Chance me please!

Hi everyone I’m an Indian Male in TN and I would like to know how competitive I am at a Maryland.

My stats are :

3.45 UW GPA (this can become a 3.55 at the end of 1st semester senior year).
4.04 W GPA (this can become a 4.13 at the end of 1st semester senior year).
35 ACT (36 Superscore)
1420 PSAT
SAT 2’s Scores Pending (Math 2 & Physics)
Full IB Diploma Curriculum (5 HL classes and 1 SL)

EC’s (simplified list):

3 years varsity soccer
3 years MUN
2 years Robotics
2 years Knowledge Bowl
1 year History Bowl
2 years Badminton Club
Attended Advanced Space Academy for 1 week, earned one undergrad credit.
Attended Harvard Summer School for 7 weeks, earned eight undergrad credits.
10 Week Research with a College Professor
2 year Intern at an IT firm
Secretary Badminton Club
Co-President Astronomy Club
Co-President of ACT/SAT Tutoring group

Trend: Very Good 9th grade, OK 10th Grade, Bad 11th Grade, Hopefully Very Good 12th Grade

School doesn’t have class rank.

Thank you!

Sorry. UIUC* not Maryland

What do you want to major in? This may help you.
https://admissions.illinois.edu/Apply/Freshman/profile

I’m still stuck between CS and Astronomy @88jm19 so I believe school of engineering and LAS?

I don’t know know much about admissions…I just wanted to give you a link which provides a little data. I wish I could be of more assistance, but I wish you luck.

You could do “both”. UIUC College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) has a combo degree. Here is the link.
http://catalog.illinois.edu/undergraduate/las/comp-science/
Straight computer science is in COE .

That’s interesting. Thank you for sharing that. Do you think I’m competitive for LAS admission? @MerryLee

Take a look at the link 88jm19 posted. Scroll down to College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. It has middle 50% info. I’m guessing that the CS “combo” (sometimes referred to as CS+x) is going to have higher stats than the College of LAS. The CS in College of Engineering is very competitive. Since UIUC is a state school, the university doesn’t take a lot of OOS and international students. A few years ago the average was about 24% OOS & internationals.

Another thing to consider is the financial side. UIUC doesn’t give a lot of merit scholarship money…

The average GPA is 3.38-3.86, and the average ACT is 27-32. I am within the GPA range and higher than the ACT range. Scholarship money is not too much of an issue. @MerryLee

You’re in

How so sure? @QuestionsMate

Besides your gpa which varies with different schools, everything is else is outstanding and extremely impressive. I looked at the average act scores for engineering admits at UIUC, and the middle 50 percent was 31 - 34. This places you way above average

^^^ I wouldn’t necessarily say that. While your ECs are great and your ACT score is above average, your GPA can drag you down a bit. The CS program in UIUC is highly selective from what I’ve heard. I’m not saying that it’ll be a challenge to get in for your case, but I wouldn’t be so confident to say you’ll definitely get in.

But I still have a competitive shot? Also, how about LAS if I decide to go for astronomy instead of CS @InamoratiAnon

@guccigarlic I definitely feel like you have a competitive shot. I also feel like you’d have a stronger chance at an LAS should you decide to go into astronomy. I know this is way into the future, but are you looking to go into grad school? If you want to get a job straight out of college, comp sci (with a little bit of added work experience/internships) will land you a job fairly easily in the right environment. Getting into the study of astronomy is a bit more competitive considering most of the people hired from that field usually have a graduate degree. If you’re interested in grad school, though, then I definitely recommend looking into that as well.

@guccigarlic Not that you can’t land a job with a B.S. in astronomy. Speaking from personal experience, I know plenty of people that are very happy in that field and are prepared to put in the extra work for a graduate degree.

@InamoratiAnon yes- I will definitely be going to grad school regardless of major. My preference would be CS at this time bc the astro field isn’t exactly extremely promising. That being said, this puts me in an awkward situation because I have decent chances at LAS (astronomy) but an outside shot at Engineering (CS).

First choice s/b CE, followed by an LAS choice

I think you are good for any of the LAS X+CS degree programs. CoE CS might be tough with your GPA. Keep the GPA trend in the positive as much as you can.

Just a note that UIUC has 2nd choice majors on the application. Here is the link explaining it.
https://admissions.illinois.edu/FAQ/second-choice-major