Demographics: US citizen, Midwest, Competitive Private HS, Asian Male
Intended Major(s): CS first choice CE second choice
GPA: 3.94 UW, SAT/ACT: 34 (34E/33M/34R/35S), No Rank
Coursework: AP Chem (5) AP Calc AB (5) AP CS (5), AP Calc BC, AP Stat, AP Physics C: Mechanics, AP Mandarin, Advanced CS
(Hardest AP class load at my school)
Awards: President’s Volunteer Service Award, Book Award, Coach’s Award, AP Scholar
Extracurriculars
Club Sport: 4x junior national finalist, 6x regional finalist, club record holder, recruited to a couple T40 DIII schools and was talking to some DI (never recruited though), playing for 11 years
HS Sport: state champion runner up, captain, 5x state finalist
Research: state university, coding & genetics related
School Finance Club: 6 fig. portfolio, president
School Coding Club: president
Cancer non-profit: volunteer, website creator and manager
Essays: slightly above average, LORs: one math, one english 7-8/10
Overall a very qualified applicant. UC’s are test blind so your ACT will only used for course placement and not for admissions or scholarship consideration. Also make sure you can afford $74K/year to attend since they offer little to no financial aid.
UC Berkeley admit rate for CS was 2.3% and EECS was 4%.
UCLA’s admit rate for CS was 3.8%, CSE was 3.1% and CE was 3.9%
Although you can select alternate majors for both schools, they only consider your primary major in the application review.
UCB will consider your alternate during the waitlist process and UCLA does not consider your alternate major at all.
CS is a High Demand Major for UC Berkeley and it is very important to try and get a direct admit as a Freshman.
Here is what UCB states about High Demand Majors:
Admission into L&S: Those who already know as high school students that they want a high-demand major should select that major on their UC Berkeley admissions application. If admitted to L&S, they will be guaranteed a spot in the major they selected, subject to completing the prerequisites, maintaining good academic standing in L&S, and filing a declaration form.
Changing to a high-demand major after arriving at L&S:* For students who did not select a high-demand major on their UC Berkeley admissions application, the process for declaring a high-demand major will be through a comprehensive review, rather than a minimum GPA requirement only. Students will have one opportunity to apply for a high-demand major, and will be required to have an alternate plan to declare a non-high-demand major as a back-up.
For UCLA, Math is in the College of Letters and Sciences which does not admit by major but switching into the College of Engineering for CS is highly competitive and not guaranteed.
My advice is always apply to the major you want to pursue.
Again, UCB only considers your Alternate major in the waitlist process and UCLA does not consider your alternate major although the application allows you to select one.
You’re a great applicant, and I’m sure you can do well at any of these schools. But the top 20s (especially CS )… they’re reaches for everyone. I’d look into trying to add a few target schools (Rutgers? RPI? UMN Twin Cities?), because right now, your list is very heavy on both ends with not much in between… You’d be banking on a RD acceptance from a super competitive school to prevent going to a safety.
Oh, and make sure your safeties are true safeties. Applying as a CS major will make it harder at almost any school…
And… if you want to study CS, apply CS. Transferring into CS is hard at pretty much every school, and for some schools (like UIUC) it’s literally impossible. You’re better off applying direct.
Oh! You shoulda mentioned that in the OG then! Personally, I think your list looks good in terms of safeties and targets. Case is only a target if you show a lot, and I mean A LOT of interest. Make sure you’re truly excited and happy with those targets and safeties – again, CS…
I would suggest mayyybe trimming your list down a bit as you currently have over 20 schools, and that’s A LOT of supplements. The last thing you want to do is have the quality of your essays be diluted, b/c that’ll probably decrease your chances of getting into a reach. I know it seems like applying in sheer numbers will increase your chances, but remember, quality over quantity.
)… they’re reaches for everyone. I’d look into trying to add a few target schools (Rutgers? RPI? UMN Twin Cities?), because right now, your list is very heavy on both ends with not much in between… You’d be banking on a RD acceptance from a super competitive school to prevent going to a safety.