Hooks - URM, 1st Gen
GPA - 3.932 Weighted (Upward Trend IG)
SAT - 1470 (790 Math, 680 Reading) - (English wasn’t my first language)
SAT Subject Tests - Math I (760) Math II (750) Physics (680)
APs Taken - 4
Classes consisted of mostly dual credit
I go to a school with 15 seniors but took all the rigorous classes available however my senior course load wasn’t that much, also means no rank.
Awards:
Questbridge Finalist
ECs:
NHS (Treasurer)
Lockheed Martin Software Engineer Intern
Proactive Game Developer (Have a website portfolio which I submitted with samples of my games)
Own a small business (meant to help the family in tight financial situations, website link included)
Welfare and Outreach Volunteering
Carnegie Mellon SAMS
President and Screen Writer of Drama club
Recommendations:
Physics Teacher - 7/10
CMU Professor - 6/10 (Probably a generic Template)
What specific colleges do you want? For top-tier colleges, you have a low SAT score and decent subject test scores. What is your unweighted GPA? Your ECs are pretty good.
Im from Texas and preferrably Georgia Tech tier schools. Unweighted GPA is 3.6-3.7 I’m not really sure. Its only that low because I got 1 D and 1 C freshman year,
I would be concerned about budget at schools that don’t guarantee to meet full need, and would be concerned about admissions at schools that do guarantee to meet full need.
Do you know if you could afford UT Austin? I am not sure about in-state aid there (we are from a different part of the US), but from what I have heard it is a very good university. You could do very well in life with a degree in CS from there.
What is your budget?
Are you already a high school senior? If so, then were have you already applied?
There was an issue with my transcript so I missed the deadline, I am a senior and I have applied to All the Ivies and UCLA, UCSD, UCSB, UC Berkeley, Georgia Tech, CMU, Tufts, Rice, Boston University, and a couple more top tier CS schools(All of these reaches so far). Then I applied to UNT, Texas A&M, University of Houston, University of Illinois - Chicago, and some other safeties. All the applications were free because of fee waivers.
Your Math SAT is great, but the Reading score is a bit low for your top reach schools. On the other hand, your URM and 1st-generation status will help. It sounds like you have managed to make the most of the academic opportunities that your high school offers (ideally, you made this clear in your essays), and your ECs look solid to me.
Note that the UCs are notorious for offering very limited financial aid to out-of-state students; that might make attending difficult for you, even if you were accepted. You should be a strong candidate at A&M and a lock at UNT and Houston. The privates are harder to predict, since each has its own formula for weighing factors like URM, 1st-generation, economic and geographical diversity, etc. Still, I wouldn’t be surprised if you got an offer from at least one of your reach private schools.
I saw this and felt a little hopeful until my counselor told me my GPA is a 3.5 unweighted. RIP Chances then? Most of my classes are Dual Credit classes though and my UC GPA is a 3.9 Capped Weighted if that helps.
Wait a second, you’re applying to be a CS major but you scored badly on the CS test? That’s gonna throw some colleges off, especially top tier colleges.
Agree – your list is super reach-heavy and includes a number of schools that very likely will not be affordable (ex. all of the CA public schools) even if you were to be accepted.