Chance me for top CS schools!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

SAT I: 1590 (790 English, 800 Math)
ACT: 36
SAT II: 800 (Math II), 800 (Physics), 790 (Bio), 800 (Chem)
GPA: 3.96 / 4.7
AP Scores: All 5’s (AP CS, AP CS Principles, AP Spanish, AP Physics Mech & E&M, APUSH, AP Bio, AP Chem, AP Physics 1, APES, AP Chinese, AP Statistics)

Senior Courseload: AP Micro, AP Macro, Multivariable Calculus, Graphic Design, AP Literature, TA for AP CS, Autoshop

Awards / Honors:
NMSF
AIME Qualifier (5x)
USAJMO (2x)
USAMO (1x)
USACO Platinum
USAPhO Semifinalist
USABO Semifinalist
Principal’s Honor Roll (GPA higher than 3.9)
School Ambassador of the Year
Siemen’s semifinalist
National AP Scholar
Science, Math, History, and English Department Award
Two papers that will be published with Stanford professor
Several FBLA national awards
Several DECA awards
Won at several nationwide hackathons (PennApps, MHacks)

EC’s:
Varsity Football
President of CS Club
President of YCS
President of Engineering Club
Volunteer at the local petting zoo
Assistant coach for MATHCOUNTS team
CEO of a startup that has generated $100,000
Freelance software development
Travelling around with math team
FIRST Robotics
FBLA and DECA

Summer Programs:
COSMOS
Ross Math Program
TASP

Recs:
(10/10) CS Teacher: Super close with him, practically like a dad
(9/10) English Teacher: She said I was her favorite student in the last 20 years

Demographics:
Gender: M
Race: Pacific Islander (Tahitian in case anyone was wondering)
State: CA

Please chance me for computer science at: Stanford, UC Berkeley, MIT, Princeton, Yale, Harvard, Cornell, Brown, UT Austin, Purdue, UCLA, UCSD, UCSB, WPI, Tufts, Georgia Tech, and UWash!

2

You’ll get into UCB, Cornell, Brown, UTA, UCLA etc.

You’ll also likely get into at least one of Stanford, MIT, Princeton, Yale, Harvard.

I had a very similar background to you but it will come down to your essays to demonstrate you have exceptionally rare/unique intellectual abilities + strength of character.

3

I think you are a top school’s dream - great stats, clearly intelligent, and an interesting background. Just remember that those top schools can also be fickle, even with stellar candidates. UCB and UCLA = very good shot, UCSB/UCSD = would be shocked if you didn’t get in to both.

4

I think you’re definitely T10 material! Good luck to you.

5

Out of curiosity, did you forget to list AP Calc BC?

6

@hgrad2010 Yes, whooops

To everyone else, thank you so much for your feedback :smiley:
My parents don’t think I have a chance because I will need lots of financial aid, but now I think they are going to have a change of heart!

7

bump.

UPDATE:
Parents have allowed me to apply to both state schools and any school with merit based scholarships :frowning:
They don’t think we can afford sending me to a t20 school …

8

For state schools, look into UCSB’s College of Creative Studies program in Computing.

9

Run the Net Price Calculator first to see if you are eligible for financial aid.

With your stats/background you will probably earn Regents for UCs and probably get some significant merit aid as well.

I’m surprised that CalTech isn’t on your list as you’re more than a viable candidate. I might add Harvey Mudd to your list as well.

10

Mudd gives some merit. Unfortunately, Caltech doesn’t, though you can pretty much plan on earning $6000 per summer on research or significantly more at CS internships (harder to get than research).

11

Make sure that you have a safety plan (more UCs?).

The four UCs you have on your list have the most oversubscribed CS majors, meaning that they are significantly more competitive for CS than overall campus stats may suggest.

If you need lots of FA, the out of state public universities would be high reaches for their big merit scholarships.

12

Thank you @Ynotgo @ucbalumnus @Hamurtle for your informative responses!

I was thinking about applying to CalTech and Harvey Mudd. However, I didn’t feel like I would fit in with the other students there. @ucbalumnus , I have all of the UCs on my college list. The colleges I listed above for my chance thread were there because I felt like there was a chance I would be rejected.@Ynotgo I will be sure to look into that program in UCSB. It looks amazing!

On another note, my family and I recently decided to try more schools. We thought that by “shotgunning”, I might be able to get into a few top schools. However, the deciding factor will still be money so I am praying for a good financial package!

UPDATE: I have two papers published in the machine learning field! Also, I just started an incubator with a friend of mine for students in my neighborhood. We will be pitching to some investing firms starting next week. Wish me luck :smiley:

13

Curious why UIUC was excluded from your list,
as it is generally considered a top 5 CS school?

14

It’s hard to get OOS aid at UIUC, but OP could probably get in.

15

@ringmybell I decided not to apply to UIUC because I found the campus slightly boring. In addition, as mentioned by @Groundwork2022 , the OOS aid is horrible and I probably cannot afford to attend.

UPDATE: Named Robotics Strategy Lead. In addition, my incubator has received $100k in funding. We will be meeting with microsoft and google to form partnerships / mentorships.

16

No one can predict an admit. You have some strong positives but competition for private tippy tops from CA kids can be crazy fierce. Plus, they look for more than the hierarchical bullets, top of this, winner at that. The personal attributes that come through or not can matter much. Know what your targets want to see, the whole of it.

17

@lookingforward Yes, I understand. Thanks for the advice!

18

Wow, just stalking your profile, and you’ve accomplished so much already! that’s amazing, good luck to you!

19

It might be a reach, but Carnegie Mellon might be another option, but their CS program has Ivy acceptance rates.

20

@DieLit Thanks for your kind words!

@Hamurtle I am applying to CMU for CS. I want to do CS with Business :slight_smile: