Pretty much what the title says. Got a 34 composite, 35 superscore. Unfortunately, it’s is offset by a rather unflattering GPA that’s wavered between 3.3 and 3.4 unweighted, largely due to my abysmal freshman year when I was under-motivated and under-performing. But my grades have a STEEP upward trend, with all As last year.
The high school I go to is among the top in my state and I’ve taken almost all honors and AP classes, so that might tilt the odds somewhat in my favor, but I’m still somewhat skeptical as to what caliber of school I can make it into. However, my extracurriculars are incredibly unique, and I’m a pretty solid essay writer (I’ve won hundreds of $$ for my writing).
Additional info: I live in NC, and my family income is over $200,000. I’m also a girl going into computer science, which I’m sure doesn’t hurt me.
Where do y’all think I can get in? I don’t need scholarships, but any of those recommendations would be appreciated too. Thanks guys!
If you want apply and pay oos tuition the UC schools don’t take into account the freshman year grades. They have a wider spectrum of choice than any state imho. From elite to excellent to very very good. It’s expensive but it may be doable.
On the other hand you have so many options and it’s tough to list them all. But if you want the freshman year scores tossed to the side and a school that will have many extremely bright students the UC system is worth a look.
FYI: UC’s will cost around $65K/year (tuition/room/board) and they tend to be very GPA focused so you would need to calculate your 10-11th UC GPA using the calculator below. Since you are OOS, only AP/IB courses taken 10-11th grades will get the extra GPA weighting.
Cal States such as San Diego State, Cal Poly SLO and CSU Long Beach have very good CS programs and costs would be around $40K/year as an OOS applicant.
Of course, you should consider your in-state options first and also do a search on other schools which may not consider your Freshman grades in their GPA calculation.
What is your family willing and able to pay? Plenty of schools open at full pay. Would they pay $75k+a year for a private school, $60k+ for an OOS school? Also , plenty of UNC options, as well as other in state public universities.
My family is willing to pay pretty much anything. I don’t have any financial restrictions, which I’m incredibly thankful for. Also, I didn’t mention this, but I’m a senior and I want to go into CS.
@bluebayou do you think I could get into their computer science program? I know it’s getting harder and harder each year, so I’m thinking about applying exploratory and then transferring.
I think you need to apply to some safe schools, but you should also look for a way to explain your GPA and the progression. An upward trajectory is always a great story, so it’s just a question of whether a school will take the time to look at that or just focus on the aggregate GPA.
If you’ve taken many Honors and AP’s, what’s your weighted GPA?
On the Common App you’ll have the option of reporting your GPA as weighted. That might make some difference in how your academics are perceived.
UCs don’t use freshman grades. OP should recalculate GPA for UCs if that is an option to pursue. UCSD has quite a high OOS accept rate last I checked and I do know kids from here on the east coast who got into UCLA and Berkeley.
I don’t know what UIUC takes into heavy consideration in terms of grades but OP stuck with the 3,35 there, unless they eliminate freshman year grades too.
Stanford also does not include freshman grades. I do not know other schools that do the same. Above poster says Emory will
UIUC’s acceptance rate for CS is way, way less than the overall rate and should be considered a reach for even the strongest students, let alone an OOS applicant.
A North Carolina woman with her sights on a STEM major would have great appeal to the selective New England colleges. Pros: 1) they epitomize the holistic approach to admissions, so a poor start in 9th grade would be weighed against an upward trend, and 2) CS is open to all undergraduates (no separate school) Cons: Politically and socially more liberal than NC (but, probably no more so than the UCs.) Take a look at Wesleyan, Williams and Amherst and other members of the NESCAC athletic league:
I’ve never known the highly selective NESCAC schools to be sympathetic about low grades, but if OP can certainly give them a try. Something to discuss with high school GC.
Really, for reach schools, anyone can go all out. But first order of business is getting that safer school in hand , and some realistic target/reaches. The lottery tickets are just that
First, you need to find two safeties and a few matches.
NCSU would be a match. UCSC, cal poly SLO also?
UNC Charlotte, with it’s school of computing and informatics, would be a good safety. Allegheny would be another safety. U Cincinnati informatics would be a safety (honors college likely) perhaps even the Engineering/CS major. Calnpoly Pomona is another safety with likely Honors college.
Find two safeties you like b cause they share some characteristics with your favorite colleges.
@MYOS1634. Cal Poly SLO has around a 6% acceptance rate for CS with average SLO GPA (9-11th grades) 4.17 and ACT of 33 for the College of Engineering (CS being the most competitive major in the College). Not a Match for CS. SLO takes Freshman grades into account in their GPA calculation (only CSU that does).