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[poe]

I'm clueless. I admit it. I need to apply soon

I want to go for computer science(so I can make the programs and the games). I wouldn't know the difference between a scam and a real college unless someone told me. Recommendations?

SAT scores: Critical Reading: 590, Math:570, Writing: 500

Colleges I'm considering:
http://wheatoncollege.edu/
http://www.asu.edu/
http://ww2.uri.edu/

I'm in Massachusetts, but going out of state shouldn't be an issue. Of course staying close is good too.

[Aloshi]

Well, I dunno if it'll help, but I can tell you my experiences thus far - I'll be attending a university in August. I've also been completely clueless about college.

About two thirds through my senior year of high school I was like "oh hey, I should probably apply to a college." I had no idea which one to go to, so I visited one as a school activity and another on my own time (both were state schools). They both seemed fine, but what eventually convinced me was that I got to spend an hour or so with a post-grad computer science guy and he told me some of the cool stuff he did throughout school (internship at IBM, some really cool classes, game-making competition).

I eventually chose that school because...why not don't say debt. It's a really big school with lots of connections from what I can tell, and something like 99% of computer science students get a job offer within 6 months of graduation if I remember right. I don't think I'm going to find "better" - and I wouldn't even be able to tell.

Since it's a state school (at least in Iowa), as long as you have decent grades/test scores, you're pretty much guaranteed to get in if you apply in time.

[Muz]

I've noticed that state schools tend to be quite good, at least in countries outside the US

They're easy to get into, they don't really care that much about profit (so fees will be reasonable), they're not scams. They've got plenty of resources, normally really good facilities as well.

[poe]

Hmm, thanks for the help guys, I'll go pick out a few more

[cskau]

I finished my bachelor's in CS here in Denmark last summer and I'm about to start a new master's in Japan this summer.
Here's my advice:

Definitely do college/university if you can. It's the best thing I ever did, and I've learned lots. I could write a book about all the good things about it

Of course I can't tell you much about American schools, but there are a few things I usually look at when choosing a school.

The best metric is probably peer reviews. Talk to students or former students and hear what they think of it there.
Second to that might be reputation of the school. But don't put too much weight on this. If the school has a good reputation, but the teaching there is crap, then it's as good as useless.

The second big point is what they teach. All schools should cover all the basics, so what you want look at is what extra and master courses they offer. Are they relevant and interesting to you? Do they have enough for you to choose from?
A good indicator is also what research they are doing there. If they have people working on the area, then you're almost guaranteed professors who know and care deeply about the material. This is a huge plus.
A big part of why I'm now moving all the way to Japan for a master's is because of this.
I've taken all the courses I care about at my home university (including master's), and I now have to go there to find courses in the field I want to continue in.
Courses that interest you and passionate professors are all the motivation you could ever wish for when you're struggling with those super difficult courses.

Hmm.. I think those are the main points I can think of off the top of my head..

Good luck choosing a school, and even better luck with your future studies.

[Evan McClane]

One thing I'd suggest is, if you don't have loads of money, to take your standard classes (math, science, etc.) at a state or community college, then go to a university where your credits will transfer and take comp sci.  It will be significantly cheaper and you'll still get a diploma from wherever you take comp sci.

[poe]

Thanks for all the info Cskau.

Ev149 that seems really smart :D I'll bring it up with my parents.

[JMStark]

Community colleges can sometimes also offer a better education in those standard classes than a university. Since the teachers there are interested, in, well, teaching, instead of research, they can often times be better at a community college. There are also smaller class sizes, which has its benefits as well. Basically, listen to ev149. Just be very careful to make certain that your credits can transfer.

[Molten_]

I'm in the exact same boat as you JMStark poe, and not to hijack your thread or anything but I have a question. What are the differences between Computer Science and Computer Engineering? Should I favor one or the other?

I'm having a hard time deciding. From my research it seems that Engineering is more rooted in the math, whereas Science is critical thinking. I'd love if somebody with some experience could chime in.

[EBrown]

I'm in the exact same boat as you JMStark poe, and not to hijack your thread or anything but I have a question. What are the differences between Computer Science and Computer Engineering? Should I favor one or the other?

I'm having a hard time deciding. From my research it seems that Engineering is more rooted in the math, whereas Science is critical thinking. I'd love if somebody with some experience could chime in.

I don't know about the Computer Science, but I can show you the general class schedule of my Computer Engineering Course:

Semester: Course
---
1: Object-Oriented Java
2: C++ and O.O.D.
3: Circuit Analysis, Digital Systems
4: Discrete Electronics, Microcontrollers
5: Embedded Systems
6: Computer Design
7: CONCENTRATION ELECTIVE
8: Random Processes, Design Project

That is what my University has me setup for. I start there this coming fall.

If someone posts a Computer Science itinerary, you should be able to see a generic difference.

Thanks,
EBrown

[Falmil]

Computer Engineering is Computer Science plus Electrical Engineering, so there are electronics courses with the programming and algorithms courses.

[Molten_]

Thanks EBrown, that's very informative. It seems that Computer Engineering is a mix of science and actual engineering.

Computer Engineering is Computer Science plus Electrical Engineering, so there are electronics courses with the programming and algorithms courses.

Yep, seems like this confirms my thoughts.

In that case I may go for Engineering since it seems to be the more well-rounded route, however I'm worried it might be a bit over my head. I will probably consult a counselor soon.

[poe]

You aren't hijacking at all and now I'm not sure which of the two I want to do...

[theweirdn8]

Ever thought of UIC(I go there...)

[sigfarter]

You'll hang around for nerd poontang for a few months, realize that what they are teaching you is bullshit, and then drop out with an outstanding student loan.

[Blademasterbobo]

I'm in computer engineering, but I'm basically self taught as far as programming goes. The problem (at least, at the school I'm at) is that... none of my peers learn shit from the programming courses here. Almost everyone has a lot of difficulty wrapping their heads around core concepts, and the professors have trouble explaining them. I don't know who's at fault here, but there seems to be some fundamental issue with how programming is taught. Maybe it's different at other schools? I doubt it, though. I'm guessing success rates are more tied to the school acceptance policies than different teaching methods.
    
I have trouble recommending CS majors for people, because of this, but a degree is a basic requirement for quite a few CS jobs. This is more true for engineering jobs. I think for most of your college choices, though, you'll have to teach yourself if you want to actually learn anything. And I'm at a school with small class sizes; if you're in some lecture hall type setting, good luck learning shit from that. Might as well not show up to class for those, imo. You cannot expect to actually learn things from lectures and class assignments alone.

If you want a college that's not a complete scam, maybe look at public unis? I don't mean for this to sound insulting, but those SAT scores are going to hurt you as far as the major private schools go, unless you've done a lot of extracurricular stuff or you can write an amazing application essay or something. (Probably still worth applying, if you want to, because who knows?) Plus, private schools are fucking expensive, and they simply do not care about undergrads for the most part. Undergrad at most private schools is basically a fucking joke, and it seems like they only bother with it because they have to. (They make their income from research / postgrad stuff and alumni donations, etc.)

Finally, the difference between computer engineering and electrical engineering is that computer engineering tends to focus more on computer architecture type stuff, integrated circuits, micro controllers, and so on, while electrical engineering has a variety of things you can choose to focus on. (Most of the EE majors here focus on power, probably just because the jobs pay well.)

[poe]

I'm in computer engineering, but I'm basically self taught as far as programming goes. The problem (at least, at the school I'm at) is that... none of my peers learn shit from the programming courses here. Almost everyone has a lot of difficulty wrapping their heads around core concepts, and the professors have trouble explaining them. I don't know who's at fault here, but there seems to be some fundamental issue with how programming is taught. Maybe it's different at other schools? I doubt it, though. I'm guessing success rates are more tied to the school acceptance policies than different teaching methods.
    
I have trouble recommending CS majors for people, because of this, but a degree is a basic requirement for quite a few CS jobs. This is more true for engineering jobs. I think for most of your college choices, though, you'll have to teach yourself if you want to actually learn anything. And I'm at a school with small class sizes; if you're in some lecture hall type setting, good luck learning shit from that. Might as well not show up to class for those, imo. You cannot expect to actually learn things from lectures and class assignments alone.

If you want a college that's not a complete scam, maybe look at public unis? I don't mean for this to sound insulting, but those SAT scores are going to hurt you as far as the major private schools go, unless you've done a lot of extracurricular stuff or you can write an amazing application essay or something. (Probably still worth applying, if you want to, because who knows?) Plus, private schools are fucking expensive, and they simply do not care about undergrads for the most part. Undergrad at most private schools is basically a fucking joke, and it seems like they only bother with it because they have to. (They make their income from research / postgrad stuff and alumni donations, etc.)

Finally, the difference between computer engineering and electrical engineering is that computer engineering tends to focus more on computer architecture type stuff, integrated circuits, micro controllers, and so on, while electrical engineering has a variety of things you can choose to focus on. (Most of the EE majors here focus on power, probably just because the jobs pay well.)

Not offended, I understand my scores are nothing special . Hate to sound like a broken record but thanks for the info this is all helping a lot.

[Falmil]

I think a lot of schools don't teach programming all that well. Well, languages and compilers and thing might get covered, but I've always been more or less confused by software architecture design. I don't know how many colleges actually have you complete full real-world  projects that have you tie everything together instead of just doing piecemeal learning of programming languages and data structures and things.

[Μarkham]

The university I go to has a sort of wall that people hit a lot in the Computer Science department as well.  It's mostly two - CS236 and CS250 - One is "Intro to Computational Theory" and the other involves computational language and grammar structure and building a "Datalog" data-basing engine.

There's also a third issue that is affecting a lot of people - the CS department decided that instead of starting out teaching Java and switching to teaching C++ after the two hard classes, they should instead do the complete opposite and screw over anyone caught in the middle of this.  Taking the class involving programming a data-basing engine that merged and split unrelated tables and evaluated search results that assumed you took all previous classes with C++ when you've only learned Java did not go too well.

[maetheec]

It's great that you're going for a real CS degree.
I understand why many people might thought college was useless, but in the long run, it will help you.
Completing college with good grades shows a certain quality about yourself, which will help landing your first job. But most importantly, your friends in college will most likely be the ones that can help you the most, both professionally and socially, for the next 70 years of your life.

And man, all the girls... If I didn't have to work I'd definitely go back to college for a couple more years...