Am I good enough for very good (between good and Ivy League) computer science colleges?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi y’all!

I moved to America (Texas specifically) for high-school studies 3 years ago. I finished my Junior year this year. When I was new here the environment was very different and caused me to mess my grades up a bit. Currently, I have a
3.4< x >3.5 weighted GPA,
but I’m in the second quarter of my class rank.
I scored 1410 on my first attempt at the SAT (planning to give it again).

I want to major in software engineering/computer science in college.
My aim is to get into UT Austin or an equally good/better computer science school.
I know several languages such as java, swift, c, and a little c#, and have made few applications too (which I’ve uploaded on to Google Play Store and App Store).

The reason I’m worried is that I’ve heard computer science to be the hardest major to get into, so I just wanna know if I would be a good candidate although I have a bad class rank and slightly low GPA comparatively.

Some examples of colleges I want to get into would be UT Austin, CalPoly, Rice, and Georgia Tech.

Thanks!

2

UT Austin may be a bit hard to get into because they look at GPA and rank so heavily, but your SAT score may make up for that. Same with Rice and GA Tech though I’ve heard they value ECs pretty highly as well, and the fact that you’ve published some apps will hopefully help. I think you have a decent chance at CalPoly though. Good luck! I would appreciate it if you could chance me back here: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1995754-chance-me-low-gpa-rank-cornell-rice-wash-u-ucla-etc-p1.html Thanks!

3

Oh, sorry, forgot to mention, I’ve done a fair amount of voluntary work, about 80ish hours in the past 3 years. And I took a course during summer in which we made our own autonomous robot from scratch. I’m also the president of 2 clubs (table-tennis and badminton), and member of computer science club. Hopefully I’ve mentioned everything now.

4

Your ECs look quite good, and it’s clear that you love CS. A 1410 is not bad- But what is your unweighted GPA?

5

To be honest (this is embarrassing), I still don’t understand the GPA system in America and am very confused how it works, especially since the GPA at our school is out of 6.something. What I did was ask my counselor my weighted GPA out of 4 specifically and she said “This is the GPA we will send to colleges, 3.47”. I don’t like my counselor that much and she didn’t seem to want to talk about it, so I left. Forgive me :(. I truly don’t like how complicated such a simple thing can be. From where I came from, our GPA was standard everywhere, a 10.0 (there was no weighted or unweighted). Sorry for the lack of info.

6

Yes, you will be able to get into a good school as you’re smart, you’ve worked hard and exhibited passion in CS, but don’t focus on near Ivy’s as they are almost impossible to get into with only a 3.5 W GPA.

7

Oh, I’m not even thinking about Ivy lol, just colleges similar to the examples I gave. Thanks.

8

The examples you gave are all going to super reaches because of your GPA, in the case of UT, and both GPA and ACT combined in the case of the others. I think looking at schools where your ACT is above the top 25% AND the acceptance rate is above 30-40% will be an achievable reach.

9

Thanks for your feedback. However, I believe UT Austin and CalPoly both have admission rates between 30-40%. And I have a higher than average SAT score for both.

10

I think the guidance counselor at your school will be able to tell you if you have a good chance for admission to UT-Austin. Every counselor knows the answer for those in the top 6-7%, but after that it is more about the rigor of the school, the scores and grades.

I think your chances at GaTech are very low. It is a state school and they don’t admit many OOS students at all. Cal Poly? Maybe, but it is also a state school and will give no state grant money, SEOG, or federal work study money to OOS students. Do you need financial aid?

11

Are you a US citizen or PR?

12

I’m not a US Citizen, but I am a Texas resident.

13

I don’t NEED financial aid, although I would apply for it. I thought GaTech was a reach too, thanks.

14

When I first moved here, I found the grading system really weird as well. In my country, everything was on a ten point scale, with 10 being the highest score you can possibly get (although it was impossible to score 10s on essays, as the teachers grade those subjectively)

15

So no green card? Texas doesn’t care if you are on a visa? Other states and schools may look at you as international for admissions and FA.

16

Honestly, the GPA and rank are probably going to drag you down, and you definitely need to retake the SAT. Are you sure the 3.5 GPA is weighted? It would be more realistic being unweighted as a 3.5 GPA weighted is actually quite low. Additionally, do you have any school technology clubs that you are a part of? I applaud you on your creation of various applications uploaded on Google Play and App stores, but you seem to lack leadership positions? Maybe you could start a tech club senior year and add that to your college app.

I think Rice would be a reach since it’s actually quite competitive but you have a decent shot at the other schools if you can improve your GPA and rank and add some leadership positions with some in-school EC’s.

Chance me back? http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/2000649-chance-me-low-rank-common-ecs-cornell-harvard-wharton-etc.html#latest

17

Thanks for the input, I am part of the programming club and am the president of two clubs as I’ve mentioned above in one of my comments. As of your resume, I’m really impressed and believe you’re at a point where only luck matters as you have all the skills. :smiley: Good luck!

18

oh crap, I believe I switched unweighted and weighted. According to my understanding, the 3.5 GPA is what I got after removing all the electives, so only core classes, I have a GPA of 3.5. Sorry about that!