've explored CA schools, but it's very difficult to get the comp sci major at schools that might otherwise be likely admits.

I'm originally from CA.

Have the kid go to community college then transfer.

Or go to any lesser known CSU schools - San Bernardino, LA, East Bay, Dominguez Hills.

Is your friend not aware of the different public colleges in CA?

pp here.. sorry, I assumed your friend lives in CA.

[Anonymous]

I suggest he try to do Information Technology in the business school instead of Computer Science in the Engineering department.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are some good ideas here. But I recommend that your student look in detail at the curriculum required at the universities for CS majors. Most require (for the major, as part of the college curriculum) some level of calculus, linear algebra, discrete mathematics and sometimes two semesters of a lab science. Has your student taken CS classes? Do they like math well enough? I say this not to discourage, but just to prepare. And the requirements vary between schools and sometimes between a BA and BS at the same school.

Also, maybe look at Elon. Good luck!

yea, my DS is at UMD as a CS major, and the math is heavy. DS is a math whiz, so he has no issues with the hard math classes, but I know that a lot of other kids do.

So, if your kid doesn't like math, he will struggle. Alternative is to major is something like data science or IS rather than CS.

My son is in a data science major because he loves math and stats. There are more math/stats classes in this major than in the school's CS major. I absolutely would not recommend it for someone who doesn't like math.

However, a business IT major might be a good option.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, go into the trades, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are some good ideas here. But I recommend that your student look in detail at the curriculum required at the universities for CS majors. Most require (for the major, as part of the college curriculum) some level of calculus, linear algebra, discrete mathematics and sometimes two semesters of a lab science. Has your student taken CS classes? Do they like math well enough? I say this not to discourage, but just to prepare. And the requirements vary between schools and sometimes between a BA and BS at the same school.

Also, maybe look at Elon. Good luck!

Does Elon have a good CS program? Never heard that mentioned before.. Or are you recommending Elon for other reasons (e.g. academic support)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you all. I should have said we're not local, so appreciate ideas anywhere in the country.

I’m sorry, but you’re being ridiculous. You’re asking posters in the Washington DC area to suggest colleges all over the entire country. There are thousands of them. It is really bizarre that you are on this website.

DP but I get why OP is here. There is no other message board similar to it. There used an nyc based site called urban baby. Otherwise, there’s just Reddit. DCUM fills a void for a certain group of people.

Yeah well, they should GET OFF MY LAWN!

[Anonymous]

I don’t know that this student wants to come out to the East Coast but Christopher Newport University came to mind before I read they were on the West Coast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are some good ideas here. But I recommend that your student look in detail at the curriculum required at the universities for CS majors. Most require (for the major, as part of the college curriculum) some level of calculus, linear algebra, discrete mathematics and sometimes two semesters of a lab science. Has your student taken CS classes? Do they like math well enough? I say this not to discourage, but just to prepare. And the requirements vary between schools and sometimes between a BA and BS at the same school.

Also, maybe look at Elon. Good luck!

yea, my DS is at UMD as a CS major, and the math is heavy. DS is a math whiz, so he has no issues with the hard math classes, but I know that a lot of other kids do.

So, if your kid doesn't like math, he will struggle. Alternative is to major is something like data science or IS rather than CS.

My son is in a data science major because he loves math and stats. There are more math/stats classes in this major than in the school's CS major. I absolutely would not recommend it for someone who doesn't like math.

However, a business IT major might be a good option.

good point

[Anonymous]

Moms, please stop pushing your ill-adjusted sons with limited talent into this industry. And FYI - the founder of Napster caught the attention of the FBI by age 15 for his hacking talents. You don't need college if the FBI knows your name at 15. It's a complete myth that the tech industry is filled with basement critters with ADHD and low GPAs. The math requirements alone will eat him alive.

[Anonymous]

5 years ago, I would suggest you look into some year-long coding bootcamp programs, but those folks will be wiped out by generative AI.

Knowing the types of CS jobs that AI will replace, you might encourage your kid to consider a different area of study.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe non flagship state universities. Umass Lowell, SUNY IT Utica, northern arizona university, Georgia state, eastern carolina, Michigan state, Wisconsin whitewater.

I agree with the idea here but some of the examples are not easy CS schools to get into. UMASS Lowell is a very well regarded CS school as is MSU.

When you say "non flagship state university", I think the better choices would be something like Framingham State or Worcester State (MA) or, for MI, Eastern or Central Michigan.

[Anonymous]

Cal State
California Lutheran
Pepperdine
San Diego State

lots of options

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe non flagship state universities. Umass Lowell, SUNY IT Utica, northern arizona university, Georgia state, eastern carolina, Michigan state, Wisconsin whitewater.

You’re not getting into MSU with a 3.1 GPA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe non flagship state universities. Umass Lowell, SUNY IT Utica, northern arizona university, Georgia state, eastern carolina, Michigan state, Wisconsin whitewater.

You’re not getting into MSU with a 3.1 GPA

Our school had kids with 3.0-3.1 get into Michigan State