My stats are:
UW GPA: 3.9-4 according to Berkeley
W GPA: Probably around 4.1 or 4.2 at time of application, but that is just because most of my IB HL classes are in grade 12, and Berkeley said that it’s fine. I am in the IB Diploma Program.
SAT Score: 1450(770 Math and 680 Reading and Writing) with (5/5/5) Essay. Plan on reaching at least 1500 when I study for the exam and retake it in October.
SAT Subjects Test: Yet to take; will take in September and October of grade 12
My ECs:
Note: Dad was really worried about my grades dropping when I joined a new school in grade 10 and the school I attended in grade 9 virtually had no clubs/ECs.
Top 6% on Waterloo Fermat Math Contest.
Opportunities Knock Your Door Country Ambassador - A start up organization that is working on promoting the UN Sustainable Development Goals. I am working with 2 other ambassadors across the country and the start up has over 2500 likes on Facebook.
3rd Place for Provincials at DECA Business Club
Model UN since grade 11
Basketball and Track since grade 7 (On track team but not basketball)
Swimming since grade 9 (Not on team)
Lifeguard Certified since grade 11 (planning on finding a job from summer of grade 11 and onwards)
Science Olympics since grade 11
Volunteering as YMCA basketball coach and ref since grade 11
Vice President of Physics Club since grade 11
Vice President of Comp Sci Club since grade 11
Robotics Club since grade 11 (Joined around end of school year, so not really anything to do)
I am also planning on creating gaming apps in the summer
Schools I am Thinking About Applying to:
Berkeley
UCLA
UCSD
Duke
USC
Texas Austin
Georgia Tech
Illinois- Urbana-Champaign
Michigan
U of Washington
Cornell
U of British Columbia (UBC)
U of Toronto
U of Alberta
U of Calgary
Waterloo
UCs are going to be expensive, especially for an international student. Both Berkeley and UCLA are going to be reaches, especially with a (relatively) low SAT score. The UC weighted GPA takes 10-11 grades into account only. The 12th grade IB will not give you the weighted GPA boost for UC.
Get the SAT over 1500 to make most of your schools low reaches/matches, although to be honest most of your US schools are reaches for CompSci/Computer Engineering. Add RPI/RIT for low matches.
Good engineering schools recommend Math 2 and either or both Chemistry and Physics SAT subjects tests. Try to get 750+ (preferably close to 800 on Math 2).
I don’t that many CompSci related ECs. Try to create some apps (not just games) or participate in a hackathon.
So as it stands right now, your chances are pretty minimal at most of these schools from Cornell up (I don’t know about UBC to the end of the list). I don’t want to discourage you from applying to these schools, but anyone’s chances at these schools are really small. I am sure you are aware of this.
Your EC’s, grades, and GPA seem a bit low for schools such as Duke, Cornell, GT, Texas Austin, etc. I would suggest you do a couple of things at this point. You could
- Retake your SAT in August. Aim for a 1500+
- Take subject tests in October, as you cannot take subject tests the same day as you take the SAT. Aim for a 720+ on Math II and another Science. There also is no September SAT this year (replaced with August).
- Apply ED to your favorite schools
- Try the ACT if you would like
I saw that you were thinking about making a game or an app. Go for it. Those boost your application from someone who is just resourceful to someone who is both skilled and resourceful. If you need more information on getting started with that, PM me. I currently have 3 games being released by the end of the summer, so I can give you some tips on getting started.
Best of luck!!
Chance back? talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-pennsylvania/1994591-chances-at-penn-dream-school-advice.html#latest
@Hamurtle @collegeboundprogrammer Thanks for your replies and honesty. I understand that my weighted GPA and grades may appear low, but almost all IB HL classes are in grade 12, and my school does not offer AP. I emailed Berkeley and said that they are aware of this, so it should not affect me too badly since I am basically taking the hardest courses my school offers. I also plan on self-studying for AP Calc BC, AP Comp Sci A, AP Physics 1, and AP Physics 2. I would also take AP Physics C but none of the schools near my area appear to offer it.
What would you recommend to improve my ECs?
Note: I will chance you back collegeboundprogrammer once my final exams are over.
It depends. I am going to assume that you are a rising senior and that time is a major restriction.
Do you have a GitHub account, and how active are you?
What programming languages do you know, and which do you know best?
@collegeboundprogrammer I have GitHub but I do not really use it as I am still a fairly novice level programmer. I mainly know Python, and some Javascript, but not much else. I have learned everything on my own, as I have no space in my timetable at school to take computer science classes. If you could give me some advice on what to use when self-studying for programming and computer science as a whole I’d really appreciate it. For instance, what should I do in order to practice solving computer science questions?
For Self Studying programming I’d recommend taking some of the classes offered on edx.com. Many are very informative and help you a lot, i would recommend starting out with CS50 offered by Harvard which is an intro to cs class, it dives a little into C, HTML, and JS. As for your chances, if you are able to raise your SAT to at least a 1550 your chances will be solid at most schools in the US (i don’t really know much about canadian universities, sorry).
Hope that helped and chance me back when you can
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/2000959-chances-for-harvard-ucb-ucla.html#latest
@IsaacF21 Take Introduction to CS on EDX from MIT, or CS50 from Harvard. These online classes ensure you are up to date on algorithms. Try Codewars, which is like a coding dojo where you complete more difficult challenges to master languages. Make sure when you learn a language, you have an end goal (you want to build a website -> learn HTML and CSS)