Chance me for these! :D

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Ok so I'm Indian to start off. I want to apply as Comp. Science major and become a software engineer. Little bit about me, I can speak 4 languages (Gujarati, Hindi, English, Spanish). I come from a very low income family. My school, outside of 40 miles, is basically nonexistent and unheard of. It ranks very low on State rankings and it is not competitive. Only around 3 students get 2000+ on the SAT every year. I'm one of the 1 person a year to get 2100+. I strive to be best and help out my friends by tutoring them in subjects I'm good at. I MIGHT start the SAT Prep club because many are asking me to do so. Your opinions? </p>

<p>SAT I - 2130 CR: 670 M:690 W: 770 (this was my final time; won't retake). Obviously my CR + M are low for ENG.
SAT II - Will take in December and get scores rushed.</p>

<p>GPA : 4.0/4.37
Rank: 6/178 (top 4%)</p>

<p>EC's : JV Soccer, Varsity Cross Country, Academic Challenge, Class Officer (10th grade - VP, 12th grade - VP), LEO Club (volunteer club), NHS, Prom Committee, Renaissance Program, Science League, Student Counsil, Million Word Club, + I tutor my friends on free time.</p>

<p>Senior Courseload : AP Physics, AP English, AP Psychology, AP Statistics, Spanish IV, Honors Trigonometry</p>

<p>Class schedule for 4 years: Most Rigorous</p>

<p>Awards: Nothing on grand scale. Many certificates for outstanding excellence. Medal for Million Work Club. Principal's List Award (Given to 4.0 students), Varsity Letter for Cross Country, and Spotlight Award (kinda like student of the month, except from the whole school - awarded to students displaying leadership, brilliance in academics, and involvement).</p>

<p>Essay: I can assure you, it'll be something really spectacular. I'm working with a company with essay specialists from Uni. of Chicago and Harvard who specialize in helping students create stellar essays.</p>

<p>University of Texas--Austin
University of California--Los Angeles
University of California--Berkeley
University of Illinois--Urbana Champaign
University of Maryland--College Park
Rutgers University New Brunswick
Cornell University
NYU Stern (applying to see if I do get in; if I do, I'll rethink my major)</p>

<p>Oh and I want to work for Silicon Valley. So if you want to add on to my list a school that has a reputation for sending Comp. Science students to Silicon Valley, please tell me! Exclude the Ivies and CMU/Stanford/MIT, however lol.</p>

2

<p>Looks good for the public schools- obviously USB and UCLA are reaches (as they are for just about anyone), but UCLA is more of a match than UCB. UCLA is pretty “statsy” I’ve heard, ur SAT is good enough, and I think ucla likes 4.0s.
Cornell: the highest reach, but definitely possible with good subjectives.</p>

<p>The other public schools should be safety/matches for you. </p>

<p>Idk much about nyu stern</p>

3

<p>Lol I was considering UCLA an almost-safety. Scores are within range and they accepted almost 71% of 4.0’s last year. Mix that with great essay and viola! Then again, I don’t even think UCLA’s Comp. Science department is strong.</p>

4

<p>Now I’m thinking more of a match. UCLA</p>

<p>But maybe because I’m really cautious. At our school, naviance’s scattergrams may show a near perfect chance of acceptance, but every year there are disappointed students, even those with seemingly strong essays. </p>

<p>If you are into public schools and want one with good CS, then maybe GaTech?
It’s kind of “matchy” I would say… but with last years acceptances I can’t be sure about anything.</p>

5

<p>I don’t like GA Tech because of the environment. I heard students are very concerned about their grades and spend hours studying everyday. Granted I’ll have to too for engineering, but I want a university with diversity and social life. I’m not trying to deride students from GA Tech in any way. </p>

6

<p>Bumppppp</p>

7

<p>Come on bump people!!</p>

8

<p>It’s been a week ._.</p>

<p>Bump lol</p>

9

<p>Day 18, still no reply. :!! :!! Bumppppp</p>

10

<p>Are you in-state for UCs?
Do start the “SAT prep club” for sophomores and juniors.
UCLA is a match.
You could apply to NYU Poly, they have very interesting engineering majors.
Apply to Olin, Rose Hulman.
It’s really too bad you’re only in Honors Trig, since you’d have to have Calculus to apply to HarveyMudd - email admissions to see if they make an exception for students whose school doesn’t offer calculus, but I’m afraid that they don’t since there are online classes, Khan Academy, CLEP, virtual schools… Still, it’s worth it to check. HarveyMudd (like Stanford and CalTech) meets 100% need, which as a lower income student is what you need.
(ONly about 80 colleges out of 3,700 “meet need”. The others may or may not offer sufficient financial aid, and many don’t cover your need if you’re low income.)
Don’t forget CalPoly SLO and two other UC’s. Keep in mind that UC’s are difficult to predict, even with your GPA, test score, and background - you’re a match for UCLA, UCSD, perhaps even UCD, and UCB is a low reach for engineering.
Since you’re low income, you can’t apply to any of the public universities out of state - they’ll cost over 40,000 a year without any financial aid (except for $5,500 in federal loans, the maximum you can borrow). Cross all OOS publics on your list out.
If you want to go out of state, you can apply to UAlabama’s School of Engineering and Honors College - with your test scores, you’d get Honors College, Honors Dorms, and full tuition, plus a $2,500 stipend. You’d still have about $12,000 to pay though. Look at the UAlabama forum on this website, especially the thread “what school did your child turn down to attend 'Bama”.
However, if you get into a UC and you’re a CA resident, there’d be no reason to go OOS.</p>

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<p>I’m in New Jersey so I am OOS for every college. And I always wanted to go to UT Austin or UIUC. I can’t apply for Private since my stats aren’t great. Lol University of Alabama isn’t on the top 20 Computer Science schools, so I won’t have an advantage when I search for a job in Silicon Valley. </p>

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<p>If you’re in New Jersey, forget about all of these.
If you wanted to go to UIUC or UT Austin, go for your graduate studies, one you’ve worked and saved money, or on a funded program.
For now, you won’t be able to go to all these universities because these universities won’t be affordable.
In addition, Google etc. recruits from a LOT of campuses, including UWaterloo (but very hard to get into), South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, and many places in-between such as UChicago. Sure, you won’t get a job in a Silicon Valley start up from UAlabama, but you’ll be next to the 2nd largest research park in the country and if you’re smart you’ll seize that opportunity to get internships that’ll turn into a job that’ll lead you, if you wish to, to California.
Private universities exist with all kinds of entrance requirements. What matters for you is to find colleges that will cover your need, with school where you’re in the top 10% students, schools where you’re near the top 25% students, and schools where you’re around the middle 50%. These will be your safeties, matches, and reaches.
Note that if your stats “aren’t great”, odds are that you don’t qualify for Top 20 schools either… many of which are private by the way (unless you’re talking about graduate programs, which are a whole other ballpark).
Right now, among schools likely to be affordable, your reach if you want to go to California, would be Harvey Mudd; Occidental would be a match. For other options outside CA, look into Rose Hulman, Olin, Swarthmore, Haverford, UChicago, Case Western Reserve, UWaterloo (CS/Coop is SUPER competitive but very worth it).
NYU Poly may be iffy for financial aid but may be worth checking into.
In New Jersey, you have TCNJ and Rutgers, and Rowan would be a safety and has good engineering. Apply there as safeties and make sure to apply to the Honors College.
However, for a cost I’d think is similar, I’d pick UAlabama Honors College over Rowan Honors.
RUN THE NET PRICE CALCULATOR on each college.</p>

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<p>UCB: High Match
UCLA: Match
If you can afford $55K/year for the UC’s, you have a good chance. Little to no financial aid for OOS students…</p>

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<p>^OP is “very low income” from New Jersey, so UC’s and CSu’s aren’t possible … :s The only possible colleges for him/her would be private colleges, or public universities in NJ. That’s what we- and OP- must work with. It’s good Harsh1296 posted here, as the current list needs to be completely revamped with affordability factors taken into account, except for Cornell (which is a “reach for everyone” school). </p>

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<p>I am not attending any New Jersey universities as none have a very strong computer science program that Silicon Valley admires. Also, I know that Google hires a lot of people from a lot of universities, but that’s actually hard to get into when you’re not attending a top university. I have relatives working in companies like Google and Facebook and they told me that it’s hard for software engineers to get into Silicon Valley if you go to a school that doesn’t have a much reputable CS career, as opposed to a degree from, say, UT Austin or Princeton. By top 20, I meant top 20 for Computer Science. These universities will give me no problem finding internships in summer and eventually a job right after getting my degree. I find no point in pursuing a master’s (although I might change my mind later on), as it doesn’t make a big difference salary wise or when job-hunting. Regardless of the expensive costs, I am still probably going to attend UIUC or UT Austin lol, as my parents are completely content and I might take loans. I honestly couldn’t worry less about paying back loans. Over 100k a year and not being able to pay loans little by little? That’s ludicrous. I’ll attend my dream schools and work later on to pay back those who let me attend them.</p>

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<p>@Harsh1296: If it was not stated above, you personally can only take out $27K in loans over 4 years. That leaves the rest of your college expenses on your parents. It is great if your parents are willing to borrow that amount but they may not even if they qualify. Sorry, but that is the reality of the situation and the sooner you deal with the situation, the better you can make your plans.</p>

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<p>Hey @Gumbymom‌ really?? I never knew that. How about PLUS loans??? Can’t you get a lot with PLUS loans? I honestly see people with around 200k in loans (including my AP teacher’s wife who is a doctor) and other relatives who are paying back. Obviously they’re not paying a huge interest rate for “27k” that they borrowed. Or am I wrong? Please edify me.</p>

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<p>PLUS loans are loans taken out by your parents, not you. They are probably paying back loans taken out for Graduate or Medical school. See link:
<a href=“https://studentaid.ed.gov/types/loans/plus”>https://studentaid.ed.gov/types/loans/plus&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Another link for FA:</p>

<p><a href=“Financial Aid Chart for Undergraduates”>http://www.saystudent.com/undergrad.html&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“Stafford Loan Chart”>http://www.saystudent.com/sf/loan_chart.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>But I’ll still be dependent until I graduate so they can take them to pay for my education right?</p>

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<p>Yes, your parents can take out the loans if they qualify. If you are looking at schools such as UC’s with a $55K/year price tag minus $27,500 you can take out, that still leaves $192,500 that you will need. If you are low income, your parents will not be eligible for that amount??? I suggest you look into in-state options where you would qualify for in-state aid along with the loans and possible merit scholarships. Also look at the sticky threads in the Financial Aid and Scholarship section for automatic full-ride scholarships and tuition.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1678699-links-to-popular-financial-aid-info-threads.html#latest”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1678699-links-to-popular-financial-aid-info-threads.html#latest&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;