Demographics: Male, East Asian, Florida
Intended major(s):Computer Science Major, Business Admin. Minor
Academics:
SAT: 1970, 720 Math, 660 Reading, 590 Writing
SAT II: Planning to take in Dec, Math 2 and Bio M, probably high 600s low 700s
ACT: 31
Class rank: 98th percentile
UW/W GPA: 3.56/6.16
Coursework:Pre-IB to IB since 9th grade
AP Scores: APUSH(3), Microecon(2), Statistics(3), AP Lang(3), AP Euro(3), AP scores are kinda low
Awards:AP Scholar, Honor roll, National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, Some participation awards with robotics
Extracurriculars:Co-founder + Vice president of engineer club, tutoring underclassmen, cross country, volunteered every week at hospital over the summer, worked with other nonprofits but nothing big (relay for life, metropolitan ministries, etc)
Schools:
Safeties:
University of Florida
U Miami
U South Florida
Match:
Emory U
NYU
U Michigan
U Chapell Hill
Reach:
UCLA
Cornell
UC-Berkeley
USC
Vanderbilt
Notre Dame
Any suggestions as to my list, as in what schools to add/remove, recommendations? My parents are went to university in another country and thus they don’t know much about the admissions process here. I’m on my own for this one. I don’t really know where I can get in, and my counselor doesn’t really help on picking out colleges, he just says everything is a crapshoot, just apply and see. 
U of Michigan is definitely a reach. Your uw gpa is a little low for a lot of your reach schools.
Yeh that is what get me worried, but since all my classes are either pre-ib/ib and with only other ib students maybe that would make a difference? I’m taking the hardest possible workload at my school
What is your parents’ budget? how much will they pay?
Your GPA is an issue for your matches, and both GPA and test scores are an issue for your reaches.
U Florida isn’t a safety with your GPA. UMiami isn’t either, particularly if your parents won’t pay for it.
Schools:
Safeties:
University of Florida
U Miami
U South Florida
Match:
Emory U…reach
NYU…reach…very expensive.
U Michigan…reach
U Chapell Hill…reach
Reach:
UCLA…very expensive for OOS
Cornell
UC-Berkeley very expensive for OOS
USC
Vanderbilt
Notre Dame
You really don’t have any matches, and you only have one safety (and only if affordable).
What is your major and career goal?
I wouldn’t classify UF as a “safety” either, though you definitely have a shot.
Do you have Bright Futures lined up?
Have you considered FSU?
Yeh, IB diploma graduates auto get bright futures and I meet the requirements either way even if I don’t get the diploma. I think UF is a safety due to the fact that with a 31 act I am at the 75th quartile of freshman, above the median for SAT, GPA wise with the way that they calculate it with only core classes I am also at the 50th percentile and historically at our school, most people get into UF if they are in the IB program unless they have an abysmal GPA/Test Scores. Cost isn’t an issue. If you have any suggestions as to what schools are matches, it really would be appreciated as I don’t really know where to start. On some other forums, they said that emory was a pretty good match school.
I’m guessing your interested in engineering. Your GPA is a bit low for your reaches. I haven’t listed any rural schools, since it doesn’t seem you’d be interested in one. Assuming budget isn’t an issue:
You’d get full tuition + $2,500 a year at University of Alabama - Birmingham & Huntsville. They should be safeties.
Reaches:
-Babson College
-Boston University
-Case Western Reserve University
-Emory University
-NYU
-Scripps College
-Tulane University
-UCLA
Matches:
-American University
-Baylor University
-Butler University
-Chapman University
-Clark University
-Coe College
-Denison University
-DePaul University
-Fordham University
-Furman University
-George Washington University
-Gordon College
-Hofstra University
-Kettering University
-Lake Forest College
-Lewis & Clark College
-Loyola University Maryland
-Meredith College
-Mount Holyoke College
-Muhlenburg College
-Occidental College
-Pepperdine University
-Polytechnic Institute of NYU
-Providence College
-Purdue University
-Rhodes College
-Rochester Institute of Technology
-Rollins College
-Saint Louis University
-Smith College (Great school)
-Stetson University
-University of Dayton
-Willamette University
Safeties:
-Augsburg College
-Azusa Pacific University
-Bellarmine University
-Beloit College
-Bethel University - Minnesota
-Canisius College
-Creighton University
-Drew University
-Drexel University
-Duquesne University
-Eckerd College
-John Caroll University
-La Salle University
-Loyola University Chicago
-Pace University
-Pacific University
^ some of the schools newjerseygirl listed don’t even have engineering programs…
Sorry, the only safety on your list is USF and all the others are reaches. For Computer Science, I would add UCF to your list. Most of the OOS Public and Private Universities have COA exceeding $55K, with NYU ~$75K!
Does Emory require higher stats for CS?
Neat - did not know that - thank you! Do you have to do so many service hours for an IB diploma? My sons have not had any friends/acquaintances in IB.
Purdue has a very good CS program; I liked that suggestion from above (expensive OOS though).
Hopefully you will get UF.
Definitely consider UA (quickly!) if you haven’t already. My son personally met this professor from their CS department and we were impressed:
http://gray.cs.ua.edu/
To be honest, I don’t think you have much of a chance at any of your reaches… and not even your matches.
I think you need to start from scratch.
In the South:
U Florida
U Miami
Florida State
Clemson
Auburn
U South Florida
U Central Florida
Florida Institute of Technology
U Houston
In the Northeast:
Worcester Polytechnic U
Syracuse
Clark
Stevens Institute of Technology
Clarkson
In the Midwest:
Illinois Institute of Technology
In the West:
University of the Pacific
Auburn doesn’t give very good OOS merit for this student’s stats.
As a CS major, he’d get free tuition plus 2500 per year at Alabama…a much better deal…but he needs to apply before the Dec deadline…so apply now and submit scores and transcript.
This is the last year OOS Eng/CS majors with GPA 3.5+ and ACT equiv of 30 and 31 get full tuition at UA; for Fall 2017 they (OOS) will need to meet ACT equiv of 32 as it is now for other majors (OOS students will get pretty generous partial tuition - generous compared to other state universities). In-state, UA and AU offer full tuition for GPA 3.5+ and ACT equiv of 30, and UA sweetens the deal with the eng/CS departmental scholarship $2500/year. However both AU and UA have deadlines approaching for obtaining the scholarships.
Ok looks like Alabama is a must apply. Any other schools you think I would have a decent shot at? We have to do 200 service hours over the four years, more than the bright futures requirement. What do you think are good reaches? Should I even bother applying to Ucla?
I would say that all of your reaches are probably out of reach, and your “matches” are reaches. I think UNC will probably be a huge reach. My son applied with similar stats two years ago, from out-of-state, and he was rejected. He was also an IB candidate. If you can afford out-of-state tuition at a UC, and haven’t already finished your application, I would suggest replacing Berkeley and UCLA with UCSD (a more realistic semi-reach) and Davis. My son was accepted to both of those, but rejected from Berkeley.
I wouldn’t report any of the AP scores, especially if any of those are our first yr IB crossovers. Do you know your projected IBD score? I would totally use any leverage you have locally with schools that might accept a lower GPA because you are IBD, but those AP scores don’t help. I wouldn’t waste your money on those reachy reaches. Are you a junior?
What’s your budget? UCLA will be 57K, no financial aid (as a freshman you can take on $5,500 in loans, so essentially your parents would have to shoulder the whole thing from their income and savings.)
I recommend you apply to FSU and its Honors College, USF and its Honors College.
WPI, Union, Clarkson, Syracuse, UMass Amherst (excellent for CS) , Santa Clara University are matches.
SJSU, Marist are safeties (even for CS).
UAlabama needs to have your app completed within the next 48h but should be a safety with your GPA/ACT.
Right now, your matches are reaches, most of your reaches are out of reach, and U Miami MAY be a match but not sure for CS. You really need to overhaul your list.
Recommendations will depend on whether 1° you need financial aid or 2° you need merit aid.
You seem like a great candidate for Marist. Your SAT scores and GPA are very outstanding. Wish you the best of LUCK!
I think you will definitely get into UF. I’m in state and honestly don’t know anyone with act 30 or above who hasn’t gotten in. Also, although your gpa seems low, you are on top 2% of your class…that’s all UF wants to see. All combined, you will def get in all the Florida schools on your list including Miami.