Chance/Match Me: junior in NYC aiming for CMU

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Demographics

  • US permanent resident
  • State/Location of residency: NYC
  • Type of high school: Specialized Public High School
  • Gender/Race/Ethnicity: Female/Asian
  • Other special factors: first gen, student athlete, low-income, ELL (English Language Learner)

Intended Major(s)

  • Computer Science
  • Information Technology
  • Information Science

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 94.8 (9th & 10th combined; I’m a current junior and my school only does 100-point-scale GPA)
  • Weighted HS GPA: N/A (my school doesn’t do W GPA)
  • Class Rank: N/A (I have no idea about this)
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 1510 (710 for English and 800 for math; planning to retake for a better superscore)

Coursework

  • I took AP Chemistry (4) and AP World History (4) in 10th grade and I’m taking AP Statistics, AP CS A, AP Physics 1, AP Macro, AP Micro, AP Chinese this year.
  • I was enrolled in honors for Geometry, Algebra 2, and Precalculus.
  • I took one year of intro cs course at school, where I learned about Dr.Racket, Netlogo, and Python. And I’m also taking a java elective at my school this year.

Awards

  • I don’t know if this counts but I got 3rd and 4th places at the PSAL Championship for swimming

Extracurriculars

  • Swimming varsity team for 2 years (in my 3rd year now)
  • Tutoring underachieved students over summer totaling 40 hours
  • Have to do chores for family for around an hour everyday
  • Just joined an AI club at school this year
  • Planning to do USACO

Schools

  • I haven’t researched too much about schools but I want to reach for Carnegie Mellon University’s and Columbia University’s CS majors. What should I do in my junior and senior years to boost my chance?
  • What schools are match and reach for me?
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Depending on income, take a look at Questbridge and see if that is something you might be eligible for.

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I edited out your HS for privacy. And see my message in your other thread about changing your username

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It will be tough but you’re a year away.

Keep up the great work. And congrats on the SAT math.

Lots of schools are great for you - but what do you want in a school?

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Thanks! I don’t really care about the tuition cost or location, but I really want schools that have high rankings for their CS or IT programs.

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Yeah I’m eligible for Questbridge, which I will do in senior year. Do you know if Questbridge helps with my CMU admission?

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Which rank ? There are many.

And why would a really expensive school pay for you ?

If you are QB eligible, any school that wants you is a top school. If you get a match, it’s a gift.

The rank doesn’t matter.

And no you can’t get helped with CMU. Look at the partner schools. They’re not a partner so don’t worry about CMU. Worry about a match.

CMU need likely includes loans.

Which math will you take senior year ?

You’d be lucky if any school on this list took you. Luckier than CMU with loans. But you can have your family run the CMU net price calculator.

Good luck.

https://www.questbridge.org/college-partners

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I see. Thanks for your advice!!

Do you happen to know the chance of getting into Questbridge?

Some schools that I’m considering are UT Austin, Columbia, UIUC, Georgia Tech, Stanford, and Cornell.

And I’m most likely taking AP Calculus BC in senior year. If not, AP Calculus AB. My school only offers these two classes for seniors.

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UT Austin, you can’t afford. UIUC, you can’t afford. Georgia Tech, you can’t afford.

Run the net price calculator for Cornell and Stanford.

You have to get your head out of the rankings sheet. You have to look at schools you can afford. It may be SUNYs or meets need schools.

Have you run the net price calculator for Columbia, for example. An out of state public school is not going to support out of state students. You don’t pay taxes in Illinois or your family sales and property taxes in Texas.

Now some have significant merit for top students. For example, with your stats, a U of Alabama will give you $30,500 off of $33,000 tuition - so all in with room and board you are $18-20K a year max and likely less when off campus after first year. You have to attend a school you can afford first and foremost - and that’s why high merit schools attract tons of smart kids. For example, over 800 New Yorkers are at Bama. Over 1000 from Texas, California. Over 1500 from Illinois. Why? merit.

I’m not suggesting Alabama for you. I’m simply showing you - how it works and why. Now, two publics do meet need for all students (with loans of course and work study). UVA and UNC. You can run their net price calculators.

So Questbridge has a lot of criteria including $$ or lack of. Here are their statistics. You are a year away. This is an important year. Keep excelling in school, swimming, tutoring, etc. How much does your family earn?

But you need to find a school you can afford. Maybe you can CMU with aid…I don’t know. Until your family runs net price calculators you never will know.

Good luck.

PS - never say or think this again - “I don’t really care about the tuition cost or location, but I really want schools that have high rankings for their CS or IT programs.” It’s just not a reality of life unfortunately - as 1) you have to get in and 2) you have to pay. And fortunately, the government only lets a student borrow $5500 the first year. Your parents can go in debt - but why would or should they when it’s not necessary, especially in CS? You don’t want to strangle yourself for a name on a diploma. NY offers a lot of fine subsidies at SUNY schools for low income students.

There may be instances - at some schools - where permanent resident doesn’t qualify for money - you’d have to check school by school. I don’t know - but I just read that on line so be sure to check for that as you look at each school. Even Questbridge notes that. Only some of our colleges will consider non-U.S. Citizens or Permanent Residents for admission and full scholarships through the Match. So you need to check every school you’re interested in to see if you can even get aid. So again, it’s less about where and more about where you can afford.

Good luck.

QuestBridge | National College Match Finalist Profile

Welcome | Net Price Calculator (collegeboard.org)

Estimate Your Net Cost | Columbia Financial Aid and Educational Financing

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does 1 hour family stuff count as ec? i’ve been doing that since like 9th grade but i didn’t think it counted as an actual family responsibilities as much as just regular chores

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yes it should.

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Get the very top grades you can get.

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