How do you find schools with great departments in specific subjects?

[Sebastian (a lady)]

It is often discussed here that it's important to weigh the rigor and opportunities of specific departments rather than just look at stats for a school as a whole. How do you do this? What tools am I missing?

 

My oldest wants to major in computers. He's not sure what aspect most interests him (programming, computer engineering, networking, robotics etc).

 

This is a field I know little about. How do you find colleges with great departments for the degrees your kids want? Is there anyway to see admissions stats by department for a school? It seems that the bigger a school is the more likely that there is a big divide in ability and stats between students in honors colleges and degrees that are academically challenging and those that are there just to check a box.

 

This is an area where I feel a bit disadvantaged as a homeschooler. I feel like my kids have heard of so many fewer schools than I did growing up. I had older peers headed to college or friends with older siblings. And of course there were college visits to the high schools.

[regentrude]

It is often discussed here that it's important to weigh the rigor and opportunities of specific departments rather than just look at stats for a school as a whole. How do you do this? What tools am I missing?

My oldest wants to major in computers. He's not sure what aspect most interests him (programming, computer engineering, networking, robotics etc).

 

This is a field I know little about. How do you find colleges with great departments for the degrees your kids want? Is there anyway to see admissions stats by department for a school? It seems that the bigger a school is the more likely that there is a big divide in ability and stats between students in honors colleges and degrees that are academically challenging and those that are there just to check a box.

 

You can start by looking at program specific rankings.

We started with the USNews list for ranking of the graduate programs (which for the field DD wanted to go in was relevant since it is directly related to the research expertise of the faculty. )

There are also many ranking lists for undergraduate programs, with specific criteria.

Here is one for the best Comp sci undergrad programs world wide

http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/university-subject-rankings/2013/computer-science-and-information-systems#sorting=rank+region=+country=+faculty=+stars=false+search=

 and here is one for Comp Sci that includes ROI into the calculation:

http://www.bestvalueschools.com/computer-science-degrees-best-roi/

 

There are many more. In some cases, a specific program may rank far above the overall ranking of a particular school.

 

You can use this as a starting point to identify the top schools in the field and then use the departmental websites to investigate further. The department website should give information about the background and research interest of the faculty, the degree requirements and course offerings. It would also give you a contact to whom to direct further questions. When visiting a school, you should arrange a departmental visit, not just a generic campus tour. Admissions people usually do not have much detailed knowledge about the specific degree programs; you must speak with somebody in that department.

 

Since most schools do not require students to declare a major right away and be admitted into  a specific department, I do not think that department specific stats are posted - but this is something you could ask the undergraduate advisor.

 

 

 

This is an area where I feel a bit disadvantaged as a homeschooler. I feel like my kids have heard of so many fewer schools than I did growing up. I had older peers headed to college or friends with older siblings. And of course there were college visits to the high schools.

 

I think the internet levels the playing field. You don't need the colleges to come to present at the high school - you can find out a lot without leaving your house. From what  heard, high school guidance counselors are not particularly knowledgeable about different colleges either.

[madteaparty]

Fwiw, I posted the very same question here and I got a few responses with rankings. I'll have to find the link when I'm not on a mobile device.

[Dmmetler]

I'd also suggest attending conferences in he deisired field. It becomes pretty easy to see which programs have tons of students doing research, which schools have faculty who are active and still researching themselves, and so on. I also discovered something last year that I didn't know. Most professional fields have drastically reduced fees for students, and some even have scholarships or otherwise waive fees for high school students. One thing I found out is that the top program in DD's field in my state is actually at a college that isn't terribly competitive otherwise-and is quite likely to be a fairly easy place for her to get merit aid.

[Bootsie]

For the most part, I would encourage you to look for a school that is an overall good match for your child rather than focusing too much on a specific major.  First, over half the classes your student will take will be out of his or her major.  Second, many students change majors.  Third, a school may have a great program in one area (perhaps cyber security), but not so great in another computer area (perhaps programming).  Fourth, many of the rankings are based upon items that may not impact an undergraduate student's education.  Some schools focus on an excellent undergraduate program, or a superb masters program, or a great PhD program, but do not excel at educating at all three levels.  Also, some depends on what your child is wanting to do after college; some schools do an excellent job preparing students for graduate school, while others are much more focused on job marketability.  

[creekland]

When I needed to do this for youngest, I ended up doing a ton of internet research and asking (e-mailing) people in the field.  Most were VERY willing to help and give their two cents.  When those two cents kept coming up with the same set of schools, we ended up looking at those.

 

I did want a school that offered other things should my youngest change his mind, so that eliminated a couple of options.

 

And now he's at the school I (and many others) consider #1 in his desired major at the time, but I'm content when he told me he wanted to switch out as I know the school is still VERY good in what he wants to do - he just has to find his specific niche yet.

 

 

[Teachin'Mine]

Unless the student has an intense interest in one area and has been actively involved in work or research in that area, I'm in the agreement of finding a good school overall which has a good department in the specific area the student thinks they might major in.  At the same time I would not think that a good school with a weak department in the area of interest would be a good choice.  One of the things dd looked at, besides talking with professors, is where their degrees were from and which graduate schools students in her major attended.   Availability of research and professor availability and teaching ability were also taken into consideration.  Generally top schools are going to have good departments for most of the usual majors, but if it's a more obscure major, then you would probably begin the search looking for colleges which have that major.  Many top schools do have leanings in either a STEM or non-STEM direction, so you may want to take that into account.  Some students may prefer a college with a larger department with more course offerings and others may prefer a smaller department with more individual attention and lower student to faculty ratio.  Either can be found at top colleges and universities as department size can vary considerably independent of the size of the total student population.

 

I think it would be fair to say that some of it is a guessing game as a student can totally change direction at any point and there are always a good number of students who transfer whether for that reason or other reasons.   And it's still important to take into account location, and finances, and fit, and ...   Strength of a specific department is one of the important criteria, but it's one of many.

[Pawz4me]

DS has planned on majoring in business for years.  While it's true that many students do change their minds on what they want to major in, we felt reasonably confident that he wouldn't.  So we focused on the rankings of undergrad business schools.  I know the rankings have their flaws, and I certainly don't believe an entire decision should be made based solely on them.  But I do think they're a good starting point.

[MarkT]

in your particular case

"programming, computer engineering, networking, robotics etc)."

 

I would recommend that your student think about what aspect of computers he enjoys. 

Some CS programs are more purely software and some have crossover with the hardware aspect.  For the latter you may want to consider colleges that have both CS and Engineering programs.

 

The enthusiasm of the instructors make a big difference and that is hard to see in statistics.

 

It is not a life or death decision - he can always transfer.
 

[Susie in CA]

Regentrude,

 

Thank you for your post. As always your feedback is extremely helpful and just confirmed the small list of schools we have had in mind already. :-)

 

[8filltheheart]

Sebastian,

 

What does your child want to do with their degree?  Do they want to get in on a start-up venture and aspire to something like Google fame or do they want to work locally in your typical middle class career?  I ask the question b/c that is the question that was given in answer to a question by ds.   He went to SSP with a young lady whose father is very high up in the computer world.  Ds asked her to ask her dad where a friend of his who wanted to major in CS should go to school.   His response was that students who want to work locally should attend regionally and that basically any decent university would prepare a student for a career. He said students who want to be involved in venture start-ups should be looking at places like Stanford.

 

Ds's friend is most definitely not the start-up type of person.  He is low key and just wants to complete his degree, get a job, and have a family.  He now attends the local university. :)

[Pawz4me]

Sebastian,

 

What does your child want to do with their degree?  Do they want to get in on a start-up venture and aspire to something like Google fame or do they want to work locally in your typical middle class career?  I ask the question b/c that is the question that was given in answer to a question by ds.   He went to SSP with a young lady whose father is very high up in the computer world.  Ds asked her to ask her dad where a friend of his who wanted to major in CS should go to school.   His response was that students who want to work locally should attend regionally and that basically any decent university would prepare a student for a career. He said students who want to be involved in venture start-ups should be looking at places like Stanford.

 

Ds's friend is most definitely not the start-up type of person.  He is low key and just wants to complete his degree, get a job, and have a family.  He now attends the local university. :)

 

Your DS's friend sounds exactly like my youngest DS (same career, goals and aspirations).  And yes, he's strongly considering the local universities.

[Starr]

Look for post graduation employment/grad school statistics. 

[Lawyer&Mom]

I was too intimidated to take a CS class at Berkeley.  The kids there were hard core!  In retrospect, I think I could have done just fine in CS at a less competitive school.  (I come from a family of programmers.)  I would balance your kid's strengths with his goals when picking a department.  The highest ranked isn't always the best fit.