Chance Me for UPenn/MIT/CMU

Chance Me / Match Me!
21

Here are some admission rates for UCB:

From OPA – University of California Berkeley , choose the Academic Indicators tab. “Last updated on October 22, 2021” for the “last 3 complete application cycles”.

GPA appears to be weighted, not capped. Calculate using GPA Calculator for the University of California – RogerHub

Admission rates only:

GPA L&S CoE CoC CNR CED
3.800-4.000 6.3% 2.7% 4.5% 11.5% 8.7%
4.001-4.199 10.6% 3.9% 8.2% 23.7% 14.7%
4.200-4.399 21.8% 8.8% 17.5% 38.9% 29.1%
4.400-4.599 34.8% 16.4% 33.3% 53.0% 39.5%
4.600-4.799 40.9% 21.4% 39.6% 52.4% 49.4%
4.800-5.000 41.5% 20.7% 36.2% 46.1% 43.0%

Math is in L&S, while CS can be done either in L&S (with secondary admission based on 3.3 GPA in prerequisites – may change soon) or CoE (EECS, probably the most difficult major to get into).

It is unlikely that UCB could be considered a match based on the above admission rates.

1 Like
22

I think that your risk of being outed is next to zero. No one is looking for that. But your state flagship.

The reason people ask is …a Texas is a safety for admission if you are a resident, etc.

I think alumni strength, short of a few schools, is overrated. Penn State is known for their alumni as is Texas A&M. I know a cyber security grad from Penn State…that didn’t lead to jobs. In the end, no matter where you go, it’s you and not the school that will make you. With effort, you can make inroads with alums but I wouldn’t count on alums being your ticket is what I’m trying to say.

Given what you’ve done, I don’t see that as an issue.

But schools like Rutgers, UMASS, UMD, Florida, Pitt, Ohio State are fine schools and two of schools like that wouldn’t hurt you. For mid size how about a William And Mary, Miami, Richmond, CWRU, Col School of Mines type school.

Given your major and the access of Honors Colleges, I would see the place you feel comfortable. Pedigree, by itself, does not create happiness or success.

Just make sure you are truthful. By that I mean, make sure you are listed as a second author and not a footnote on your paper, etc.

You are qualified for every school you listed. You can also save a ton of $$ by going to schools that will reward you like Alabama, Arizona, Florida State. These will cost from $15-25k all in and have Honors colleges. And you’ll have no issue job wise if the economy is strong. Again these are safeties.

Good luck.

4 Likes
23

The schools where it is much more difficult to get into the CS major are those where changing into CS after enrolling not in the CS major is difficult.

Cornell, CMU SCS, UCSD CSE, UCLA CS, and Vanderbilt are all difficult enough that they should not be seen as “likely”.

4 Likes
24

Makes zero sense because CMU is not ‘definitely my favorite college of all.’

It’s entirely flawed that you’d bind yourself to a school that isn’t your favorite and create a situation where you couldn’t even apply to your favorite.

Why CMU ? It’s dissimilar to Penn in my opinion. So what are you seeking…besides a big name. You should start there. A big name is useless if you are miserable.

7 Likes
25

If Penn is the school you love and it’s your clear #1 choice and your family is willing and able to pay for it without taking out any loans, ED to Penn and forget about any other schools for ED.

With respect to schools where your chances are likelier for admission, preferably with strong alumni networks, I’d look at:

  • Lehigh (PA )
  • Ohio State-Columbus is also reportedly building up as a center for tech, too
  • Penn State
  • Southern Methodist (TX)-strong alumni base and the location in Dallas with lots of tech in the area is a definite plus
  • Santa Clara(CA)-don’t know as much about the alumni network, but the location for CS would be very hard to beat

I don’t know which, if any, of these schools have secondary admissions requirements for CS, but I think these schools would likely be targets or safeties for you.

2 Likes
26

UCSD: “Starting in Fall 2022, the incoming CSE class is growing and it will be hard (if not impossible) for students to switch into CSE majors if they are not admitted directly.”
https://cse.ucsd.edu/undergraduate/cse-capped-admissions-program

Not a safety but have you looked at the College of Creative Studies at UCSB?

27

UPenn admits more than half of its entering class ED. You are as well qualified as many who are accepted, and ED offers the best chance. Why not shoot your shot? That’s what ED is for. You could still ED2 to CMU if Penn didn’t work out. Although, as tsbna says, the vibe at CMU is vastly different from Penn. If you love Penn that much, it’s hard to see you loving CMU. Have you visited? Plus, if you get into CMU as a math major, the option of a CS major will be completely off the table.

If you’re willing to go to Texas for UT Austin, why not apply to Rice? Zero barriers there to changing majors, and excellent for your interests.

UMich should also be an EA application.

If you like UPenn and USC, consider Northwestern as well. Possible Duke and/or WashU also.

There are no safeties here besides possibly Toronto and potentially something in-state depending on where you live… and most of your “likelies” aren’t likelies. True, you have a strong record and aren’t likely to get shut out of your whole list of competitive schools, but a true safety (or an early admit from a rolling admissions school, like Pitt for example) is wise to have.

1 Like
28

Pitt would make a great safety. Apply early (like early August) and you will have a rolling decision quickly.

Also agree to use your ED at the school you love most.

Have you visited CMU? Much much different vibe than Penn.

4 Likes
29

CS in the college of science at Purdue is direct admit.

OP - apply for your intended major as it will be nearly impossible to switch into CS later at Purdue. I expect other schools where you apply directly to your major will be the same.

5 Likes
30

As others have pointed out you have over estimated your chances at the schools on your list. Definitely add your in-state public and a couple of other true safeties.

You may want to add UMD as a likely/match if you apply EA. Same with UIUC.

:point_up_2: don’t take this advice lightly. These are 4 precious years of your life. Go where you’ll be happy. There are countless opportunities for CS grads so chasing prestige shouldn’t be your main criteria.

CMU works for a certain type of student. Research the vibe and student body carefully. If you don’t fit in you’ll hate being there.

9 Likes
31

Great accomplishments and your chances at any school are going to be a bit higher than their overall acceptance rate.
But that does not make a school like Cornell “likely.” Cornell’s acceptance rate overall is about 7% this past year. I would say you have a better chance than that – Certainly possible it could be 25% or higher. But that’s still a “reach” by some definitions. I’d personally call it a “match but still low likelihood of admission.” In other words, unless you’re a recruited athlete or your family donated a building, your chances are under 50%. But with your accomplishments, you have a slightly better chance than most applicants.

And I’d apply the same reasoning down the line of your schools. Harvard… MIT… you have a real decent shot at all those schools. But still significantly under 50% at any of them.

1 Like
32

Having witnessed the current year cycle first hand, I wouldn’t place OP’s chances higher than 10% at any of the reach schools. Sorry, just being realistic not pessimistic.

2 Likes
33

Thanks @Mwfan1921 for alerting me to this.

@askcmadlsmc, congrats on your accomplishments. Your profile is similar to my son’s in terms of math and research.

I would like to understand “Why Penn”? There’s no doubt it’s a fantastic school, but it’s not a typical choice for a very strong math student. What attracts you to Penn over others on your list?

If you can answer that well, I agree with others here that Penn is your best choice for ED. And while admission is by no means guaranteed, I think your chances for Penn ED are good.

Have you had a chance to visit Penn? If not, try to do so and meet with a professor there with whom you can discuss your research project. It’s likely that a professor will be willing to meet with you, and you can use what you learn from that discussion in your “Why Us” essay.

Note that along with ED to Penn, I recommend EA to MIT and Michigan as well. You said that MIT accepts a number of students from your school each year, and I see no reason why you shouldn’t be among them.

Re Michigan, have you received anything from the head of the mathematics department asking you to apply based upon your AIME scores? They used to do that, not sure they still do. Again if you can visit, please do so and try to visit a professor there as well. Michigan seems to care about demonstrated interest for out of state applicants.

While I think you will do well in terms of admissions, I agree with others that your match schools are probably better classified as High Match or Low Reach. I recommend adding NYU as its Courant Institute is world renowned in math and has easier admissions than others in your Match category.

4 Likes
34

I’m a bit more optimistic, seeing first hand what came out of my high school. 9/11 of our co-valedictorians are enrolling in T20 schools (the last 2 are still enrolling in T25 schools). In a class of 300, about 45-50 are enrolling in T20-T25 schools. Cornell is a popular school to apply – While the overall acceptance rate for the high school was in the 15-20% range, for the top 25% of the class with SAT over 1500, the Cornell acceptance rate was 50%. (8 acceptances, 5 rejections and 3 waitlists).
For a school like Cornell, there are 5 applicants with almost no chance (3.8, mediocre rigor, test blind or mediocre scores), for every true 4.0/1500.

Totally true that there are virtually no guarantees anymore.

2 Likes
35

I believe you are being overly pessimistic.

Understanding how high performing STEM kids do in terms of admissions is my little niche of expertise on CC, and I have been helping multiple kids like the OP each year with detailed advice via PMs. The only thing I ask is that they inform me of their application results, and they have been rather predictable in a good way.

It is true that the effect of USAMO/USAJMO has been decreasing. About 10 years ago that alone would have been sufficient to get admitted to MIT with an 80% chance. Now that’s probably closer to 40%.

3 Likes
36

Citation needed

1 Like
37

This has been covered already, but most of these are not safeties.

If your in-state public school is not on this list, then you should also apply to at least one in-state public university that you know you will get accepted to.

On a different (high reach) note, I notice that you put your likely major as CS or math. You might want to note that MIT has a combined major 18C. I was there before this major existed, but this is essentially what I did when I was there as a math major (I did miss at least one CS course from the current required list). I am not sure whether other universities have a similar combined major.
https://math.mit.edu/academics/undergrad/major/course18c.php

Also, some of the universities on your list, particularly some reaches (MIT, Harvard, I think probably Stanford) do not admit by major. Thus your chances of admissions do not depend upon what you list as your intended major. You might as well put down whichever major is your first choice.

1 Like
39

I know we are encouraging the OP to take a more balanced approach to his list, but I am just going to throw it out there: Yale is very interested in improving its draw of students who are interested in CS. Only apply where you feel you would thrive, but know that you might have a better chance at Yale than the typical, highly-qualified applicant due to your profile.

5 Likes
40

If you report the rest, I would report the 4 on AP Micro too. Still a good score. Selective exclusion is likely to be surmised to be a worse score than 4.

8 Likes