Chance A Local Brown Boi for some CS Schools

Schools:

Reach: Harvard (EA), Stanford (RD), MIT (RD), Princeton (RD), Cornell (RD), Carnegie Mellon (RD)

Match: UIUC (In-State, EA), Purdue (Rolling), Georgia Tech (RD)

Safety: UIC (Rolling)

Demographics: Male, Indian, Illinois, decent public school

Intended major: Computer Science

Academics:

SAT: 1550/1600, 800 Math, 750 CR+W

SAT II: Math Level 2: 800, Physics: 750

Class rank: School does not give specific ranks, but I am in the highest bracket (top 5%)

UW/W GPA: 3.85/4.0 (UW), 4.6 (W, all honors and APs are +1)

Coursework: Mostly A’s (B in semester 1 English 9 Honors, semester 2 Pre-Calculus Honors, AP Physics 1 both semesters, and Calculus BC both semesters). Nearly all Honors and APs. Here are all the AP exams I’ve taken (all 4s and 5s):

Freshman Year: AP Human Geography, AP Psychology (self study), AP Environmental Science (self study)

Sophomore: Comparative Gov (self study), Microeconomics (self study), European History, Computer Science A, Macroeconomics (self study)

Junior: English Language, US History, Calculus BC, Statistics, Physics 1, Physics C: Mechanics (Self-Study), French Language (Self Study)

Senior: US Government, Calculus III (through UIUC), World History, English Literature

Awards: National AP Scholar, school award for making a positive impact in the school body (nominated by pre-calculus teacher, award is by nomination only), outstanding state mock trial witness back to back

Extracurriculars:

Worked as a CS Intern at a $500k+ national non-profit academic organization (3 years)

Developed and published two Android apps (one game and one database) - the game with ~2,000 downloads and the database with ~600 (2 years)

Worked in IT at a local law firm (3 years)

Mock Trial (4 Years) Placed Top 5 twice at prestigious international tournament * Consistently placed high in state competitions (Basically one of the two best teams in the state) *Won state twice back-to-back for first time in school history and competed at nationals * Secretary 1 Year, Captain 2 Years

Computer Science Club (3 Years, Executive Board 1 year) Helped develop and design apps for the school district and promote CS contests and activities in order to boost enrollment into CS classes and promote STEM to the school

Model United Nations (3 Years, Secretary 1 year) Basically a blow-off club, although we go to one of the largest MUN conferences every year.

Winter Madrigals (2 Years) - served as Prince of the madrigal during the other year

Spring Musical (1 Year) - Served as principal role in one year of the musical

Math National Honors Society (2 Years) - tutoring and stuff, nothing really special

~100 hours volunteering at a Hindu temple over 2 years

Essays and Letters of Rec: Essays are a solid 8/10, Counselor Rec is 7/10, Rec #1 (AP Physics 1 teacher) is 8/10, Rec #2 (APUSH teacher) is 9/10, Rec #3 (Founder of the non-profit I intern at) is 9/10

Questions: I’m mainly worried that my UW GPA and my ECs (i.e. the fact that they’re good but not mindblowing) will stop me from even having a chance of making my reaches or UIUC. Am I that screwed?

You do have a chance for all these colleges but be wary because all of the colleges grew especially competitive this year. Personally, I know a lot of high stat students rejected from GaTech and Cornell this year. I would even argue GaTech is no longer really a match for anyone OOS since the acceptance rate dropped to 16 or 17%. Maybe add more schools onto your list if you can. This especially rings true for your major, which is super competitive nowadays.

On another note, your GPA should be fine cause you showed curriculum rigor. Good luck, you seem like a smart guy.

UIUC should be considered reach for CS.

CS has also gotten more competitive at Purdue, and GT has gotten more competitive in general.

You are a competitive applicant. Your stats and ECs are great. Apply early decision and write amazing essays

Thanks for the feedback, everyone!

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