Hey guys, I was wondering my chances at (top to bottom priority; top pick cmu) these selective schools as a computer science/artificial intelligence major!
Carnegie Mellon University
UC Berkeley
Caltech
UCLA
USC
Vanderbilt
Johns Hopkins University
Student Profile:
Applying as an international student
Attending a private international highschool abroad
Planning to apply as a computer science/artificial intelligence major
Academics:
GPA: 3.7 unweighted (from the start of freshman year till the end of junior year)
SAT: 1500 (planning to take again on October for a higher score)
AP:
AP World History - 3
AP Seminar - 3
AP CSP - 5
AP CSA - 5
AP English Language and Composition - 5
AP Research - 4
AP Macroeconomics - 5
AP Physics C Mechanics - 4
AP Calculus BC - 5
SAT Subject Test: Math II - 780
Extracurriculars:
Varsity Swimming (9-12) Captain (9-12)
Varsity Soccer (10)
Debate Team (9-10)
Worlds Scholars Cup (9-10)
Achievements:
AP Capstone
AP Scholar w/ Distinction
NSDA (Debate Competition in Taiwan) Octafinalist (9 grade)
NHSDLC (Debate Competition in China) Octafinalist (10 grade)
Swimming - Swim Meet Record Holder (11-12)
Worlds Scholars Cup - Global Round Qualifier (9-10 grades)
Developed app to keep track of a user’s swimming technique using AR.*
School Organizations:
National Junior Honor Society (9) President
National Honor Society (11-12) President (12)
HS Student Council (11-12) Class Representative (11) and Secretary (12)
Community Service:
Habitat for Humanity (9-12)
Teacher Assistant for Community Church (9-12)
LoR: 3
1 from head
2 from teachers: Math Department and Computer Science Department
P.S.
I was also wondering if I could get into an NCAA D3 college (Caltech, JHU, UChicago, CMU) more easily with swimming as a student-athlete.
Are you a world class swimmer/nationally ranked and can be recruited? Because the first 4 schools are reaches and you don’t have a perfect GPA. Vandy and Hopkins also value a high GPA.
USC might be your target school/most likely acceptance.
Re swimming, for Berkeley and USC, you’d need close to Olympic trial cut times. For the other schools, you’d probably need close to junior national cuts to be recruited.
CalTech swimmers are significantly slower on this list - I think my son would be first or second on the team in his best stroke and he’s just off junior national. I’ve also heard athletic coaches have no pull there at all with admissions. How do your times compare on collegeswimming?
Caltech might be slower, but you’d still need well above a sectional cut to be recruited. Also, Caltech doesn’t have slots for athletes and won’t “dip” for athletes.
Don’t want to derail, but I’ve heard the same about no slots and no pull - so what does being “recruited” at CalTech mean @vhsdad ? Clearly lots of kids are swimming on the team well below those times and if there’s no coach pull, its not clear to me that that they actually recruit. It’s probably not going to make my son’s list, but trying to better understand how different schools work. TIA
Yes, many of the athletes at Caltech are walk-ons. If the coach wants you, however, he or she can provide a letter of support for your application. I’ve read on CC that it increases your odds for, but does not guarantee, admission.
Thank you for your replies! My time for 100SCM freestyle is around 57 seconds and my breaststroke is around 100SCM 1min20 seconds. Although I may not be as fast as Olympic swimmers, do you guys think the coaches could provide a letter of support for my application?
Can you recommend me a college that I could get into with a good chance if I were to raise my SAT score to 1550?
And do senior grades count to your overall high school GPA? If yes, then I would have a GPA above 3.8
UC’s do not consider Senior year grades in their admission decisions (exceptions for augmented review) nor in their GPA calculation but you will need to maintain a minimum 3.0 weighted GPA, no D’s or F’s and no more than 2 C’s to keep your provisional admission if accepted.