<p>I am looking into schools in california to be a computer science major. I am from the east coast and already have reach schools picked out. I am looking for some suggestions for schools that could be TARGETS or SAFETIES for me in California. Here's my info:</p>
<p>3.6 GPA Weighted, 3.5 UW
1900 SAT (will retake, what will make me competitive?)
My School does not rank.</p>
<p>Other:
100+ Red Cross Volunteer Hours
Worked at Whole Foods for 1/2 year
President of Support our Soldiers Club
Member of Varsity Swim Team
HISPANIC DESCENT
NO FINANCIAL AID NEEDED
3 letters of recommendation (math teacher, club advisor, guidance counselor)</p>
<p>AP Courses Taken:
Biology
Computer Science AB
Economics</p>
<p>I’m sort of assuming you’re in-state here: </p>
<p>I think your GPA is a bit on the low-side for the mid-tier UC’s, but high-match maybe UCI/UCSB, which are both great schools for CS. UCSC is also a good school for it that you would likely get accepted into.</p>
<p>Cal Poly SLO is a fantastic school for all engineering, though that’s probably a low reach. Also consider Cal Poly Pomona, which you should be able to get into and has a strong engineering program.</p>
<p>Great suggestions arcadefire, but op is from East Coast so that changes things up.
Propane–did you plan to apply to any UC’s and if so, have you calculated your UC GPA? Also what are you SAT’s?</p>
<p>San Jose State would be a good safety. Santa Clara would be a good match. Both have decent CS departments. To be competitive for UC San Diego you would need around 2200 on your SAT with your weighted GPA. There used to be a points calculator for UC San Diego that would calculate it exactly based on the previous years admissions. The year my son applied I remember the cutoff being around 2100 SAT and 4.1W GPA. Probably step down 100 points for Santa Cruz and Irvine. Not sure if being Hispanic will help for the UC’s. It should help you at Santa Clara, though.</p>
<p>BrownParent: Ah, I missed the East Coast part.</p>
<p>Seems like all the strong CS schools in California that are in your range tend to be public, which doesn’t work out too great for you. I’m struggling to think of good private schools that match your profile (USC/Stanford/Cal-Tech/Harvey Mudd/etc. would be pretty big reaches).</p>
<p>If you don’t mind going to a state school, consider my previous post.</p>
<p>Thank you for your suggestions! I don’t really need reach schools in Cali, since I already have a solid list of schools from elsewhere in the country.</p>
<p>Most of the UCs are going to be difficult to get into because you’re out-of-state. I disagree that USC is a big reach–I think you’d have a decent shot, esp. if you raised your SAT score. (Being Hispanic will probably help at USC as well.) The upward trend is good, too. That’s probably the best CS program you’d have a decent shot of getting into in California. The rest are probably not worth the price (for CS), and of course the public schools, which have great CS programs, will be hard for you.</p>
<p>Why do you want California anyway? Check out this ranking</p>
<p>Yes it’s for PhD programs, but it’s a good list of well-regarded and “noticed” CS programs. There are a lot of great options outside of California that you’d have a good shot of getting into.</p>