Your best chances are likely at UIUC and UMD, early action. Maybe UCSD and UWash
Others are all quite reachy.
Of course, essays and LORs will make a difference too.
I’m specifically responding to your chance-me for CS T20s. But of course, you should have a robust set of likelies and safeties on your list. And also don’t shotgun all these T20s.
@Badger4 welcome to CC. I recommend you spend some time reading other strands to get a feel for how much your GPA and class rank will matter a year from now. Spend a little less time on your ECs and more time on your HS classes this next year if you are shooting for T30 to T50 CS programs.
This summer do a little prep for the PSAT and see if you can get to National Merit status- that could help if your gpa is a little lower.
Research which CS programs are direct admit and which require another round to move forward in the major. Research where they are housed (with engineering , stand alone Dept, etc…), and what the course requirements will be. Not all T50 programs, or really any CS program, are built the same and you will save yourself heartache later if you understand what you are signing up for.
I updated your title of the strand to include you are a rising junior so people go easy on you. The idea that you thought you could ED at all the schools was a give away that you did not yet know how some of this works, but I am sure you are a fast learner.
It is easy to pick a few T20s, but now dig in on some that will be likely admits with programs of interest. UA-Huntsville may be a good one to add to that list and you would most likely get generous merit.
UIUC CS (in Grainger) acceptance rate is sub 5%. U Washington OOS CS acceptance rate was 3% for class of 2025. Both will be a high reach for OP. EA app needed for both, as well as UMD.
OP should focus on identifying an affordable safety, perhaps their local CSU, UC Merced, Oregon State, U Utah, ASU, U Arizona, just to name a few in the Western Region.
Please, I will repeat what other people have written.
Tell us what you have already achieved. Not what you hope to achieve, not what you expect to achieve, nor what you think you will achieve.
Use the correct tenses, and do not use past tense for something that has not started yet, like this:
In any case, you just finished your Sophomore year. Your GPA when you apply for college can be anywhere, realistically, between 3.89 and 3.5, or more likely between 3.85 and 3.7. Advice as to which colleges you are likely to be accepted are very different, based on these two directions.
In any case, the chances of an unhooked applicant with a GPA that is lower than 3.9+ from a regular public school to be admitted to any of the colleges on your list are extremely low, and being Asian from CA decreases your chances at the private colleges.
For GTech, being an Asian will not make a difference, but your GPA as an out of state applicant makes admissions to this school unlikely.
Your chances at UCLA or Berkeley will depend entirely on your UC GPA from Sophomore, Junior, and the first semester of Senior year. It is possible that, if you have a 4.0 GPA for the next three semesters, that you may be competitive for these two schools.
It all depends, though, on you maintaining a GPA of 4.0 during the toughest year of your high school.
So your chances for Berkeley and UCLA - maybe, if you maintain a 4.0 GPA for the next three semesters.
The rest - highly unlikely.
However, truth be told, nobody can actually "chance " you in any meaningful way, and the advice that I’ll give is relevant no matter what you have done. Work hard on your academics, engage in meaningful extracurricular activities, take time to engage in fun social and individual activities, and stop obsessing over “will I get into a T-20?”. Your youth is too short to be making “being accepted to a specific college” the center of your life…
Finally - if helping other students get research experience in AI and ML is your passion, why does it matter whether you will attend a “T-20” as opposed to a college which is ranked lower by this or that college advice column?
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