I am a junior. Projected GPA pending this year’s final grade is 3.76/5.28 (Unweighted/Weighted), ACT 34 (Math 36), SAT Math IIC 780, SAT II Chem 750. My major concern is my GPA which I am afraid is a kind of low because of 3 Bs in 9th grade and 1 B in the 10th grade. I should have straight As this junior year. My course work has always the most challenging offered by my school. All my core classes since 9th grade have been honors or AP (total 10 APs). Although my GPA has an upward trend, the Bs in my 9th grade lowers my class rank to about the top 15% (not top 10%). I have won 1st places in both 2016 and 2017 state Chemistry Olympics (on chemical engineering projects not tests). I am not sure whether the awards will help my applications for computer science which I assume will be more about physics. To explore and demonstrate my interest in computer science, I will be going to UPenn this summer for a computer science camp as well as Purdue for an engineering camp.I’d really appreciate your advises as I am trying to narrow down my college list. Thank you.
I assume from your moniker that you are out-of-state but I would guess that you have a great chance at Purdue even if your GPA is a tick low.
yes, I am out of state. Thank you for your answer. I would assume that you took into account my interest specifically in CE major which i think is more competitive in general
No I did not. I don’t know any stats about specific departments. But you are in the top 1% of ACT takers, have a rising GPA, and solid interest. Hard to imagine that you are not in the running.
Thank you again
If you’re applying as an engineering student, the fact you want computer engineering is not taken into account at Purdue. All engineering students at Purdue will take First Year Engineering before selecting a specific engineering major. Therefore, you are competing with all engineering students to obtain acceptance. Knowing this, regardless of how competitive computer engineering is, your stats should get you accepted. Your test score (ACT) is high enough to outweigh your slightly lower GPA.
At your point, I think what you would be shooting for are potential scholarships. Your resume seems to be pretty good, so I think you should apply by the merit aid deadline (it was November 1st this year).
With that said, I think it is worth mentioning one other thing. You posted (maybe by accident) a Georgia Tech Computer Science chance in the Purdue thread that I noticed. If you are interested in both, Purdue has a Computer Science/Computer Engineering pathway available to computer science majors. You would need to apply to Purdue as a computer science student and then you will be able to select courses based on that specific pathway. If you haven’t already, I highly recommend looking up Purdue’s computer science program. It is extremely unique compared to other school’s more “generic” computer science degree. You can read up on it here:
https://www.cs.purdue.edu/undergraduate/curriculum/bachelor.html
Further down the page you can see various “tracks.” Pay special attention to the one I mentioned before, as it could be a program that interests you.
Hope this helps.
This is extremely helpful. Thank you!