Chance Me Please as CS student applying for Purdue, UT Austin, UIUC, UC, more

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi I am a male Asian high school senior from California looking to apply to Purdue University, UT Austin and University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, UCs, San Jose State, Cal Poly Pomona, and San Diego State.I am looking to apply as a computer science, computer science w applied math/ statistics, or data science major. My statistics are listed below. It would be great if anyone could predict my chances of getting in to the 3 schools and give their opinion on which computer major I should decide on. Thanks

SAT: 1420 (770 Math, 650 English)
Superscored SAT: 1430 (780 Math, 650 English)
ACT: 32 (34 Eng, 31 Math, 31 Read, 31 Science)
Superscored ACT: 32 (34 Eng, 31 Math, 33 Read, 31 Science)
Cumulative Weighted GPA: 4.11
10-12 Weighted GPA: 4.27
10-12 Unweighted GPA: 3.67
Cumulative Unweighted GPA: 3.68
*Notes on my grades: I did not perform great in 10th grade, did a lot better in 11th grade, and there was a trend of improvement for GPA per semester

SAT Subject Tests: Math: 800 Chemistry: 630 (Retaking)
APs: Calc AB: 5, Chemistry: 3, Psychology: 3 (Self-studied in two weeks) , Computer Science A: 3 (Our teacher wasn’t that great)
Current APs: Ap Calculus BC, Ap Statistics, Ap Microeconomics
College Courses: Business Introduction, Music History (Did it for Visual/Performing Arts Credit), introduction to mySQL
Class Rank: Top 15 %

Extracurricular Activities:
.Volunteer for Tech Support program, helping out other students with technology problems (90 hours) (10 and 11th grade)
.Mentored other children in programming for an organization (8,9,10,11,12th grade)
.Editor for My School Newspaper and interviewed many school athletes (9-12 grade)
.President for a Computer Science Club where I taught programming to 20-30 other high school students. Organized club events for teaching coding to 100s of elementary or middle school students (10-12 grade)
.National Honors Society Member (10-12 grade)
.Lead Programmer for Robotics Team, Won Awards at State Level (10-12 grade)
.Volunteer for Senior Tech Support Program at a local library where I helped out seniors with tech-related problems (9th grade only since program became discontinued)
.Part of a committee to organize a hackathon at end of the year (12th grade)
.I play an Asian Instrument and performed solo in several temples (6-12 grade)
.I sing an Asian style of music, performed at numerous temples and venues, won 1st place at regional competitions, Runner Up with a group for a national competition (5-12 grade)
.Volunteered for Asian Music fundraiser that raised $70,00 for a charity (12th grade)

Work Experience:
.Intern for a company with a medical life-saving mobile application and create several features for the app (11 - 12 grade)

Awards:
.CollegeBoard’s Scholar with Honor Award
.Won 5th place 2 times at Regional Science Fair for Computer Science project
.Received Certificate of recognition from state assemblywoman for my science fair projects
.Won 1st place solo and group several times at regional competitions for Asian Music and Runner Up with a group for a national competition
.Won Awards at State Level for Robotics
.175+ volunteer hours

Thank you for your time and please let me know my chances for the 3 Universities

2

CS is a more competitive major at all three. Definitely reach for UIUC CS and UT Austin CS (note: uses class rank instead of GPA, and top 15% is probably not competitive since most admits to UT Austin are in the top 6% and CS is additionally competitive). Since your unweighted GPA is below the average for Purdue, it should be considered a reach as well.

Why not UCs and CSUs? Some of them may be non-reaches.

3

Thank you for the reply! I am planning to apply to all UCs, and also San Jose State, San Diego State, and Cal Poly Pomona

4

For UCs, the 2017 admission rates by weighted-capped GPA were:


Campus  4.20-   3.80-   3.40-   3.00-
        higher  4.19    3.79    3.39
UCB     43%     13%      2%      1%
UCLA    47%     12%      2%      1%
UCSD    84%     39%      7%      1%
UCSB    82%     45%     10%      1%
UCI     94%     52%     11%      3%
UCD     90%     56%     17%      4% 
UCSC    93%     76%     44%     14%
UCR     98%     90%     63%     23%
UCM     98%     96%     89%     57%

However, CS is a more competitive major, so assume that admission will be less likely than those admission rates suggest. With a 3.92 weighted-capped GPA, you probably want to consider UCM as likely, UCR as match, UCSC match to high match, and all other UCs as low reach to high reach.

Your CSU eligibility index = 3.92 * 800 + 1430 = 4566. But SJSU’s threshold for CS was 4725 in the most recent admissions cycle: http://www.sjsu.edu/admissions/impaction/impactionresultsfreshmen/ . The similar software engineering major had a threshold of 4200, but using a modified eligibility index that overweights SAT math versus reading/writing (your modified eligibility index would be 4631). Of course, thresholds can change next year based on application volume. But SJSU CS should be considered a reach, while SJSU SE is probably a low match.