Chance me Columbia, CMU, Stanford? (CS)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hello! I am a rising Junior looking for some opinions on my chances at different schools, as well as recommendations for improving my chances at such schools. I go to a fairly competitive public high school in Minnesota. I am a white male interested in computer science. I believe I could write a fairly captivating admissions essay, but I have yet to take the ACT/SAT, I am currently studying for the PSAT in Oct. and will most likely take the ACT in the fall also. On the PLAN test last fall I was projected to get 26-29 on the ACT, but I could score WAY higher than that, even now. Anyways, some of these schools, for me, are whatever is beyond high reach, but I would like to hear some more opinions.</p>

<p>Schools:
Columbia SEAS
Carnegie Mellon (anyone know anything about their BS in CS & the Arts?)
Stanford (Dream school)
UW Madison (Safety - sort of)</p>

<p>GPA
UW 3.96
W ~4.4
School does not rank, but - ~ top 15% </p>

<p>Classes:
-8th Grade-
Intermediate Algebra B/A</p>

<p>-9th Grade-
Honors Bio A/A
Honors English A/A
Honors Geometry A/A
Gym I A
Content Reading A
French I A/A
World History A/A</p>

<p>-10th Grade-
Honors American Lit A/A
French II A/A
AP US History A/A - got a 4
Health A
Gym II A
Honors Algebra 2 A/A
Honors Chemistry A/A</p>

<p>-11th Grade-
Honors Math Analysis (Pre-Calc)
AP Human Geography
AP Macroeconomics
Honors Physics
Drawing and Painting I
Art and Design
AP Literature
Honors French III</p>

<p>EC's:
Student Government (Secretary as a Junior - going for president as a Senior)
Robotics Team (I know HTML, learning C & Java)
3 years Track and Field (Varsity)
2 years XC (Varsity this fall) (Letter)
2 years Nordic Skiing Team (Letter)
NHS (this fall)
2 years "A Vous La Parole" (French singing competition)(Blue Ribbon both years) - nearly fluent.</p>

<p>Volunteer work:
President of Teen Arts Council at local Art Museum - Contemporary Art Outreach. Also, I have displayed artwork at this museum, and working to curate a Teen show for the fall.
Teaching kids camps at local Art Museum (volunteering - over 200 hours)</p>

<p>Thanks you everyone!</p>

2

<p>I would say you have a very good chance. Just make those essays perfect! :)</p>

3

<p>bump10char</p>

4

<p>You have a great chance at all those schools. Good luck :)</p>

5

<p>Does anyone think that any of these schools have much on say the University of Wisconsin? Are schools like CMU and Stanford worth the extra $$$? I love the feel of those schools (esp. Columbia), but I don’t know if I could even gain acceptance to a school of that caliber. Help me.</p>

6

<p>top 15% in school rank is not likely to get into any of these schools. What is your current practice scores in SAT/ACT? No score, no chance.</p>

7

<p>@billcsho that was more the answer I was expecting. The school rank is a very rough estimate, what score would I need to attain to actually stand a shot? Thanks for the reply!</p>

8

<p>Preferably top 5%</p>

9

<p>What about ACT?</p>

10

<p>SAT or ACT doesnt matter which one as long as its rly good
SAT > 2300
ACT > 34</p>

11

<p>Stanford and Columbia are extremely competitive. </p>

<p>CMU is more doable though.</p>

12

<p>Aim at 33+/2250+.</p>

13

<p>Chances:</p>

<p>Columbia SEAS - Toss-up
CMU - Low-Reach
Stanford - Less than a toss-up/Not a reach currently
UW Madison - Safety</p>

<p>Top 3 Weaknesses in your application:</p>

<p>**- ECs not focused enough

  • Where’s the heavy math/science?
  • Low class rank (Needs to be improved for Columbia, CMU and Stanford)
    **</p>