Born in US, might also be citizen of 2 other countries by descent.
Washington
Public High School
East Asian Male
Not first-gen
Intended Major: Computer Science, interested in interdisciplinary applications (e.g. bioengineering, aerospace) as well as standard uses (e.g. AI, security, robotics).
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
Unweighted HS GPA: 4.0
No weighted HS GPA
No class rank
SAT: 1570 (780 Eng, 790 Math)
Coursework
14 AP’s:
5: CSP, World, Physics 1 & 2, Calc AB
4: Lang, APUSH
Didn’t take test: Music
This year: Lit, Stats, Gov, CSA, Calc BC, Psych
Maybe 1-2 additional ‘Honors’ classes.
Language: Learned up to German 300, then school removed AP German/German 400. Grew up speaking only English.
Awards
See also: Extracurriculars
Additionally, AP Scholar with Distinction, National Merit Semifinalist (so far), some school-level awards.
Extracurriculars
2 years Science Olympiad, won a gold at states, currently vice president
4 years CS Club, silver rank USACO, member
2 years Robotics Club, currently vice president
~2 months volunteer math tutor
>8 years piano, hobbyist
~4 years baking, hobbyist, keeps a small recipe book
Essays/LORs/Other
Personal statement on difficulties socializing (i.e. moved during elementary + pandemic + culture differences) but never letting it stop me. I suck at grading my own essays, and is ‘pretty good’ (from one informal review) accurate enough? I’m sending it to a teacher soon, so I’ll update this then.
Diversity essay still in rough stages, focusing on work ethic above culture/tradition.
LOR’s: English teacher, Math teacher (both teaching me this year and last year). They seem to appreciate me, but I don’t really know how that translates. Counselor recommendation I have no idea because we’ve barely met.
Cost Constraints / Budget
Nothing more expensive than UMich. Top schools like MIT or Stanford are acceptable, but I’m not looking for those.
Schools
Safety: Washington State (RD), Oregon State (RD)
Match: UW Seattle (RD)
Reach: UMich(EA), UC Berkeley & UCLA (RD)
QuestBridge RD (if I have time): MIT, Stanford, some others
What I’m Looking For
Chancings on UW and the UC’s
Recommended CS schools ‘Likely’ or ‘Match’ and two more UC’s.
If any of you feel like it, you can toss in how well you think I’ll do in one of those top schools with like 4% acceptance rate.
Why are you only applying EA to UMich? If you plan to apply to other popular CS schools (like UIUC, Purdue, UMD), you need to apply EA to them all else you’ll likely not get in.
You should look at Cal Poly too. It’s extremely competitive, but they use an objective algorithm. They are well known for placing grads into top jobs. The classes are much smaller than the UCs and it’s cheaper.
UW is a reach for CS due to its low admit rate (22% for in-state applicants to CS: High School Students | Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering). UW does not look at the SAT score; you will simply be competing with all the other applicants with 4.0 GPA. So although it’s a reachable reach, I would still put it as a reach, not a match.
(Note: I edited the above to add 2022 info, 22% admit rate for in state. See the link for lots of details including their statement on what they look for in an applicant.)
Same thing with the UCs, they do not look at your SAT score. Are you comfortable with the out of state cost of the UCs?
Not sure what - I might be a citizen elsewhere means, but alas you are a US citizen.
So do you qualify for need aid - because if you don’t, then some schools will be more expensive than U Mich.
When I hear you say that, I assume you can afford. But then the next line says - Questbridge (which the app date has passed) - so that tells me you have big need.
So then I wonder - why Michigan, Berkeley or LA?
You need in state or a meets need school - i.e. UVA instead of Michigan, as an example.
So you’re certainly a fine student and have a shot at UW. The UCs are test blind.
But I’m still confused on money - because if you can afford a UC or Michigan, a lot of options open up.
But if you are QB eligible, then your entire list needs reworking.
Budget: to put plainly - you need to have a better understanding of your financial situation, including if you are Questbridge-eligible. “Nothing more expensive than UMich” doesn’t mean anything to us (because we don’t know your personal NPC to UMich) or maybe to you (because you haven’t gotten into UMich).
Also agree that if you’re interested in CS and larger state schools, then expanding beyond your list to include UIUC, UMD, etc. is smart.
Also agree that CS at UW is a reach, just because it’s gotten so competitive (UW without CS is a match), and any UC school (minus Riverside/Merced) coming from Washington is a reach.
If your income is low enough to qualify for Questbridge…how are you going to pay for a UC? What is your actual budget…Because if you can’t afford $70K+ out of pocket each year, then don’t waste your time on the UCs (a whole separate application and separate essays, so it is a time investment, and not one worth making if there’s no way you can afford to attend).
Or any of the OOS publics for that matter, if you can’t afford to pay in full.
I was confused by OP saying “nothing more expensive than UMich” but also mentioning Questbridge. Those two statements are at odds, so I hope OP clarifies his budget and low income status.
I am definitely low-income. I applied for QuestBridge National College Match and was rejected, and since I already wrote some essays for the ones I ranked, I was going to send those.
I talked to my parents some more and realized that the college they wanted me to go to would depend on the scholarships I would get.
My parents and I thought that the financial aid colleges give is uncertain, so some out-of-state colleges might be cheap enough to go to over UW. Now I realize that was probably biased because they got huge scholarships when they were my age.
Anyways, I’m looking for colleges between Washington State and University of Washington for CompSci. Especially cheaper ones or ones with lots of scholarships. I don’t understand why someone would want to go to a college that costs more (unless they’re looking for something in particular).
And is the application really that random? I thought that if I wouldn’t get into UW, I probably wouldn’t get into schools with a similar selectivity (UIUC, Purdue), so there wouldn’t be much reason to apply to more schools.
Ok, it sounds like the UCs would not be a good option for you. These schools are very expensive for OOS students, as the state only offers financial aid to CA students, and merit scholarships are extremely limited.
You have an advantage at UW because you are in state. But on the other hand, UW does not look at your SAT score. To schools that do look at your strong SAT score, you may look relatively stronger as an applicant.
You are a strong student and definitely have a chance at getting in to UW, but you are competing with lots of other strong 4.0 students. Admission is holistic and not predictable. So you will need to be sure you have other good options.
What is your family’s budget for your college education?
Have you run NPCs at any schools to see if they will be affordable?
I would say you need to set a budget. Maybe it’s being home - and going to CC or maybe WSU or another campus could work - like a UW Bothell.
There are two colleges that will meet need OOS - UVA and UNC.
Now there are some - like an Alabama, Mississippi State, UAH and some more - you can get to $20K ish. You may get close with a WUE school as well.
But you have to know your budget because you can’t just apply randomly and hope you get money. It’s often easy to find out what you’d get.
A UIUC or Purdue - worst case you would get in - because if you can’t get in and can’t afford to go - there’s nothing worse. And that would be the case.
What’s the actual dollar figure you could max spend?
btw - just looking at your awards - so NMSF - Tulsa is FREE (and you can’t beat that) - and if you get NMF, it will open up many low cost opportunities - but you have to be flexible.
Private schools may also be a very attractive option financially, depending on the family’s income and what the NPCs say. Depending on the school and the family’s income, they might offer very generous need based aid.
Whether this matters at all might depend upon what other two countries you might be a citizen of. If a parent was born in Canada and retained Canadian citizenship (even if they also got US citizenship), then you likely have Canadian citizenship. This can open up a number of affordable and very good universities some of which are relatively close by for you. However, it can take quite a while to get the required paperwork in order (nearly a year). Otherwise, I think that you might just be best off to apply to US schools.
Given your excellent stats, and being a Washington resident, I hope that you can get into the University of Washington for CS. If you do get accepted there, it is an excellent university with an excellent CS program.
I would be very surprised if any of the Universities of California turned out to be affordable for you, except for maybe one that has WUE (which I think might be Merced, others might know this better than I).
I am wondering whether either Arizona State or the University of Arizona would give you good merit based financial aid given your excellent stats.
The most I’ve seen at ASU - but OP could run the NPC - is $15K.
U of A is a WUE school - but if it wasn’t - with a 4.0 you get $32K off the $40K OOS - and the NMF I think is another $3K.
But then you’re still $20K - similar to an Alabama.
But if the student gets NMF - whether it’s a Bama, UTD or others - they’ll have a great low cost opportunity -and not sure what Washington Schools bring - but yeah - could be low cost.
And you’re right about meets need privates.
Given the stats, I wonder how finalist for QB didn’t happen. I wonder if it was financially related (not low enough income) or something else - or did the student not choose enough schools?
OP may have an additional citizenship in some other country, but that is largely irrelevant when the OP is a US citizen applying to US universities. It may be relevant if the OP wants to apply to universities in another country where the OP is a citizen. Of course, in some countries, citizenship may also come with a mandatory military service requirement.
UCs will not be affordable to a low income non-California resident, unless you get a Regents scholarship at UCB, UCD (maybe), or UCLA, where the scholarship amount is need adjusted and appears to include non-California residents based on web pages. Getting a Regents scholarship should be considered a high reach.
Need-based financial aid is generally more predictable than merit-based scholarships. If you are low income, need-based aid may be the factor that makes many colleges affordable.
You can estimate need-based aid by going to each college’s web site and running the NPC (Net Price Calculator). You will need information about your family’s income and assets. Different colleges calculate your financial need differently, so these estimates may vary from school to school.
Talk to your parents and find out what your budget is. Run the NPC at some schools you are interested in, to start to get an idea of what kind of need-based aid you might expect.
If you come back to this thread with your budget, and with examples of schools where the NPC gives you affordable numbers, people here can help to give you more ideas of schools to consider.
You may have to move fast on some applications, since it is already October, but people here can be very helpful!
