<p>What is the best Computer Science School I can realistically get into?</p>
<p>I was hoping for a few years to get in to MIT (Before realizing how difficult it really was), but recent test scores have forced me to accept that it is essentially impossible for me to get into a school like MIT now.</p>
<p>Class Rank: 2nd
Unweighted GPA: ~3.98 (Only 1 B, in AP Psychology)
Weighted GPA: ~5.08 (School where each Honors Class adds .02 per semester and AP adds .04 per semester)</p>
<p>AP Scores</p>
<p>Human Geo: 3 Freshman
Psych: 3 Soph.
Biology: 3 Soph.
US History: 3 Junior
Calc AB: 2 Junior
Chemistry: 1 Junior</p>
<p>Calc and Chem are bad.. I know.. I have some excuses but it's not like excuses help anything.</p>
<p>SAT: 1770
ACT: 28</p>
<p>Note I am going into my Senior year and will be taking both the SAT and ACT again this fall. The first time I took both of these tests I went in blind with no preparation (Besides the PSAT). </p>
<p>I am part of the Cambridge AICE program which began in my school my Freshman year (Each AICE class is weighted as AP and as such explains my GPA). I should be graduating with the AICE Diploma having successfully passed between 6-8 AICE Exams.</p>
<p>I will be joining the national Honors Society this year (I should have last year but felt I wouldn't have been admitted due to having a severe lack of community service, etc.)</p>
<p>I was the recipient of the Yale Book Award due to being ranked 2nd in my class.</p>
<p>I have 10 'Amateur' certifications in Microsoft and Adobe related applications from my Digital Design classes at school, the most ever acquired at my school so far. 7 or so of the applications were completely self-taught. I have done several projects for various clubs at my school using photoshop to create banners, flyers, etc. And I have designed my graduating class's T-Shirt.</p>
<p>I will 'most likely' be beginning a job working for a software company founded/owned by my dad's friend. It's complicated but I'd primarily be coding websites for their eCommerce branch. I've self-taught myself several of the basic programming languages due to my school giving absolutely no programming related courses.</p>
<p>I have essentially no volunteer service.. This may or may not be absolutely terrible.. But it is what it is at this point. It's not like I can acquire several hundred within the next few months. </p>
<p>So.. Back to my main question, what really are some of the best schools I can get into for Computer Science with a background like this? I'll be honest, really the only reason I felt the need to go to MIT was because of the financial aid I'd have gotten if I were to have made it. My family has very little income and there are many less prestigious schools that I could never afford to go to without several large scholarships (Which may or may not be a concern due to my lack of volunteer work). Are other top Computer Science Schools such as CMU still a realistic option? Will raising my SAT/ACT scores open up the possibilities of some of the top CS schools?</p>
<p>Any help is appreciated. Not sure what else I could include here, this being my first post and all.</p>