What's the real ROI on a "better" CS school?

[*LC]

Wouldn't ABET certification depend on whether computer science is housed in the College of Engineering or the College of Arts and Science since ABET is an engineering certification?I know that ABET matters for engineering, and I would not attend a college that did not have ABET for engineering majors.My son's school does not have ABET certification, yet many of its students are hired at the well-known computer companies. For computer science, I would research where a college's graduates are hired rather than whether the college has ABET certification.

  

I am wondering the same thing.  Computer Science is not the same thing as Computer Engineering (in spite of much overlap), and in many schools it is in the College of Science or Arts & Sciences, and not the Engineering School.  I was perusing around the ABET site, and most accredited schools do not have Computer Science on their lists, just Computer (and other) Engineering - but I'd be surprised if all those schools didn't also have a Computer Science program.

 

 

 

...Just to confuse the issue, computer science programs in liberal arts schools can be ABET accredited. My oldest has a childhood friend where we used to live, who went to a small regionally-ranked liberal arts school, with no engineering department, that has an ABET accredited computer science department.

 

Someone once mentioned ruling out computer science departments that didn't start the math sequence with at least calculus; this is one of those schools. It did require a part-time CS internship for credit, which this friend did the last semester of school. That was his only experience.

 

From what I heard, the non-tech company he interned with wanted to hire him, but needed approval. He waited and waited. Six months later, he found a job with a multinational ERP software company with a big office in his home state. He makes enough to be self-supporting, including $1,300 rent for his own apartment and for the car payment on a two-year-old SVU, that he bought after starting work.

 

This is not a school on any CS list. Your son will be fine.

 

 

I can't remember about year-end bonuses. She travelled after graduation, so she didn't start work until the fall. I know she is "given" stock each year, but I don't know if that counts as a bonus. It is a very different world than where I worked once upon a time.

Since I am following up, I will update this also. My daughter did receive a year-end bonus prorated for the amount of time she worked in 2017. She did not receive a year-end performance bonus, because she had not been there long enough. If she had started in June instead of taking time off to travel, her year-end bonus (without adding in a year-end performance bonus that new hires that started then received) would have been almost enough to pay off the allowed amount of undergraduate loans.

 

I know I am no help in deciding what school he should pick. I think he should pick the one he wants to attend; I think he should seek out undergraduate research opportunities in AI/ML; I think he should intern (or co-op). I do not think he needs to attend Purdue to find a well-paying job in computer science. While I am not a big believer in loans, I think he will be able to pay off reasonable loans with a bachelor degree in CS.

 

You have done a great job homeschooling your son; he has great options; congratulations.

[Momto6inIN]

 

 

 

 

You have done a great job homeschooling your son; he has great options; congratulations.

 

Thank you for this, sometimes in all the stress of choosing I lose track of the fact that him having choices is pretty darn amazing :)

 

 

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[Momto6inIN]

I'm sure all of you have been dying to know ;)

DS interviewed for the scholarship at IU, loved the look of the campus but wasn't thrilled with the focus on "the college experience" vs "this is what this university will get you after college is over" at Purdue, and learned a couple of days later that he is an alternate for the scholarship. So he decided on Purdue. Whew! I am soooooo glad this decision making stuff is over ... but sooooo appreciative of all of you who took the time to give us advice. Thanks and Go Boilers! :)