That's awesome! Congrats to him!

We are just starting the whole college application rigamarole for LL#2. Gonna be a long and stressful year. But as Liam proves, it will all turn out as it's meant to be!

(Side Q - was Liam at UToronto? It's one of the schools on LL#2's list but I hear it can be "soul crushing" -- to quote some random guy on reddit....L OTOH, LL#2 would like to ultimately get the heck out of the US, thus it remains on his list.)

quote:

"soul crushing"

How so? Bc the courses are hard? The profs are cruel? The winters are cold?

Congrats to Liam! Way cool story on getting a choice job.

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Originally posted by ShiroKuro:

quote:

"soul crushing"

How so? Bc the courses are hard? The profs are cruel? The winters are cold?

The general stuff I read is that the school is huge and doesn't do a whole lot to foster a sense of community among incoming students - lots commute or live off campus. Classes are huge, professors are indifferent, and in general, Canadian schools do a whole lot less to "coddle" their students than American schools do....there's a lot of "do the work or don't, we don't care". Not that that is necessarily a bad thing but I could see how someone expecting the traditional American freshman handholding experience could find it off putting.

What a fabulous achievement! How proud you must be. Onward and upward!

Lisa, thanks for that explanation! Yeah, I think that environment would be jarring for a kid coming out of most American high schools.

quote:

Originally posted by Lisa:
That's awesome! Congrats to him!

We are just starting the whole college application rigamarole for LL#2. Gonna be a long and stressful year. But as Liam proves, it will all turn out as it's meant to be!

(Side Q - was Liam at UToronto? It's one of the schools on LL#2's list but I hear it can be "soul crushing" -- to quote some random guy on reddit....L OTOH, LL#2 would like to ultimately get the heck out of the US, thus it remains on his list.)

He was at George Brown. U of T is a HUGE school with multiple campuses. The main campus has really lovely parts in great neighbourhoods. What program is he looking at?

That's fantastic, Dol! Definitely brag-worthy. Lisa, my son went to University of British Columbia, and we have another friend whose kid just graduated from McGill. They generally don't coddle students, based on my experience. I think it's a commonwealth-y thing, a different educational model. There are far fewer assessments, and a lot more emphasis placed on one or two exams or papers for the entire class. In that sense, both my kids (UBC and UQueensland) had a wake-up call because they were used to more frequent exams, quizzes, and feedback in general. It's up to the kid to check in and make sure they know what they are doing, and not fall behind. You can't use the weekly quiz, for example, to force you to stay on track.

Does LL#2 want to stay on the east coast, generally speaking?

Sorry for the long delay - band camp started this week (I'm an instructor with the high school marching band) so I have been putting in insanely long days. I'll probably start a new college search thread once things settle down a bit just to see if anyone has any feedback on any of the schools and/or majors he is considering. He wants something computer sciencey but is not sure if he wants actual comp sci, cybersecurity, or data science. I would prefer not to have to fly him anywhere so I guess that would be east coast or maybe midwest? Probably not the south because...well....it's the south. I only half jokingly implemented a "no red states" rule but truly I would prefer him to be somewhere where people are somewhat rational about guns/masks/vaccines.

I hope he's considering Carnegie-Mellon. It's not too far from you and top rated in computer science. The tuition can be intimidating, but I definitely recommend applying (full disclosure: C-MU BS-EE 1967, MS-EE 1969).

Big Al

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Originally posted by big al:
Carnegie-Mellon ... top rated in computer science.

+1

Also top-rated in cognitive psychology, neural networks, etc. It's a great spot for that sort of thing.

Not sure he wants Carnegie Mellon - I understand it is very theoretical and research oriented and I think he is looking for a more practical career focused program - he's considering RIT/Drexel/Northeastern (BUT he does like Pittsburgh and is planning to apply to Pitt). Plus literally no one from our high school gets into CMU. Not sure when you last looked at college acceptance rates but the last couple years have gone completely off the rails. It's a bloodbath out there. The year LL#1 graduated (2019), the high school valedictorian - who was also an eagle scout, a robotics champion, drum major for the marching band AND the top trombone player in the state - AND who applied early decision (meaning binding - if he was accepted he'd go and is supposed to boost your admission chances) - got flat out rejected. Not sure exactly what you have to do to get in there, but pretty sure LL#2 hasn't done it. (And don't get me wrong - he's got amazing grades, will be at least National Merit Commended, has band leadership, was part of the state champion Academic Decathlon team etc. But I swear the kids getting into these schools have all cured cancer and won olympic gold medals by 9th grade.)

We were deeply, deeply impressed by Carnegie Mellon when we visited. The place radiated intelligence.

Quirtlet #2 would have gone in a heartbeat, but didn't get in.

Purdue might be a good option, or U Maryland.... Both good computer science schools, and in your general area. Penn is also good but acceptance is probably tough there as well.