Chance me: Imperial College of London + other colleges for CS

Chance Me / Match Me!
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As a rising senior, I’ve been researching colleges to apply to. As I Iooked through Imperial’s curriculum for Computing, I fell in love. Not only does going international appeal to me (I’m from California), but the idea of doing CS and only CS (no GEs) does too. If you can’t tell, I’m really passionate about CS. Without further ado, here are my stats:

SAT: 1450/1600 (Might take again in the fall b/c I didn’t study much for this the first time around)
SAT 2’s: (haven’t gotten them back) Math, Physics
AP Scores:
5: Calculus, Physics E&M, Mechanics
4: Physics 1, Human Geo

I’ve also done quite a few community college classes in CS:
Software Dev. in Java: A
Data Structures and Algorithms: B
C++ for Java Programmers: A
Advanced C++: A

EC’s pertinent to my major:
FIRST Robotics (3 years)
- Director of Outreach (1 year) (Did a lot of work and learned a lot from this position)
- I was responsible for outreach activities and how our team represents FIRST. I created and ran 5 FLL teams at local middle schools. I also ran 10-week programs at three local elementary schools which taught hands-on physics to elementary school students. I ran week long summer programs at a couple of local after school business’s. Ran various other programs.
- Electrical–>Coding

Ran a three session workshop in an orphanage in India on using engineering as a tool to solve local problems for which I also taught them the design thinking process (look at d.school@Stanford)

Spend a lot of time writing code & working on CS/Tech projects that may spiral into a startup
Working through Machine Learning Specialization by the University of Washington in Coursera (Completed 1, on the second one rn)

Physics and Engineering Club (Director of Engineering)

EC’s that may/may not matter on my application:
Volunteered for Chandler Tripp (a local special needs school)
Girls Varsity Tennis Team (4 years + Captain ~ 1 year)
- Won NorCal Tennis Championships 2013-2014
- Won CCS 2013-2014
FUTBOLLLL (Outside of school)
Track&Field (1.5 years)
Bike Club (3 years) (Secretary, Treasurer 2 years)

I’ve heard that GPA does not matter for UK colleges, which may be a good thing because my GPA is pretty average (3.6 UW, 4.0 W). I’ve taken all the AP classes that I took a test for except for Human Geo (did it for fun + missing school)

To close off, not only is CS a yooooge part of my life, but also is volunteering and spreading engineering. The applications are endless :smiley: I will also be applying to UC’s and (CSU SLO, SJSU). One thing I anticipate is a lot of rejections from top-tier UC’s because they do weigh GPA heavily (for obv. reasons). So chance me for Imperial, CSU SLO, UCSD, UCD, UCI, UCSC and UCLA. I’ll chance you back, once I get the chance :wink: Thanks in advance, for all the help!

[EDIT]
To clarify this is what I’m looking for:

  • What I should improve on/highlight in my app
  • worth applying to Imperial since it’s a selective school? (I’m trying to minimize the # of applications I have to write)
  • helping in separating my colleges into the following categories (Safety, Reach, Target)

sorry for the long post yikes I write too much

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ICL requires that you have at least 3 scores of 5 on relevant AP exams. You barely meet this requirement. Most students have more than this. They won’t care about your GPA or extra curriculars.

Oxford accepts SAT II scores in lieu of AP exams. If you score high enough on the SAT II exams you might consider adding Oxford to your list.

If you are a full pay student, then consider adding St Andrews to your list. They tend to take a lot of internationals.

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Thanks for the reply! @sgopal2: A question I have to ask, however, are how many other AP exams are related to Computer Science? Calculus BC, Physics (idk why this is true), CS? Not taking the AP CS exam was a semi-mistake, since initially I wasn’t even thinking of applying to schools outside of California (My CC courses gave me more credits).

The Oxford program seems really good (not a surprise). What do you think about Manchester University’s CS program (I swear I’m not just considering them because Man. United :P)? St. Andrews classes look good too.

Also another question, I’m planning on going to grad. school back home (US). Would studying abroad affect my chances negatively? Would it be harder to get work experience abroad in CS?

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Self study and take the AP in computer science. Seems like it should be an easy 5.

Manchester has a great reputation. I would say go for it.

Coming back to the US for grad school won’t be a problem with a British degree. Only problem would be if you intended medicine as the British system is quite different.