Advice is appreciated.

<p>Well, I can't message you either so I'll just reply here. Anyone who wants to chime in with any realistic chances/advice will be greatly appreciated.</p>

<p>I'm an Aviation Technician (E-5) and currently on deployment, I leave the Navy later this year. As for some personal things about me, I'm a first-generation college student, white male, had about a 3.1 weighted high school GPA, (I know, i ****ed around in high school lol.)</p>

<p>18 Credits taken through Central Texas College, 4.0 GPA.</p>

<p>Classes taken -
ENG I, ENG II, World Literature, HIST I, Psychology, College Algebra, and about to CLEP Pre-Calculus. Also, plan on taking SAT's in the near future.</p>

<p>I want to major in Computer Science, and have been looking in to colleges such as UT Austin, Rice, Columbia, Cornell, etc. What colleges do I have a realistic chance of stepping into? Am I aiming too high? Again, any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.</p>

<p>You don’t need CLEP Pre-Calc, and I’m not sure why you’re taking the SAT in college (unless you’re applying without planning to finish two years, first?).</p>

<p>Anyway, I think you have a fair shot at competitive universities, especially considering your experience in the Navy.</p>

<p>Albeit, good luck! You’ll need it, just like everyone else.</p>

<p>-UCSchoolsftw.</p>

<p>CLEP will not be acceptable at most or all of those colleges. Without SAT scores you are missing a big piece of the puzzle. But I’m just not seeing this, excepting UT but maybe only after more coursework. Have you looked over the transfer recommendations:
<a href=“http://www.utexas.edu/student/admissions/acc/2012-2013/natsci-3.pdf[/url]”>http://www.utexas.edu/student/admissions/acc/2012-2013/natsci-3.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>The tippy top ones only take students with exceptional resumes in all areas, and the transfer admit rates are usually extremely small <10%. The Cornell CS program, for instance, is known as extremely difficult and you don’t really have anything that shows preparedness for that. They do say </p>

<p>‘To some extent, the community college student has a greater burden proving that they can handle the challenging academic atmosphere at Cornell than does a student from MIT or Harvard.’</p>

<p>If you were to have a chance at any elite you mention, Rice would be the one because the CC students I have noticed that make the rare transfer into these are usually instate, as the privates seem to make some effort to support instate exceptional achievers.</p>

<p>The good news is there is no lack of good CS colleges, you will do fine at one. This forum is pretty quiet, browse the College Majors section for Computer Science to see a lot of college suggestions. Read the transfer student forum, maybe after that try a post to CS forum or College Search and Selection.</p>

<p>you’re fine…aim very high. You’ll get into Columbia-GS, their only option as a transfer, and with your Yellow Ribbon you’ll be covered. I’d add Dartmouth as they’re very vet friendly, 20+ there at any given time, a lot for a tiny school, and Stanford. Stanford has been making a real push to admit Vet’s as transfers…6 in the past class. FWIW I’m a vet, had ~45 credits at the time of applying as a transfer w/a 4.0, and got into multiple ivies and other assorted top 25 schools. </p>

<p>Takeaway is nothing is off the table…have a wide range, but don’t be afraid of reaching for the very top. Make sure you get great LOR’s and write excellent essays. I spent 2 months refining mine…good luck!</p>

<p>“But I’m just not seeing this, excepting UT but maybe only after more coursework.”</p>

<p>I was accepted to Michigan after taking only 12 credits & my SAT scores were almost 10 years old. With excellent essays and LOR’s I think he has a very reasonable chance at getting into some of those schools considering his veteran status.</p>

<p>As yolo said, aim for the top. Just be sure to have a safety or two just in case. Good luck!</p>

<p>Great insight, thanks guys.</p>

<p>UC/Brown – I was going to CLEP Pre-Cal in order to skip the Trig/Pre-Cal Prerequisite if I were to continue where I left off at at a CC and jump straight into Calculus I.</p>

<p>Yolo – I’ve looked into Columbia GS quite a bit, and my main concern is the difficulty of an internal transfer from GS to SEAS. Obviously, anyone who knows of the process/difficulty please chime in.</p>

<p>[Majors</a> and Concentrations | General Studies](<a href=“http://gs.columbia.edu/list-majors-and-concentrations]Majors”>Majors and Concentrations < School of General Studies | Columbia University)</p>

<p>there’s 3 CS majors/concentrations offered via GS</p>

<p>you can’t transfer to SEAS, you can pick from: CS, CS-Mathematics, CS-Statistics majors @ GS</p>