Chance Asian Kid in CS 2022

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Demographics
US domestic

  • State/Location of residency: WA
  • Type of high school: Public
  • Gender/Race/Ethnicity: Asian

Intended Major(s) Computer Science

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: school doesn’t do unweighted
  • Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): 3.94/4
  • Class Rank: School doesn’t rank but estimated to be too 5% in class of 400
  • ACT/SAT Scores: Test Optional (Waiting on Test Results)

Coursework
(AP/IB/Dual Enrollment classes, AP/IB scores for high school; also include level of math and foreign language reached and any unusual academic electives; for transfers, describe your college courses and preparation for your intended major(s))
School doesn’t do honor classes
10 AP Classes (Sophmore, Junior, and Senior years):

  • AP Human Geography
  • AP Calc AB
  • AP CS
  • AP Calc BC
  • AP Phyics C
  • AP LA
  • AP US History
  • AP Environmental Science
  • AP Comparative Government
  • AP World History

4 Duel Enrollment Classes:

  • Multivariable Calculus (Calc III)
  • Chemistry 142 (Lab)
  • CSC143 (highest possible CS Course at CC)
  • Linear Algebra

Awards (Not in Order)

  • Top 3 in state for a coding event for Technology Student Association (qualified to nationals)
  • Top 7 in state for 20 page business plan for DECA (qualified to Nationals)
  • Top 5 nationally (Unaffiliated division) in Code Quest (Programming Contest)
  • Best Concept/Design Award in the entire State for First Robotics
  • USACO Silver

Extracurriculars (Not in Order)
(Include leadership, summer activities, competitions, volunteering, and work experience)

  • First Robotics (Program Manager, drive coach, and head of Vision and Autonomous sub-teams for programming)
  • Techology Student Association (Secretary, Vice-President)
  • DECA
  • Chess Club (Co-Founder and Co-President for all 4 years): Qualified to states as a chess team
  • Teacher Assistant at a t-10 college for a Algebra 2 course.
  • Created a dynamic website and integrated a bunch of AI research (Can’t really explain this as it might give away my identity)
  • Participated in a table tennis League and a pickle ball league
  • International Business & Development Internship
  • 75+ hours of volunteering at Library
  • Mentoring Freshman at my School

Essays/LORs/Other
(Optionally, guess how strong these are and include any other relevant information or circumstances.)
Commonapp essay ~8/10
LOR 1 (College Professor for CS) ~9/10
LOR 2 ~ 8/10

Cost Constraints / Budget
(High school students: please get a budget from your parents and use the Net Price Calculators on the web sites of colleges of interest.)
None

Schools
(List of colleges by your initial chance estimate; designate if applying ED/EA/RD; if a scholarship is necessary for affordability, indicate that you are aiming for a scholarship and use the scholarship chance to estimate it into the appropriate group below)

Safety (certain admission and affordability)

  • ASU RD
  • Washington State RD

Likely (would be possible, but very unlikely or surprising, for it not to admit or be affordable)
Match

  • UCSD RD
  • UCLA RD
  • northeastern RD

Reach

  • UPenn ED/RD (haven’t decided yet)
  • Rice ED/RD (haven’t decided yet)
  • University of Southern California EA
  • Tufts RD
  • Vanderbilt ED2/RD (haven’t decided yet)
  • Yale RD
  • University of Washington CS RD
  • Stanford RD
2

You have to calculate your UC GPAs. I’m sure Gumby Mom will comment. NEU is a reach.

Why TO ? Given your credentials and you’re not required to submit and obviously the UCs won’t look but curious did you take a test ?

Your odds sans test, would be better at Tufts than Vandy ED in my opinion since you seem to be full pay. But you should choose the one you want to be at since it is binding.

Given you have ASU and WSU on your list, while you have no cost constraints, check with your family on $$. Both those are reasonably priced and while a reach, - UW in state is $31k and as strong as any school on your list.

Are they ok spending $340k if they can send you for, let’s assume inflation, $140k ?

Not sure I’d ED is what I’m getting at. If you got into UW but ED’d somewhere else make sure they’d be ok with the expense.

If you are ok with ASU or Wash State as your final, then your list is fine.

If not, I would add some in between a - for example a U Denver or American type school for private a Pitt, Penn State, CU or Minnesota type school as a public . And if they really want to save money a U of Arizona instead of ASU.

But if your safeties are ok for you -ie you won’t be bummed if that l’s where you end up then you are good as is.

Edit: y a college professor LOR ? Was it a dual enrollment ? You should get from hs teachers….one an English or social science, the other from a math/science.

3

With your existing school list, I would recommend a review of both Computing | UCSB College of Creative Studies and Turing Scholars | Department of Computer Science

In addition to the benefits listed on their sites, both programs would have your application reviewed by faculty who can better evaluate your CS achievements so far.

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UC GPA calculator and post all 3 UC GPA’s: GPA Calculator for the University of California – RogerHub

I would put UCLA CS as a Reach school with approximately a 5.4% CS admit rate for 2021.

UCSD admits into the University first and then into the major. Admit rates for CS are not posted but highly competitive. I would say UCSD is a Low Reach.

You are a very accomplished applicant and best of luck.

5

Unweighted HS GPA is a simple math problem. Using A = 4, B = 3, C = 2, D = 1, F = 0, add up the grade points in your academic courses by semester, then divide by the number of grades.

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6

It looks like you have a good chance of getting in at many places. Just keep in mind that CS admits are hard everywhere. For a number of schools SAT and AP scores will still be important.

Since money is not a constraint. I wonder whether you have considered other schools, like CMU and UIUC, that are stronger in CS than some others on your list?

7

Let’s reset. @Gumbymom caught something I missed. Maybe others did (or didn’t) as well. .l

If your ‘weighted’ gpa is a 3.94, we need to know unweighted as she pointed out.

I suspect you meant to say that’s your unweighted. And your school doesn’t publish weighted.

But if your unweighted is far less than a 3.9, that would change the entire discussion.

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Please confirm if 3.94 is weighted or unweighted.
Alternatively, if you are not sure:
How many Bs have you had? How many As? Any C/Ds?
Also, what are the AP scores of the tests you have taken? Even if you may not plan on submitting the AP scores, it can be helpful for us to know so we can guide to good matches, etc.

9

If you are an asian and applying to Computer science major, you need excellent credentials.
Computer science is hard but for asians its very hard (I am asian and know of many kids who applied in 2022). Most asians apply to Computer Science as a major so the competition is between asian kids - its brutal! Sorry if it seems I am being tough/harsh but I want you to understand the reality.

Your college list is not well balanced. It has too many Reach colleges and hardly any match or safety (your understanding of reach/match/safety) is incorrect. You match colleges should go to Reach section and safety colleges to match section. Your reache colleges are in reality, “Far reaches”

Ideally - the ratio of colleges should be - "reach: match: safety should be 3-4: 3-4: 3-4 " with total colleges being 10-12 in number.

Reach (4) suggestions
First of all, applying to so many reach colleges in the RD round is not beneficial. My recommendation is to pick couple from reach and apply ED1, ED2 (USC, Vanderbilt) Apply EA to couple of University of california colleges (UCLA, UCSD)

Match (4) suggestions
UCSD, UCLA and Northeastern are certainly not match for computer science. This year, the NEU admissions have been brutal.

You need to add a couple of colleges from - Arizona state, UPitt, Purdue and another couple from liberal arts colleges like harvey Mudd, Claremont Mckenna, Pomona, Apply Early action to most colleges. Apply RD only if EA is not offered.

Some others in this forum mentioned UIUC and CMU. Both are excellent colleges for CS. However, UIUC probably gives preference to students from Illinois state. And, CMU is a reach (you already have too many reaches)

Safety - (3) suggestions
Choose some less selective colleges as well - colorado college, scripps, Pitzer.

BTW - is your GPA weighted or unweighted ? my recommendation (above) is based on your GPA being unweighted 3.94 since you also mentioned you are in top 5% of your class of 400

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  1. Yeah I took the SAT in August. I think I will get around a 1520ish score.
  2. I am looking into more colleges that match me and that’s the main reason why I wanted to post here (to get more suggestions). I also kind of want to know whether I have a chance to get into one of my reach colleges or is it a waste of time.
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Also based on my own research, I am under the understanding that college Professor LORS (Duel Enrollment) are accepted. I am kind of confused about the edit you wrote.

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Yeah, my GPA is unweighted. My Weighted GPA is probably a lot higher. I pretty much got straight A’s.

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My unweighted GPA is 3.94. My school doesn’t do weighted GPA. My weighted GPA probably is much higher because I pretty much have straight A’s.

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Thanks for the recommendations.

15

Sorry about that. Money is definately a constraint. I just realized that I didn’t mention that in the financial sections. My parents income is fairly low, so I am aiming for private colleges and in state colleges that provide me with a chance to get a full financial based scholorship. I am also alright with taking loans since CS is such a high paying field and I love programming. That’s the main reason I am skeptical of applying to some colleges and also because I want to apply to colleges where I might have a legit chance of getting in. I probably will end up removing the UC’s from my list due to financial issues also.

Again, Sorry for misleading everyone.

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16

Use the net price calculator on each college’s web site to get an idea of what financial aid it may offer.

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17

  1. If your SAT is a 1520, you won’t be applying TO anywhere. The UCs , of course, won’t take the test. So it’s odd you said TO.

  2. You should find a college that would “fit” you - for you, not for your scores. Truth is, if you have a 1520, there’s not a college in the country that you would be a clear cut rejection. But that doesn’t mean you’d be accepted. Colleges have tons of super smart/qualified kids apply and can only take so many.

  3. I was asking about the college letter because you said that you are a tutor for Algebra 2 at a top 10 college - and I thought it might be from them. I wouldn’t use a DE teacher but I don’t know that it’s off base. Common App simply says teachers at your school - and they are. You might look up a few schools to see - so it’s likely ok - but that’s why I was asking - because of your tutor role.

  4. Money - so you need to run, with your folks to make sure they input right, the net price calculator and only at schools that meet 100% of need. Try Penn, Rice, Vanderbilt, etc. See if the # they give you is something you can afford.

  5. You need to remove schools you can’t afford - the UCs and ASU. U of Arizona would be about $11K + room and board - so $25K or so. Is that in range - or not?

Other huge merit schools - Alabama, UAH, Mississippi State, etc - these schools would be sub $20K-ish but of course you have to get there. btw - you don’t want to take loans - but if you decide to, the most you can borrow is $27K over 4 years - so the feds won’t let you go crazy. And while the job market today is robust - it doesn’t mean it will be tomorrow - already we are seeing layoff after layoff in tech - so don’t assume it’s going to be high paying - we just don’t know. LIkely but we don’t know.

Some schools - U Seattle, Washington & Lee, SMU and more have full rides - so you might look at some of those.

A school like Troy in Alabama and it’s not diverse - but you’d have four years tuition + room paid for, etc.

Assuming the schools won’t give you enough (after you do the NPC) UW or WSU will be your best bets.

Here’s every school that meets need. One more thing - if your family’s income is $65K or less, look at Questbridge.

Good luck.

Here’s Every College That Offers 100% Financial Aid (prepscholar.com)

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  1. I don’t understand what you mean by “To”. I took the SAT test in August and I predict that I did fairly well. I am just estimating my score to 1520, but I totally could get a lower score or maybe a higher score. I might even take the next SAT in October too. But the reason why I said “not submitting test scores” is to see what colleges I can look at realistically it if my SAT score was not good (which I am pretty sure is not the case).
  2. I know getting a 1520 is a very competative score, but as I said above, that is just a prediction. What if I didn’t do as well as I thought? I am trying to examine the worst case scenario (not submitting SAT scores) and understand what colleges I would still have a legit chance of getting in.
19

Needed caps.TO. Test optional. See how it comes.

My comments originally were based on no test score.

The big thing is budget.

Depending on family income and budget, you may need only to apply to UW, WSU and meets needs schools hence your parents need to run a net price calculator.

See this for lower income families at WSU

But we really need a budget # - what does your family want to spend. And we need you/them to look at the net price calculator on a few of the privates you chose to see how much your total cost will be at their school. Pick two like Penn and Vandy.

20

It looks like I will get a 100% financial aid (no loans) in Vandy and Rice. I am kind of unsure for UPenn, but I think I might get atleast most of tuition covered. Also, I will not have to pay for tuition in WSU. I am trying to apply to a bunch of reaches that are private because obviously they have a strong CS curriculm and it would be affordable (I didn’t check for all the colleges I wrote above tho). I think my parents are willing to pay 60k (15k per year) for college and I am willing to take a loan up to 15-20ishk per year based on the college.

On a side note, the reason why I didn’t want to apply to questbridge is because it’s way too competative. And if I were to get in, I honestly think I should be able to get into a top colleges like UPenn, Rice, Vandy, etc with very little to pay. I would rather concentrate my energy on colleges essays and other stuff.