Chance me - guy undecided where he dreams to apply

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Writing this mostly for perspective (and fun)

Demographics:
Korean male born and raised in USA
Fairly uncompetitive high school, 400 students in grade

Stats:
ACT: 36 math and science, 35 english, 33 reading
UW GPA: 3.96 (one b)
W GPA: 4.91
UW Class rank: 40? Not sure
W Class rank: 2

Coursework:
13 aps, not the best scores but I doubt they matter much.
accelerated math program, ap calc bc 9th grade, multivar and vector calc 10th grade.
So far, Only honors or ap classes except one
CS50’s Web Programming with Python and JavaScript
Independent study Data structures and algorithms
Keras with Tensorflow for deep learning self study

Extracurriculars:
Local music guild grand winner (among all instruments)

NYOUSA alternate musician

AIME score of 10/15 (not qualify for AMO though)

US Volunteer Gold (250 hr requirement, maybe I did about 500 total?)

No Leadership except concertmaster of youth orch

Organized data for covid vaccinations in coordination with local vaccine clinic

Virtual Internship with NASA research professor: using neural networks to analyze and classify voids in polymer composites and reinforced plastics, presented findings to researchers at NASA Langley

Mentorship at local hospital, using artificial intelligence to identify disease biomarkers and drug responses

List of colleges:
Dream: Stanford, Columbia, MIT, Princeton, Yale, Harvard, Cornell, WashU, UPenn, Caltech
Reach/maybe target: UCLA, USC, UMass, UIUC
Safety: UMN twin cities

Stanford has always been my dream of dreams, but as it is I know that most likely I will not get in. Should I consider not using REA for stanford and deciding to ED to Columbia instead? Perhaps that would improve my chances at getting into such a dream college, slightly. For more realistic perspectives, are there some other colleges with high korean student population that I could target?

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Seems plausible to me. Those are hard apps - lots of them.

I don’t see what you want to study listed but since you list UIUC a reach, I’ll assume CS.

I can see you getting shut out at your Dream but I can also see you getting into one or two. They are dreams for everyone. Someone will get in but most, including many qualified, won’t.

Your reach - well check out your UC GPA to see - they won’t use your test score.

I’d call UMASS a safety…why UMASS? Yes, it’s fine but there are better (if CS).

UMN is a strong safety - great school.

If Stanford is your dream, why would you ED to Columbia?? Stick with Stanford.

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Technically speaking then: “American male of Korean descent”

Why not look at Oxford’s Math & CS course*? you would have to hustle to get an application together & get registered for the MAT** (deadline = 15 October), and take the MAT (single test date, 3 Nov), but it’s a great course- 3 years for a BA / 4 for an MA.

*Mathematics and Computer Science | University of Oxford
**MAT (Mathematics Admissions Test) | University of Oxford

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I think this is the second place I’ve seen you recommended UMass as a safety for CS. UMass is strong in CS and it is not an easy admit. Students with very strong stats get rejected. It’s much harder to get into than other parts of the university. I would say it is a match for this student. A close friend of my sons with slightly lower stats was rejected and is at UMass Lowell (which would be a safety for this student).

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I agree with this, and if AI is an interest of OP’s (based on some of their ECs), UMass Amherst is certainly top 10 in CS/AI, maybe higher because their AI offering is deep.

OP, What major are you looking at? If CS, you have great experience and will likely be competitive at many schools…but CS is very competitive. What math did you take/are you taking junior and senior years?

What state do you live in? Note that the UCs and CalTech are test blind, so your ACT won’t help you at those schools. What are your UC GPAs? GPA Calculator for the University of California – RogerHub

I agree that UMN is a great safety and I think a fairly high number of Korean students. Many larger state schools will have sizable Korean populations…also look at U Wisconsin, U Maryland, and U Michigan. Georgia Tech too. Maryland and Wisc should be matches for you, Mich and GT reachier. U Rochester (match) could be another good choice.

What is your budget? Will you qualify for need-based aid? Have you run the NPCs at the schools on your list?

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Perhaps I’m missing something but this is directly from UMASS - and I believe based on what the student provided (except major) - that while UMASS is a fine school, that he’d be admitted - similar to that you think it’s not a slam dunk. We are all amateurs.

I would rate Maryland harder…still a likely…but harder.

Note the OP listed he took multivariable and vector calc in 10th grade and has experience with Python and JavaScript. Yes, CS is a hard admit at many schools but it was just my feeling he is a cut above. That’s why I said what I did.

Thanks

Q: What are the requirements for a high school senior who is enrolling in Computer Science at UMass Amherst?
A: You first need to be admitted to the university and express an interest in the major. The admissions department then decides whether to admit you directly into the major – usually this requires that you do well in high school precalculus as well as meeting the general requirements for admission to the university. Once you are here, we figure out whether you are ready to take calculus (at the engineer’s level) and Java programming. Even if admissions does not put you directly into the major, we will accept you in if you do well in calculus and programming (and acceptably in your other courses), but you must apply and be admitted to the major. That is, you can enroll in these classes without being in the major. The admissions process for the BS and BA degrees are the same. Note that students are by default put into the BS program, but can switch immediately to the BA when they arrive on campus.

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Can you and your parents afford the cost of each college on your list? If you cannot afford list price, have you checked the net price calculator for each college?

If you cannot afford the list price or net of need based financial aid, you need to assess your chances on large enough merit scholarships. A college with no merit scholarships becomes out of reach in this case. A college where the large enough merit scholarships are competitive should be considered a reach in this case.

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What state are you in? What’s your family’s budget?

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Im considering a CS major. My brother went to state college and thus my parents have a decent budget to help me pay for college. Maybe 50k budget, probably they are willing to pay more for a prestigious school(T20), although I believe the highly ranked schools would provide sufficient aid. UC system (and USC) is probably closed to me unless I get merit scholarship.

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It seems to me that a frank budget discussion with your parents should be the first step. Have you looked at the NPC for your dream schools?

Can we assume that you are a Minnesota resident?

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First, congratulations - you’ve done well.

Second, CS at UMN is an excellent program, so your safety is already a great choice.

Third - you likely need to cull some of your reaches, and add some more matches. As it is, only UMass is a match, everything else is a reach to very high reach.

Why, except because of its reputation?

If you are looking to ED, why Columbia and not Cornell, which has a far better CS program?

UIUC and GTech are public, meaning that they are unlikely to provide much support for an OOS student, so they will likely be unaffordable as well.

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Rice deserves a look - as good for CS as most of your dream.schools and as generous with need-based aid too. Compare the NPC with Columbia and Cornell; Rice would be a worthy ED option as well.

If you’re in MN, there’s a reciprocity rate with WI, so UW-Madison would make sense to consider also.

For high Asian international population, strong CS, and likely merit, look at URochester.

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I am guessing that UMN is in-state. If this guess is true, isn’t there some sort of tuition exchange between Minnesota and Wisconsin? If so, then U.Wisconsin is also very good overall and excellent for computer science. You should take a close look at it.

I have worked with many computer science graduates from U.Mass and agree that it is very good. I also agree that it is a target, and not a safety if you are applying for CS.

I would not apply ED unless you are sure that a school is your first choice and you are sure that it will be affordable. If you are seriously considering computer science, I would not put Columbia ahead of U.Mass or U.Wisconsin, or probably even U.Minnesota. If Stanford is your dream, and if you are sure that it will be affordable, then REA at Stanford makes more sense to me.

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Are you National Merit? If you are, and you are accepted into USC, you will automatically receive the Presidential half-tuition scholarship. You must submit your application before December 1.

And, I agree, you are an American male of Korean descent.

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Each year? Or $50,000 total for all four years?

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@collegemom3717 Not one of those hokie “send in your five quid seven years after you graduated” MAs. A full “undergraduate masters” of MMathCompSci for four years. Heading there in four weeks for DS’s degree ceremony.

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I know! but he should actually do both. The MA ceremony is pretty great- the students mock it until they get there, but it is a good (if seriously archaic) story :slight_smile:

My cheeky one did it on 29 Feb (leap year), so she & her gang hashtagged it #fakedayfakeMA. But they were all happy for the excuse to get back together and get bopped on the head by the Chancellor, and now they get to process ahead of people w/o it, walk across the lawn with impunity, sit at Head Table and vote for the President :slight_smile:

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