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Let me just lay out the requirements:

- It needs to be in or around the midwest
- I'd prefer if it were not public
- It needs to be affordable
- I will be studying Comp. Sci. and/or math.

Does such a university exist? If it's not affordable, perhaps give me a recommendation of one that offers large scholarships for the majors I mentioned.

Thanks.

By Becks777 (Becks777) on Thursday, February 12, 2004 - 05:58 pm: Edit

IIT- Illinois institute of technology is one of them: actually there are tons of univs like this. It just depends on your stats, Even schools like Northwestern can be affordable if you have great stats. Depaul and Loyola( chicago) are known for giving good scholarships too

By Lvdad (Lvdad) on Thursday, February 12, 2004 - 06:04 pm: Edit

Some good sources to start with some research (helped our D quite a bit with when she started putting together her list) are the Fiske Guide to Colleges and the Kaplan Unofficial Guide to the 328 Most Interesting Colleges. They each have a list of Best Buys and Best Values, which might be helpful to find schools that meet your requirements. Keep in mind that a lot of the schools on these lists are public, but Fiske has separate lists of public and private schools in this category. Private schools on the Fiske Best Buy list that are in/near the midwest include Case Western Reserve, Grinnell College, Illinois Institute of Technology, Illinois Wesleyan, Macalester, and St. Olaf. I realize this covers a wide range of school sizes, settings, and selectivity, so you'll need to do some research. Hope this helps and good luck!

By Massdad (Massdad) on Thursday, February 12, 2004 - 06:29 pm: Edit

Why, oh why, would you not want a state U? In the midwest, THE best option, if cost is an issue, is a state university, especially in technical disciplines.

By Mpn (Mpn) on Thursday, February 12, 2004 - 06:58 pm: Edit

Becks, I will look at Northwestern -- I forgot that it existed :P.

Lvdad, thanks. I think those books are available at my school.

Massdad, well, I live in Missouri and the state universities I know of are the ones in the University of Missouri system (at Columbia, Rolla, and STL). Rolla is too focused on engineering. All three follow similarly math/cs course lists, if I'm not mistaken, and, well, most were not of the route I want to take. Do you have any recommendations? I will most likely get the Missouri Bright Flight scholarship which pays $2000/yr for a state school, so I'd be happy to hear of one.

The problem with state schools is that the average ACT score is usually about 22, and well, I want to get away from the averageness of high school, however bad that may sound.

By Mstee (Mstee) on Thursday, February 12, 2004 - 06:58 pm: Edit

My niece is looking at a couple of Dutch reform schools in Iowa I had never heard of, Dordt and Northwestern, and is being considered for sizeable scholarships at both. My nephew was offered a scholarship at Concordia (Moorhead, MN), which helps make it more affordable, and his grades were not stellar. I think all three of these schools are right around $20,000 for tuition, room and board, if you pay full freight.

By Northstarmom (Northstarmom) on Thursday, February 12, 2004 - 08:33 pm: Edit

Northwestern only gives scholarships based on financial need. Here's a link to the web site where you can read this: http://ug-finaid.northwestern.edu/scholarshipFAQ.html#No_1

Marquette is a good midwestern college that does offer merit aid.Calvin College in Grand Rapids is a solid liberal arts college affiliated with the Christian Reformed church, and also offers merit aid: http://www.calvin.edu/admin/finaid/merit.htm

By Lvdad (Lvdad) on Thursday, February 12, 2004 - 08:56 pm: Edit

Mpn, perhaps the honors college programs at a public university might be an option for you.

By Massdad (Massdad) on Thursday, February 12, 2004 - 09:42 pm: Edit

Mpm, as Lvdad hinted, don't think about the "average" student at a public U. You don't have to hang around with them. If you looked, you could find as high achieving cohort as you wanted at a strong public U like U. Missouri. Don't sell it short if money is an issue. And, honors programs can be a great way to find that cohort.

Remember, in college you will have much more ability to chose your friends than in HS.

By Carolyn (Carolyn) on Thursday, February 12, 2004 - 09:54 pm: Edit

It's really difficult to find private schools where the tuition will be less than $20,000, but here are some possibilities that are close. Bradley University in Illinois has a good computer science program and total costs (including room/board) are just over $20,000. As Becks already mentioned, DePaul University in Chicago is another reasonably priced school with good computer science programs. A bit more costly are Lawrence University and Beloit - both in Wisconsin. Hendrix College in Arkansas (not quite the midwest perhaps) is a very nice liberal arts school with a computer science major. Hendrix is very reasonable and offers merit money to attract out of state students. In Ohio, Case Western Reserve is more expensive but offers generous merit aid that can bring costs down if you qualify. packages to attract out of state students. St. Olaf and Gustavus Adolphus in Minnesota are both fairly reasonable and offer merit money. If you're willing to go to Texas, Rice is quite reasonable has a good computer science program. Trinity and Southwestern University - also both in Texas - are also very reasonable private schools with computer science majors. Good luck!

By Mstee (Mstee) on Thursday, February 12, 2004 - 10:11 pm: Edit

Northstarmom--I don't know for sure that were referring to my reference to "Northwestern", but just to clarify, the Northwestern I was referring to is Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa. . . I'd never heard of it before my niece decided she may be going there, even though I grew up in South Dakota. My niece is in the running for a nice academic scholarship there, and will interview in a couple of weeks.

By Becks777 (Becks777) on Thursday, February 12, 2004 - 10:12 pm: Edit

Its amazing how you know so much about midwestern colleegs when ur living in the west coast carolyn

By Northstarmom (Northstarmom) on Thursday, February 12, 2004 - 10:19 pm: Edit

Thanks, Mstee for the clarification. I was referring to the other Northwestern.

By Ksmom (Ksmom) on Friday, February 13, 2004 - 01:18 pm: Edit

Mpn, I wouldn't rule out Rolla. They have a great math department and computer science is equally challenging. These departments are in the Arts and Sciences which is separate from the engineering school. In state tuition is affordable, scholarships are great, and the average ACT is 28 or 29. The university is small, under 4000 undergrads, and Rolla is an interesting small town. What are your stats? Where in Missouri do you live?

By The_Bard (The_Bard) on Friday, February 13, 2004 - 02:49 pm: Edit

Take into consideration Hillsdale College (Hillsdale, MI), a highly regarded, conservatively grounded private liberal arts college. The tuition, fees and room and board are ~$21,000 per year; the school receives no State or Federal funding as part of its underlying philosophy. It offers a computational mathematics major to boot, and has reciprocal agreements with the University of Michigan, Northwestern, and Case Western for engineering, if you should like to do a 3-2 programme.

By Mpn (Mpn) on Friday, February 13, 2004 - 04:38 pm: Edit

Thank you to everyone. I got much more help than I expected.

Ksmom: Well, I've looked at the courses available for CS majors at Rolla and they don't really appeal to me. The location also really turned me off. It struck me as a lonely place with no civilization and no natural beauty. I will find out whether I am correct or not this summer, when I will attend some week-long engineering thing there. (If you or anyone else is interested, the site for the program is at http://www.umr.edu/index.php?id=336. It costs $425.)

By Ksmom (Ksmom) on Friday, February 13, 2004 - 05:01 pm: Edit

Mpn, my daughter attended the Intro to Engineering program the summer following her junior year in high school. That program clinched UMR for her and she is presently in her junior year. She is not an engineering major by the way. Rolla is a small town though and if you are used to a large city I can understand your concerns. Are you going to college to get an education or to have everything you might want for entertainment close by? My daughter has never regretted her decision and the quality of her classes is excellent.