Admission Chances and where to ED

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi, I’m an incoming high school senior from nj. I’m applying as a Computer Science major. My current unweighted gpa is 3.4. My SAT scores were:
Math: 770
Reading: 780
Writing: 730

SAT ii scores:
Math ii: 790
Bio E: 720

My top choice schools are (no specific order):

Rice
Johns Hopkins
University of Illinois urbana champaign
Georgia Tech

I’m wondering if I can get into any of these with my gpa and scores as a comp sci major. I’m also wondering whether I should ED to rice or Johns Hopkins (other two don’t do ED).

Thanks

2

Also forgot to mention: I’ve taken 2 APs so far (didnt have pre-requisites for more), and am taking 2-4 senior year.
The ones I took were AP Computer Science and AP Bio, I got a 4 on both tests. I’ve also taken an online course on game programming by Rice, and I’ve taken two courses at Johns Hopkins Summer University; Writing Fantastical Fiction and Data Structures. The Data Structures class was mostly college juniors from what I saw. I got an A- in writing and a B in the data class. Also some participation in Robotics club at school. How much of this information is useful in the application? Also is AP Calc mandatory/highly recommended for these schools as a comp sci major?

3

Besides your numbers on paper - what will make you stand out from all the similar applicants to you?

4

CS at UIUC is very competitive. your SAT score is okay for that although not really standing out, but your GPA would hurt your chance there.

5

Rice- Reach
Johns Hopkins- Reach
Georgia Tech- Reach
UIUC- Reach for CS in CoE, High Match for CS in CAS

6

I thought that UIUC only had one CS program. What are the differences between the two?

7

Is the admissions for CS different from other engineering? Because I know a senior from my school who got in to UIUC with around a 2150 and about 3.5 gpa, he didnt apply to CS though. (Sorry I can’t remember the exacts)

8

@drdevice There is a CS major in the College of Engineering. There are also different CS majors in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. http://www.las.illinois.edu/students/programs/majors/

9

@drdevice Admission stat for each major at UIUC is different. CS is among the most competitive majors, if it is not the most competitive one, at UIUC.
@QuiteAverage90 There are actually more than one CS major in LAS at UIUC. The admission to those are only slightly easier but on par with other engineering major.

10

Also looking at USC and NYU (not poly), will those be matches?

11

EC’s related to CS:

Summer course on data structures in a class of College Juniors at Johns Hopkins, got a B in the class.

Series of online courses on programming games in python, taught by Rice professors (have certificates to validate)

Some participation in Robotics club in school (no leadership :/)

Non-CS EC’s:

Volunteering with American Youth Literacy Foundation

Also took a fantasy writing course at JHU, got an A-

I’m not sure about this one, but might as well add it; writing a draft for a novel I started in the JHU course. I’ve written a few chapters so I could possibly send them some of it.

12

Your GPA is a bit low for USC. Your EC’s are also lacking leadership experience.