Chance a Bay Area Asian CS Male for T10 CS

  • I am fine with UCI.
  • My list has omitted many of the top CS Schools (UMich, Princeton, etc.) because of that factor. I have considerd fit in my list.
  • What are some schools that value my “hooks?”

Schools in Montana, Utah, Wyoming, North and South Dakota. Not very many Asian students applying there. You would bring both geographic and ethnic diversity to the colleges there. Plus, you are full pay.

You’re being foolish. You can go to many a quality school and get a great education and high paying job.

I’m not saying you won’t get into a school on your list ?

I’m saying you’re gambling.

If you are ok with a cc and not getting a 4 year experience it’s your choice. Bit I think your list is reckless. Furthermore I’m sure you chose it based on rank and not what you actually desire in a school.

6 Likes

Food for thought. What kind of internship opportunities do you think your community college will have for you (and yes, I am very familiar with D’Anza and its location)? Other CS students will have internships after freshman and sophomore years, while you will hope that your CC can provide you with those opportunities.

2 Likes

You sound like my daughter.

1 Like

Starting off with the Asian one…these are some schools that need more Asians

• American (D.C.)
• Bates (ME)
• Bowdoin (ME)
• Bucknell (PA )
• Carleton (MN)
• Clark (NY)
• Clemson (SC)
• Colby (ME)
• Colgate (NY)
• Colorado College
• Davidson (NC)
• Florida State
• Grinnell (IA)
• Hamilton (NY)
• Indiana University
• Kenyon (OH)
• Lafayette (PA )
• Marquette (WI)
• Miami University (OH)
• Middlebury (VT)
• North Carolina State
• New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology
• Oberlin (OH)
• Ohio State
• Purdue (IN)
• Reed (OR)
• Skidmore (NY)
• Texas Christian
• Tulane (LA)
• U. of Alabama
• U. of Denver (CO)
• U. of Iowa
• U. of Miami (FL)
• U. of Notre Dame (IN)
• U. of Richmond (VA)
• U. of San Diego (CA)
• U. of Tulsa (OK)
• Wake Forest (NC)
• Washington & Lee (VA)
• Wesleyan (CT)
• Worcester Polytechnic (MA)

2 Likes

Hooks (if considered) are probably irrelevant for the OP at many of these schools that would be easy admits with the OP’s stats (e.g. South Dakota public universities list automatic admission stats that the OP easily surpasses).

These states have few Californians moving over. Try colleges in them:

  • Delaware
  • North Dakota
  • West Virginia
  • Vermont
  • New Hampshire
  • Alabama
  • Kentucky

But I’m betting you can add others like:

  • Mississippi
  • Iowa
  • Nebraska
  • Kansas
  • Oklahoma
  • Wisconsin

Is your sole ambition to go to a “T10” school? Based on this, I think it is.

With maximum respect to you, you REALLY need to re-think your strategy. No safeties? In this environment?

I could abide by this if you had a few safeties and then used the CC/TAG route as your ULTIMATE safety. However, to basically say “T10” or only CC is highly likely to be devastating for you.

Your choice. Best of luck.

4 Likes

Your advice is spot on. Unless there is a compelling narrative that is being spun, a T10 school is as much a reach for this profile as it is for many other kids whose numbers were presented on this forum.

3 Likes

For your hook of being male, this report might prove interesting reading: Seeking gender balance, selective colleges are giving men an advantage in admission

And a selection from the article:

A noncomprehensive review of federal data shows that many other selective colleges have higher admission rates for men.

These include Boston, Bowdoin and Swarthmore colleges; Brown, Denison, Pepperdine, Pomona, Vanderbilt and Wesleyan universities; and the University of Miami. At each school, men were at least 2 percentage points more likely than women to be accepted in both 2019 and 2020.

Pitzer College admitted 20 percent of men last year compared to 15 percent of women, and Vassar College accepted 28 percent of men compared to 23 percent of women.

Some additional colleges where being male will be an advantage?
• Baylor
• Belmont
• Berry
• Boston U.
• College of Charleston
• College of the Atlantic
• Elon
• Furman
• Hood
• James Madison
• Kean
• Loyola Chicago
• Loyola New Orleans
• Marymount
• Mercer
• New York U.
• Randolph
• Rhodes
• Samford
• Sarah Lawrence
• Thomas Jefferson
• Tulane
And many, many more

2 Likes

Going with the full-pay one…a lot.

This post is a little dated, but I imagine that full pay is an advantage at most of these: 31 Potential Colleges for Students with a Full-Pay Hook

And schools that have higher admissions rates or lower yields, but a big price tag…they’d definitely be interested.

1 Like

But perhaps less likely for male applicants for heavily male majors like CS.

(Also, I would not recommend Sarah Lawrence or Marymount for CS.)

1 Like

I will readily admit that I am not a CS expert and will defer to others on the subject. But OP has choices where he doesn’t even need any “hooks.” But If a school is only 35% male, I don’t think it’s going to care overly much if they enroll another male in a male-dominant field. If a highly qualified male comes along, they want that y-chromosome.

2 Likes

Why is a safety like Penn State or ASU better than CC->UC? CC has the added benefit of giving me TAG to UCI as well.

University of California Counselors indicates that TAG is only usable for CS at UCM and UCR.

Penn State is a safety? Not sure about ASU.

Is it fair to say that you want T10 or nothing except CC+TAG? Posters have already mentioned the problems with the CC transfer option for an exceedingly hot major like CS.

I think you also need to consider what other posters have said about how UC computes GPA. Lots of kids had “extenuating circumstances” during covid. The “hard” truth is that, AFAIK, the UCs are very dogmatic about GPAs.

CC is replete with stories about students taking this “take it or leave it” strategy. The point is that it’s not your option about admissions. It’s the colleges’.

Perhaps consider safeties where you get merit scholarship and save up money for grad school. NO ONE CARES where you went to college. They only care what you do with your opportunities in colleges.

I was a complete believer in the T20 or nothing view until a few years ago. I know now how absurd that really is.

UCI has TAG for Computer Engineering, not Computer Science

Thanks, I’ll consider applying to a few safeties

3 Likes

ASU appears to be a safety if affordable, since the OP appears to meet the automatic admission criteria for the campus and CS major.

https://webapp4.asu.edu/programs/t5/majorinfo/ASU00/ESCSEBS/undergrad/false

3 Likes