Tech Prodigy and College Choices: Balancing Advanced Skills with Less Prestigious Schools

[Anonymous]

Maybe find a lower tier school with a top programming team. Would he enjoy that? Recruiters come to the competitions and actively pursue those kids. I know UCF has a team that qualifies for Worlds every year. Kids are recruited even as freshman by FAANG companies for internships. They also have a Cybersecurity team that wins national titles. You could probably look up the competitions and see who competes to find other schools that do well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm looking for some advice about my 15-year-old son. Up until 8th grade, he excelled in advanced courses, always getting top grades. But something changed in high school – he stopped taking all honors and advanced classes and switched to regular ones. Despite this shift, he's still acing standardized tests, scoring around 1550 on SAT practice tests with ease. His regular school grades are a mix, with As, Bs, and occasional Cs, particularly in subjects like foreign languages that don't interest him.

He's now looking at colleges that are easier to get into, focusing on those with good Computer Science programs. His list includes Iowa State, George Mason University, Arizona State, University of Arizona, and Oregon State. He doesn't care about the school and just wants to get a CS degree.

Here’s where it gets impressive: his tech skills are extraordinary. Beyond basic coding, he’s adept at creating complex software solutions. He’s skilled in a wide array of programming languages and technologies, including Docker, JavaScript frameworks, Python, Java, C++, and more. He has an amazing ability to grasp and master new tech concepts, languages, and frameworks quickly. In my role as a senior director and hiring manager at a FAANG company, I see that his skills are comparable to those of our seasoned principal engineers and architects. He’s tackled challenging coding tasks and aced the tough coding tests we set for hiring these high-level positions.

Here's the part that irks me a bit: I talk to friends who have older kids and are just starting to learn programming at Ivy League schools, and it's hard not to feel that my son, who is far more advanced in tech, won't have the same prestigious college on his resume. This makes me wonder how important is a prestigious university for him. He’s incredibly talented in tech but isn’t pursuing challenging academic courses anymore. Should I push him towards more renowned universities, or is it okay to support his choice of more accessible colleges, given his exceptional skills? Will his advanced abilities in tech get recognized in the industry, even if he doesn’t graduate from a highly sought-after school?

My ivy kid says many SWE people he works with in silicon valley have a bootcamp certificate. The catch here is their background is often in engineering.

As a hiring manager in silicon valley, OP has a better picture of what's going on. No reason to be irked by his or her kid not having an ivy resume. My ivy kid said all his hiring managers were non-ivy grads. Nearly all the people he works for are non-ivy grads.

While this might be true in the past, right now the competition is very high and like any other profession if companies have a choice to make they will go for ivy from CS.

It's the opposite. Back of the industry was tiny, elite companies could afford to only hire straight A students from the Ivies. No one company hires more people every year than the entire Ivy League graduates.

[Anonymous]

Tech hiring Is extremely merit-based, for a specific and well advertised definition of merit.

OP kid is already well prepared for getting a tech job. College should be for expanding horizons. Maybe finding a specialized area to get involved with, beyond general mega-corp. Also for making friends and social connections for future networking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're a hiring manager at a FAANG company. Can't you just hire your kid if he's that good, regardless of what school he comes out of?

I don't know about the other companies, but Google doesn't allow that.

yes exactly, if i was a dc beltway bandit business owner i could totally just hire him as the CTO lol. That's another topic of is that the best way to develop software dev skills as dc contracting small and big is more about billing and proposals etc, i did a decade on that before faaang.

CTO is a organizational leadership job, not asocial ace coder. Maybe principal engineer.

[Anonymous]

The industry has grown, as has the population.
"Ivy league" 25 years ago is the same caliber and opportunity as state flagship now.

The super elite Ivy grads were from super elite families before they went Ivy, and why they got into Ivy,not beca use they got in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're a hiring manager at a FAANG company. Can't you just hire your kid if he's that good, regardless of what school he comes out of?

I don't know about the other companies, but Google doesn't allow that.

yes exactly, if i was a dc beltway bandit business owner i could totally just hire him as the CTO lol. That's another topic of is that the best way to develop software dev skills as dc contracting small and big is more about billing and proposals etc, i did a decade on that before faaang.

CTO is a organizational leadership job, not asocial ace coder. Maybe principal engineer.

You're absolutely right, and I appreciate your perspective. In very large companies, the role of CTO often leans more towards organizational leadership. However, I've always believed that a CTO can also be someone with exceptional technical skills, the ability to understand and learn new technologies, and the capacity to design systems at a high level. These qualities are valuable not only in smaller companies but also in larger organizations where driving innovation and technical excellence are equally important. While CTOs can certainly take on leadership roles, having a strong technical foundation can make a significant impact. If we're looking for roles more focused on organizational leadership, COO might be a better fit.

[Anonymous]

If he is indeed a tech prodigy, he'll get full merit scholarships and top internships so no need to worry even if he can't academically keep up with high achievers in top college admission process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tech hiring Is extremely merit-based, for a specific and well advertised definition of merit.

If it is then why do we see average kids getting hired by top companies where their parents or their family and friend have influence? I'm sure top talent has no issues but average talent does.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm looking for some advice about my 15-year-old son. Up until 8th grade, he excelled in advanced courses, always getting top grades. But something changed in high school – he stopped taking all honors and advanced classes and switched to regular ones. Despite this shift, he's still acing standardized tests, scoring around 1550 on SAT practice tests with ease. His regular school grades are a mix, with As, Bs, and occasional Cs, particularly in subjects like foreign languages that don't interest him.

He's now looking at colleges that are easier to get into, focusing on those with good Computer Science programs. His list includes Iowa State, George Mason University, Arizona State, University of Arizona, and Oregon State. He doesn't care about the school and just wants to get a CS degree.

Here’s where it gets impressive: his tech skills are extraordinary. Beyond basic coding, he’s adept at creating complex software solutions. He’s skilled in a wide array of programming languages and technologies, including Docker, JavaScript frameworks, Python, Java, C++, and more. He has an amazing ability to grasp and master new tech concepts, languages, and frameworks quickly. In my role as a senior director and hiring manager at a FAANG company, I see that his skills are comparable to those of our seasoned principal engineers and architects. He’s tackled challenging coding tasks and aced the tough coding tests we set for hiring these high-level positions.

Here's the part that irks me a bit: I talk to friends who have older kids and are just starting to learn programming at Ivy League schools, and it's hard not to feel that my son, who is far more advanced in tech, won't have the same prestigious college on his resume. This makes me wonder how important is a prestigious university for him. He’s incredibly talented in tech but isn’t pursuing challenging academic courses anymore. Should I push him towards more renowned universities, or is it okay to support his choice of more accessible colleges, given his exceptional skills? Will his advanced abilities in tech get recognized in the industry, even if he doesn’t graduate from a highly sought-after school?

I would think a "more accessible college" would be fine. The person matters more than the school, and the tech world is a greater meritocracy than the Ivy League world as it uses skills that are more inherent than taught. I suspect your son will do very well. A lot of highly gifted kids are not a good fit for standard schools and don't necessarily stand out in terms of grades, so they don't go to the T10s or T20s. Instead, they sometimes end up at colleges or universities that cater to their particular interests. I would suggest you look at some STEM schools such as Georgie Tech, Colorado School of Mines, or Rose-Hulman, where his SAT will generate interest and his GPA will be in the general mix. Regular public universities often have strong computer science programs too, so one of those would no doubt work. If he's being turned off by high school, it might be best to let him go to community college immediately so he can take more advanced classes that interest him. Once he has an associate's degree, he should be able to transfer into a decent university. I know some profoundly gifted kids who have taken this path.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm looking for some advice about my 15-year-old son. Up until 8th grade, he excelled in advanced courses, always getting top grades. But something changed in high school – he stopped taking all honors and advanced classes and switched to regular ones. Despite this shift, he's still acing standardized tests, scoring around 1550 on SAT practice tests with ease. His regular school grades are a mix, with As, Bs, and occasional Cs, particularly in subjects like foreign languages that don't interest him.

He's now looking at colleges that are easier to get into, focusing on those with good Computer Science programs. His list includes Iowa State, George Mason University, Arizona State, University of Arizona, and Oregon State. He doesn't care about the school and just wants to get a CS degree.

Here’s where it gets impressive: his tech skills are extraordinary. Beyond basic coding, he’s adept at creating complex software solutions. He’s skilled in a wide array of programming languages and technologies, including Docker, JavaScript frameworks, Python, Java, C++, and more. He has an amazing ability to grasp and master new tech concepts, languages, and frameworks quickly. In my role as a senior director and hiring manager at a FAANG company, I see that his skills are comparable to those of our seasoned principal engineers and architects. He’s tackled challenging coding tasks and aced the tough coding tests we set for hiring these high-level positions.

Here's the part that irks me a bit: I talk to friends who have older kids and are just starting to learn programming at Ivy League schools, and it's hard not to feel that my son, who is far more advanced in tech, won't have the same prestigious college on his resume. This makes me wonder how important is a prestigious university for him. He’s incredibly talented in tech but isn’t pursuing challenging academic courses anymore. Should I push him towards more renowned universities, or is it okay to support his choice of more accessible colleges, given his exceptional skills? Will his advanced abilities in tech get recognized in the industry, even if he doesn’t graduate from a highly sought-after school?

I would think a "more accessible college" would be fine. The person matters more than the school, and the tech world is a greater meritocracy than the Ivy League world as it uses skills that are more inherent than taught. I suspect your son will do very well. A lot of highly gifted kids are not a good fit for standard schools and don't necessarily stand out in terms of grades, so they don't go to the T10s or T20s. Instead, they sometimes end up at colleges or universities that cater to their particular interests. I would suggest you look at some STEM schools such as Georgie Tech, Colorado School of Mines, or Rose-Hulman, where his SAT will generate interest and his GPA will be in the general mix. Regular public universities often have strong computer science programs too, so one of those would no doubt work. If he's being turned off by high school, it might be best to let him go to community college immediately so he can take more advanced classes that interest him. Once he has an associate's degree, he should be able to transfer into a decent university. I know some profoundly gifted kids who have taken this path.

+1 especially with ADHD, being able to focus on what you like makes a huge difference. Both my kids have ADHD. My son did better as high school went on and he was able to focus more on math and math-related classes he likes. Ended up at VT in a data science major with a 4.0 in his major classes, involved in undergrad research, working as a TA for a math professor, has a great internship lined up for the summer. Still does the bare minimum to get Bs in Gen Ed requirements.

DD struggled more in HS with her EF skills and ended with a B+ average. Is at a mid-range LAC with a strong emphasis on her passion and track record for success in students going on to PhDs in the field. She was frustrated a bit at introductory classes that were a bit slow/repetitive for her and could see a lot of students didn't have as rigorous a HS preparation as she did but also said there were a lot of really smart kids and she felt she had a good peer group.

[Anonymous]

OP you might be interested in this story
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/stanley-zhong-google-software-engineer/

My kids experience was similar and I can assure you that Ivy League schools are most certainly not looking for kids gifted in programming or technology for their CS programs.

[Anonymous]

Given that profile, I'd argue that Ivies may not be a good fit even if he got in. At ivies, he would probably still have to take a "Well rounded" core curriculum of classes in different subjects. And if he's getting Cs in high school, those cores might actually be a struggle for him (or at the very least, not enjoyable). Better to go to a school where he can focus on his areas of interest.

Also maybe have him at a school somewhat close to home (like GMU). Sometimes struggles with ADHD really get worse in college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP you might be interested in this story
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/stanley-zhong-google-software-engineer/

My kids experience was similar and I can assure you that Ivy League schools are most certainly not looking for kids gifted in programming or technology for their CS programs.

Stanley Zhong had a 3.96 unweighted GPA, though. OP's kid is getting some Cs. That's a big difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP you might be interested in this story
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/stanley-zhong-google-software-engineer/

My kids experience was similar and I can assure you that Ivy League schools are most certainly not looking for kids gifted in programming or technology for their CS programs.

Stanley Zhong had a 3.96 unweighted GPA, though. OP's kid is getting some Cs. That's a big difference.

My point is that even with a better GPA that is not what these schools are looking for. They would seemingly rather have a rower for the crew team or kid that dabbles in computers who also stars in the schools musicals.

[Anonymous]

OP I have a lot of experience with this

1. Get rid of that college list it’s absurd for a tech prodigy
2. Many tech prodigy kids are like yours
3. Schools like NC state are better than any of the crap ones on that list .
4. Whatever your state schools are would be best here there is zero reason to pay oos tuition for a tech prodigy that’s just dumb they can go to any instate school not only the flagship just major in CS
5. They can do a boot camp program instead start at the bottom as a cs employee and do quite well if they are motivated

For god sake get rid of that list waste of time and money

Signed owner of software company