Chance me UW CS direct admit

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I'm currently a junior candidate for the IB full diploma. What do you think my chances are at University of Washington for their computer science direct admit?</p>

<p>Here is all of the info I could think of but I can supply any other info that would help. So what do you think?</p>

<p>All gpa's are unweighted because my school does not weight or rank
I am a white male</p>

<p>Freshman Year:
Physical Science
Honors English
Advanced Algebra
Competitive Marching Band
1 Semester health/1 semester foods and nutrition
Cisco Discovery 1/2
Freshman GPA 3.7ish</p>

<p>Sophomore Year:
Honors English
Honors American History
IB math SL 1
Honors Chemistry
Cisco 3 - Received my Cisco CCENT for networking this year
Spanish 1
Sophomore GPA 3.7ish</p>

<p>Junior Year:
IB HL English
IB SL 2 Math
IB SL 1 Chemistry
Spanish 2
IB HL 1 History
Cisco 4
Junior GPA 3.8ish</p>

<p>Junior Summer:
Physics online</p>

<p>Projected Senior classes:
IB HL English
IB HL math
IB SL 2 Chemistry
IB spanish 3/4
IB HL 2 History
IB SL Art</p>

<p>Projected unweighted cumulative GPA 3.7ish
I will be testing in IB HL English, IB HL Math, IB HL History, IB SL Spanish, IB SL Art, and IB SL Chemistry</p>

<p>I am also a candidate to receive an IB full diploma so I am:
Taking the IB theory of knowledge course
Writing historical investigation
Writing extended essay
Writing theory of knowledge presentation and essay
Doing CAS hours and a collaborative project which is founding and running a club (freedom of knowledge)</p>

<p>I took the ACT and got a 31. I am studying over the summer and hoping for a 34
I will be taking SAT subject Math 2 and Chemistry studying with Barron's books so hopefully I can get 750 or above</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
Lacrosse 9th-10th
Church Nursery 9th-11th
Freelance computer technician 9th-12th
Freedom of knowledge club co-founder and president 11th-12th
Possible key club participant 11th-12th
Competitive marching in band 9th
House manager for ASTRA play company 9th-12th
Fencing 9th-10th
Church religious ed teacher 9th-10th
I received my Cisco CCENT certification in 10th grade
Upgrading school computer labs 9th-10th
Painting 11th-12th (for CAS)</p>

<p>Job:
I have been employed by a local ISP/computer repair shop since freshman year. During the school year I work an average of 20 hours a week and over the summer I work 30-40 hours a week. I worked both as an ISP and computer technician</p>

2

<p>Your job experience will help a lot, and it may push you over the edge and get you in. Fair warning, though: I had a 3.92 UW with 10ish APs, 2130 SAT (non-superscored, since UW doesn’t do that) and interned within the UW’s CSE department, along with some other stuff, and I didn’t get direct admission. It’s a very, very competitive program! The only thing I see as a concern is your GPA… 3.75ish isn’t really what they’re looking for. It definitely doesn’t count you out, though.</p>

<p>Suggestions:

  • Go for a 2200+ SAT (or ACT equivalent, w/e)
  • Check out the essay topics from past years for the UW; I think they remain the same, but I’m not positive
  • If you have any interest in it, get into some open source development or freelance development of your own
  • Consider making a CS club at your school
  • I dunno how many hours of community service you have, but more is never a bad thing
  • Maybe think about doing something CS-related for the Intel science fair or something similar</p>
3

<p>Although I understand that 3.75 is not the best, would being a full IB diploma student help? Total I will have taken 12 IB classes bringing my weighted GPS to above a 4.5 based on most of the weighting processes I’ve seen. Also, did you take any SAT subject tests as we’re you and in state or OOS applicant?</p>

4

<p>Plus I was hoping my CCENT certification would be somewhat of a hook being that it is a professional certification. Did you still decide to go to UW and try to get into their CS your junior year?</p>

5

<p>Full IB will definitely help, just know that with direct admit you’re up against kids who got 3.9s-4.0s with roughly the same class rigor. I was in-state. 760 Math II, 730 Physics for my SAT IIs. Neither is very strong, but not awful, either. Also a white male, fwiw.</p>

<p>I ended up not picking UW. I would have had a much harder decision had I gotten in direct admit, since the program is so awesome, but I didn’t care to stay in the same city I’ve lived in all my life (even though Seattle is AWESOME), and it was the only large school I applied to. I’m headed to Wesleyan this coming fall.</p>

6

<p>Bump10char</p>

7

<p>You do have a good credential with outstanding EC. If you get better ACT score in retake, you should aim even higher than UW.</p>

8

<p>I’m aiming for CMU, UCLA, UC Berkeley, UIUC, and USC. I’m applying to UW because I’m in state and just in case I can’t afford the other options. I figured I would try a chance because of how difficult it is to get direct admit to CS</p>

9

<p>You are on the right track. If you get 34 in ACT as you wish, you have very high chance for any of these schools.</p>

10

<p>Thanks. I’ll be working hard this summer to get my ACT as high as possible</p>

11

<p>Bumpity bump bump</p>

12

<p>sorryshamefulbump</p>

13

<p>Any other opinions?</p>