Chances and advice for a sophomore who wants to do Computer Science

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi everyone!

I just created an account, but I have been browsing through CollegeConfidential for a while now. Although I am a sophomore, I was hoping I could get advice about my chances at top CS colleges and the UC’s and what I can do to improve my stats/extracurriculars from now. I’ve been getting kind of nervous because it just seems that I’m surrounded by really talented people and I feel like I’m behind. I know that no one can accurately tell me if I can get into top colleges (and that’s not my focus), but I would love if anyone can give my ANY advice on how to improve myself!!! Thank you so much!

SAT I: 1580 (780 English, 800 Math)
SAT II: 800 (Math II) [I will be taking chemistry next year!]
UW GPA: 4.0

I am not taking any ap’s right now, but I plan on taking: AP Chemistry, AP Physics 1, APENG, AP Language and Composition, AP Calculus AB, AP Statistics, AP Gov

And I am self-studying for the AP Computer Science A, AP Calc BC exams

Awards / Honors:
USACO Gold Contestant
I don’t really have anything else at the moment! :frowning: I’m planning on entering more programming competitions and hackathons (would love recommendations on which ones to target!!). I would love any advice on how to add to this section!! Also I’m going to try to qualify for the AIME next year.

EC’s:

  1. I do varsity debate! I have reached late elims at a couple of local tournaments. I have experience volunteering and teaching middle/elementary schoolers debate as well!
  2. I’m a member of a volunteer organization where I have contributed to many projects including teaching computer science to students in low-income areas and holding workshops. This is something that I am super passionate about and I’m really hoping to get more involved in the future!!
  3. I’m a member of deca but I’ve had pretty much no success so far haha! I’m planning on trying harder next year.
  4. I am a member and officer at my school’s programming club
    I know this isn’t a lot and I haven’t done really well at my extracurriculars, so again, I would love to hear advice and suggestions!

Summer:
This summer I am planning on attending computer science courses and (maybe) having a job or internship at a coding camp.

Demographics:
Gender: F
Race: Asian (Indian)
State: CA

I would really appreciate it if you guys could let me know if I have any chance at top colleges and how to improve myself from now on! Thank you SO much!!!

2
  1. Keep up the 4.0 unweighted GPA in hard courses.
  2. Assume that direct admission to CS (CSE, EECS, etc.) majors will be more difficult. If a UC appears to be a match, consider it a reach for CS. If a UC appears to be likely or safety, it may really be a match for CS. In particular, there are a lot of disappointed UCSD, UCSB, UCI, and UCD applicants for CS or engineering majors each April because they underestimated the competitiveness of those majors at those campuses.
  3. Junior year PSAT is the one for National Merit qualification. Some colleges (mostly less selective ones) offer large scholarships to National Merit Finalists.
  4. Make sure that you talk to your parents about college costs and affordability before you make your application list. If list price is not affordable, you and they should run the net price calculators on various colleges of interest to get financial aid estimates.
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Nearly perfect stats, grade 10, looking for advice on how to “improve” yourself and opinions as to whether you have “any chance” at top colleges- and you say you are not looking at top colleges? somehow that doesn’t add up.

@ucbalumnus post is excellent- read it all, and then re-read points 2 & 4

June 2020 you will be able to calculate your UC GPA and you will have a decent idea what your odds are there.

And finally, take this to heart:

https://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/applying_sideways/

They mean it.

4

Great job with your SAT score. You should be able to get NMSF when you take the PSAT next year!

I just finished the college application cycle and I applied to CS at all of my schools, so I can probably help you out with the ECs.

Some possible ECs / Awards / Summer Programs you could do in order to increase your chances of getting into t20s:

Contests:

USACO - I see that you are already a gold contestant. Given that you are a sophomore, you still have time to try and get to platinum. If you need help finding resources to train for the USACO, PM me and I’ll send a list over!

AIME - you already know what this is. While it isn’t super prestigious, it is still worth pursuing as the top 5% of all contestants get to take it. In addition, given that you are a girl, it will definitely make you stand out from the crowd

Math Competitions (HMMT, CHMMC, SMT, BMT, etc.) - There are a plethora of math contests available for high school students. If your school has a math team, I would consider joining it for fun and maybe get awards!

Math Prize for Girls - This is a really cool competition held at MIT just for female mathematicians. If you do well, your chances of getting into a T20 or a prestigious summer program will improve greatly.

Stanford ProCo, Harker Programming Invitational, Lockheed Martin Code Quest, etc. - There are also some coding competitions held annually. These are great ways to get into competitive programming and winning at one of these events is quite impressive. Keep in mind that a lot of these are in the Bay Area, so you may have to travel in order to participate

NCSSIM - This is a really prestigious awards program that recognizes top female STEM students. If you become a state / national winner, it will really boost your application.

Summer Programs:

Since you’re a girl in STEM, there are so many awesome summer programs you can apply to!

Beaversworks, WTP at MIT, MITES, MOSTEC, Stanford AI4ALL, SAMS, RSI, BU RISE, SSRP, SSP, SSTP, Girls Who Code, etc.

5

Put a lot of effort into your essays. Start in the summer after 11th grade. Applicants to UCB and UCLA can and do get rejected or waitlisted even with perfect stats and lots of achievements.

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@ucbalumnus @collegemom3717 Thank you so much for the advice, I really appreciate it! The article about applying sideways was insightful and changed my perspective.

@GoBears2023 This was REALLY REALLY helpful, thank you so much! I’m not able to PM you (I think it’s because I’m a new member), but I would love the resources for training for USACO. Also, you seem really knowledgable about programming competitions so I was wondering what your opinions were on preparing for the google code jam or facebook hacker cup because I know a few people who have tried doing them but I’m not 100% sure if it’s something I should try or focus on. Also congratulations on your college acceptances!! I saw your thread and I was so surprised at everything you’ve achieved in high school, you seem like an insanely qualified/smart person!

@ProfessorPlum168 Thank you for the advice!!

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@pizzaLover23

Both Google Code Jam and Facebook Hacker Cup are super competitive. I’ve competed at them and I wasn’t even close to the top. Like probably bottom 25% and I’m not even that bad. Thanks for your kind words!